School Closures Reveal Deep Inequities And Learning Risk; Company Responds With Free Parent Resources

Responding to the growing impact of widespread learning disruption caused by school closures, Learning Without Tears, a leading early childhood education company, announced the availability of free resources for families facing the hurdles of closed schools, and the sudden rush to distance learning. These resources include structured "learning packets" organized by subject and grade level, which will be updated with new material monthly. Additionally, the Company's multiple leading and breakthrough learning solutions for PreK-5 students are also available at no cost to families. In order to serve the greatest number of families possible, free materials and family resources are available in both English and Spanish.

"In just a few weeks, the education system learned painful lessons," explained Terry Nealon, Learning Without Tears' CEO. "The students that already struggled or were at-risk before the shutdown, face the greatest threat of suffering insurmountable learning gaps. Many parents are unsure of how to help their students succeed in an online environment. While a number of professional resources have emerged to help teachers teach in a digital environment, there are very few resources that help students learn or empower parents to support that learning."

Learning Without Tears has made the entirety of its digital learning portfolio available to families without charge. New learning packs give parents access to structured and sequenced curriculum, providing the basic building blocks of education. The free digital learning products include the award-winning Keyboarding Without Tears, handwriting instruction, and early learning skills development. Additionally, Learning Without Tears is creating video tutorials to help parents and caregivers understand a host of areas that may be new to them, such as the basics of early childhood education, key success factors of online learning, helpful instruction tips, etc. The Company's world-class professional learning workshops, webinars, and support videos have moved online and are open to both parents and teachers.

"It's a painful reality that too many students are being left behind as the nation moves to distance learning. During a child's elementary years, any gap in learning can result in setbacks that impact that student for the rest of his/her life," Mr. Nealon continued. "It is imperative that during this historic period of school closures, online learning succeeds in creating a sense of normalcy and a continuity of learning for the 55 million students currently out of school. By creating structured learning packets, and making our digital materials available for free, Learning Without Tears is currently assisting more than 35,000 families in ensuring successful remote learning for their students."

Learning Without Tears is also working with its school partners to support their efforts to deliver digital education.

"As parents tell us what help they need, and as long as this school closure crisis continues, Learning Without Tears will create new resources to support families and help ensure the success of remote learning," Mr. Nealon concluded.