Pandemic Pods
Connect with other families nearby based on interests and preferences. Reach out yourself or let us help you match with 5 other families.
The scramble to form a Pod now has a solution.
To create a support structure around remote learning, thousands of parents are using Facebook and other social media sites to connect with other parents to form "Pandemic Pods". We've built a tool to help coordinate and match families based on more relevant information. Fill out a brief survey to find and connect with other families, teachers, and caregivers as you explore forming a remote learning pod, microschool, or nanny share for the summer or upcoming academic year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are thinking of opting out of the official Remote Learning to homeschool or create their own pods or micro-schools, stitching together something totally new. Either way, we're here to help!
If you fill out the information by clicking "Get Matched" we can identify a match of 5 other families with similar goals from within your city or neighborhood. Once we've matched six families, we'll send each of them and you with non-identifying information about each other and invite everyone to opt-in to an email introduction. Families who opt-in will all receive an introductory email; and then the families take it from there! We are doing this coordination free of charge as a service in this time of need. Taking learning into your own hands can be both empowering and a little scary. We've been researching and designing these since before the #Pandemic, so we're here to help!
Search, discover, and find other families and learning resources
Plan a routine and to-do lists for your pods
Access best practices and right-fit tools and curriculum
Connect with colearners for a pod or for cross-pod collaboration
Partners
COVID has created uncertainty around school attendance this fall, and many families are anxious, struggling, or do not have the means to adapt. We are a group of organizations, capable and committed, working together in service to help all families make Remote Learning as successful as possible this fall.
CoLearn
Provides parents free organizing tools to facilitate learning, manage pods, and keep kids on track to help them become independent learners.
https://colearn.com
Discount Schools Supply
Provides families and schools guaranteed low prices on the top brands in school supplies, learning products, curriculum, and furniture for learning pods.
https://www.discountschoolsupply.com/
Braid
Enables parents to form a group bank account to manage payments and budgeting related to pod expenses.
https://braid.co/
Altitude Learning
Provides a learner-centered, full-suite learning platform, with curriculum that is suited to your child’s interests and level but challenges them to advance and develop.
https://www.altitudelearning.com/
Wonderschool
Helps educators set up micro-schools, including registration, marketing, enrollment, parent engagement, payments, billing, and best practices through a micro-school community and support system.
https://www.wonderschool.com/
Brilliant
Helps students learn STEM through fun and challenging interactive explorations.
https://brilliant.org/
Swing Education
Helps families and pods find certified, qualified and trained educators that can facilitate a pod in-person, hybrid, or remote.
https://swingeducation.com/
eSpark Learning
Personalizes lessons and activities in reading and math for K-5 learners, assuring they are always challenged and engaged.
https://www.esparklearning.com/
Levered Learning
Levered is closing the achievement gap in elementary math with a next-level blended learning system. Levered currently serves 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math with an individually-paced, competency-based online core curriculum.
https://www.levered.com/home
Child's Pose Wellness
Offers live and recorded courses on yoga, movement, and wellness for kids and families.
http://www.childsposewellness.com/
Rainbow Chef's Academy
Offers courses and content to help young people understand both cooking techniques and nutrition, from making snacks to understanding how nutrition affects mood and energy.
https://www.rainbowchefsacademy.com/
The Emile School
Offers individual, accredited classes and an innovative, full-time, virtual middle and high school with a new, modern technology platform.
https://www.hiemile.com/
The Unschool School
A marketplace that offers families access to a wide variety of alternatives to conventional K-12 schooling. From in-home microschools and PODs run by local parents and educators, to in-person group classes led by dynamic subject-matter experts, to out-of-school enrichment activities in your community
https://www.unschool.school/
Microschool Builders
Provides support, guidance, and tools to set up and deliver a microschool for trained parents and professional educators.
https://microschoolbuilders.com/
Trifecta Education
An innovative community learning center model that provides guided explorations and supports learners in self-directed learning.
https://www.trifectaeducation.com/
DIY
Offers real-world creative projects, courses, and interactive community that gets children and young adults making, doing, and learning hands-on skills.
https://diy.org/
PhotoMath
The world’s most popular math learning app. All you have to do is point your phone’s camera at a math problem (handwritten or printed) and the app will provide step-by-step explanations on how to approach and solve the problem.
https://photomath.app/en/
Guidepost Montessori
A full-suite montessori program that offers at-home curriuclum, a full virtual school, and even a training program for care providers.
https://guidepostmontessori.com/
Use a local directory of families to find or form a Pandemic Pod by relevant information
See a directory of families with local interests, learning strategies, activities, neighborhood, and zoned school and school district to find or form pods for Remote Learning. Or, collaborate with other families who are homeschooling/colearning.
Find learning resources like tools, groups, and curriculum appropriate and challenging for your family.
See what other families like yours are using, save your own resources, use the resources to connect with other families. Each child gets a launch page where they can easily access all the resources and tools you've selected for them.
Get better at colearning with your family and community. Access live classes and a variety of online learning material.
Our education team wants to make your family an education team. They create learning experiences for parents who are learning about, getting better, and continually improving at managing their family's learning adventure.
Free mini-courses
Pro online courses
Working Groups
Access to learning modules and projects
Use tools to cooperate with other families around your pods
Our software design and development teams are creating tools that connect parents and families around the pursuit of great learning experiences, online and offline, digital, paper, or human. Find local families, learn from them, share what you have to offer.
20,456
Pandemic Pods in the United States and counting!
Co-Learn Leadership
Michael Staton
Founder and Colearner
Michael Staton is a lifelong educator, colearner, and entrepreneur. Beginning as a public school teacher, Michael redesigned his classroom around getting typical high-school students ready for the academic rigors of college. Now a Partner at Learn Capital, he spent over a decade as an education entrepreneur and investor, backing innovators like Coursera, Outschool, Photomath, MakeSchool, Minerva, Clever, and NearPod. He was also helpful to the founding of Million Lives Fund, Reach Capital, Higher Ed Live, UnCollege, YearOn and Dev Bootcamp. He was co-founder and CEO of Uversity, which changed the way colleges do admissions and enrollment management.
Michelle Spencer
Co-founder & Chief Learning Officer
Michelle Spencer is passionate about educational reform. She founded a charter school based on Big Picture Learning that facilitated project-based learning and internships for every student and was the principal of New Technology High School in Napa, the flagship school of the New Tech Network. She launched a non-profit that trains thousands of educators and parents across the US and internationally. Michelle went on to be the Director of Summits & Professional Learning for EdSurge, creating Tech for Schools Summits for school districts. She also led outreach for a Gates Foundation project studying how schools across the U.S. structure and use time.
Ed Shadi
Co-founder & Chief Technical Officer
Ed Shadi is a seasoned engineer, educator and mentor with over 15 years of software development, management, and EdTech experience. Having led numerous software teams and scaled tech startups, he has acquired a solid understanding of architecture fundamentals and executing best practices for the full software development lifecycle. He’s experienced in leading high performance teams to deliver on technical strategy, as well as implementing cross-group collaboration between engineering and the broader organization. He has taught hundreds of emerging programmers in a classroom and practical setting, as well as tech workshops.