If you’re in California or Washington, you are going to be required to homeschool your children while we navigate COVID-19.. and I anticipate those in other states are going to have to follow suit. Here in WA, this will last at least 6 weeks, potentially longer, so we can’t take this undertaking lightly. Now, I recognize my responsibility is much lighter compared to others with older kids (and multiple kids) in school. But I still feel like those with younger kids need ideas and activities to do while we are out of school to keep them engaged in learning.
I have received a number of resources from our school and some from followers on Instagram so I thought I’d share the wealth of information and knowledge so we can tackle this together.
The below information is directly from Jackson’s wonderful PreK teacher so it’s coming from an expert:
Language Arts
Practice letters and letter sounds. There are many ways to make this fun and engaging that incorporate other subject areas as well as play. Use playdough, let your child practice writing letters in shaving cream, go to the beach and write letters in wet sand, have students collect items from around the house that start with the letter you are working on. Write letters to friends or grandparents and explain how a post office works. Read, read read! Engage in open ended conversations around the books you share with your child. Let your child create their own book and have them “read” it to family members. Story telling cards or dice on Amazon are a great way to involve all family members in imaginative storytelling.
Math
One thing we never do in PreK is tell a student they are wrong if they give an incorrect answer. Instead we use language like, “Can you show me how you came up with that answer?” We want students to think rather then build anxiety or fear around math. Here are some suggestions for activities you can do with your child to practice topics we have already covered. Practice counting, gather objects into two groups and have them tell you which has “more or less.” Practice tallying, writing numbers, representing numbers in different ways. Simple card games like “war” and using dice are also great learning tools. Explain measurements and weights and let students use rulers or scales to measure and weigh objects around the house. Have a LEGO challenge and incorporate literacy by asking your child to count out a set number of LEGO’S and create something that starts with the letter you are working on.
Science
Some of the links below have simple and fun science experiments you can do at home with your child. Baking together is a great way to incorporate math/science. Spend time outside exploring local parks and beaches. Give them a screwdriver and let them take apart old electronics to see how things work. Make a leprechaun trap and let us know if you catch one! Plant seeds and have your child observe and record the plants growth while we are out. Encourage them to ask questions about the world around them.
Social
Let your child be helpful around the house. Teach them to set the table, help with the cooking and cleanup after a meal. Teach them to use tools, teach them to match socks in the laundry. Give them multistep directions to follow. Play board games, create a store, play school and let your child be the teacher, have dance parties, do yoga, teach and model empathy, love them and let them know their teachers and friends are looking forward to learning together in the classroom as soon as we are able!
Here are additional online resources teachers love:
https://lifeovercs.com/
https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/simple-stem-activities-for-kids/ Fun and easy science projects you can do at home with your child.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcQH8A634mauPrGbWs7QlQ students love Jack Hartman and his letter videos!
https://www.abcmouse.com/abt/homepage?8a08850bc2=T2913005930.1583773513.9671 30 day free subscription available.
https://www.youtube.com/user/scishowkids Engaging science channel for students.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTivD48jM5sMwEZfyWH2w7A Great selection of books read aloud.
Busy Toddler is an awesome resource for toddler activities you can do at home. Check out their Instagram page as well!
Our friend created a Pinterest board with a lot of great preschool activities to do with your kiddos.
Tinkering Toddler Crates are fun and convenient to have delivered monthly activities. Also great option for the summer.
This is a great article for parents that might be panicking about school closures.
As for creating a “schedule,” I don’t think it needs to be anything too formal. However, many kids (and parents) thrive off of routine so I thought I’d share a PreK schedule that is followed by Jackson’s class that we plan to emulate over the course of the next several weeks:
SCHOOL SCHEDULE
8:30 am: School Opens
8:30-9 am: Morning Challenge (ask a question, solve a problem)
9-9:30 am: Morning Meeting (aka setting expectations for the day)
9:30-10 am: Learning Stations
10-10:15 am: Snack
10:20- 11 am: Open Choice/Recess
11-11:45 am: Religion/Science/Literacy/Math (changes daily)
11:45-12:15: Lunch
12:15-12:30: Story Time!
12:30-1:30: Rest/Quiet Time
1:30-2: Snack
2-2:30 pm: Planned Activity
2:30-3:15 pm: Open Choice/Recess
3:15-3:30 pm: Clean Up and Dismissed!
I hope this helps some of you navigating this crazy world we’re living in and offers some tips and tricks to get you and your kids into a fun routine together! We got this 🙂
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Great post, Heather.