Update: Learning From Home

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are all safe and sound at home practicing proper social distancing and trying not to go too stir crazy! The kindergarten teachers met virtually yesterday with administration and brainstormed ways we can stay in touch regularly with our students and their families, as well as suggesting ideas and resources to help facilitate educationally rich experiences from home. Remember, you are not expected to homeschool your child! The most important thing at this time is staying healthy - both physically and mentally. Try not to feel overwhelmed. Do not feel guilty if your child is getting extra screen time. Just try to stay sane and take each day as it comes - we are all in this together and I am here to help you in any way I can! 

Here are some of our suggestions of developmentally appropriate activities and resources to help support your child's learning at home:

• Share books each day. Reading together is a wonderful tool to develop early literacy skills and spend quality time with your child! Before beginning the story, examine the front and back covers, note the title, author and illustrator. Throughout reading, pause to ask questions and make inferences based on illustrations.
• Tumblebooks and Epic! are great free resources for online books and read alouds. Visit: https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/  (username is: hte  password is: login) and https://getepic.com/students, enter our class code yhb9848 and select your child's name.
• Our teacher-librarian and reading specialist have also worked to compile an awesome and extensive list of online resources that may be helpful. Check it out at our Virtual School Library Learning Commons webpage. Many of these do not require an account or login. 
• Visit GoNoodle, or Cosmic Kids Yoga, or have a dance party inside for physical activities when the weather isn't fit!
• Happy Spring! (technically) Start a small garden.  Plant some seeds or cut up a sweet potato or carrot and put it in a jar or dish with water.  Watch what happens. Other plants that root easily are garlic bulbs, onions, regular potatoes, green onion 
• Your child can practice printing their full name, address and phone number, and learn when their birthday is.
• You can teach your child to tie their shoelaces - a very important skill!
• Bake or cook with your child, get them to help with laundry, sweep or mop the floor, or assist with caring for the family pet.
• Allow time every day for your child to draw and “write”. This does not have to be formal, simply leave paper, pencils, and crayons out so students can freely choose to create.  Ask them to tell you about their drawings and write down their stories to be shared with other family members or reread back to your child.  They can draw, you can write if they are unable. They are used to this practice, as we were writing daily in Kindergarten.  
• Give your recyclables to your kids, let them colour, cut, glue and tape them into whatever they want.  They can be artists, engineers, architects, etc. Google STEM if you need help with activities.
• Give opportunity for your children to draw, paint, make, sculpt with play dough, do something artistic. Things might get messy - but that's okay! Make sure to involve your child in the clean-up process - they are used to cleaning up their own mess every day at school!
• Go outside! We aimed to spend an hour outdoors each and every day. It is great for inquiry and exploration and helps children connect with and learn in nature.
• Play board games, roll a pair of dice and count, make patterns, and identify 2-D and 3-D shapes. These are all simple ways to promote numeracy skills at home!
• Share your learning with me! I miss each and every one of my students so very much and would love to see the activities you are doing while social distancing at home. I've created a special page on this site where I will post updates sent to me by our friends in K-3 (with parental permission, of course). Feel free to e-mail me photos and videos, accompanied by a written message your child would like to share with their classmates and I will make sure to post it. Can't wait to see what you're all up to!

I think that's all for now! I will be in contact weekly but please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions of websites, apps, or activities you have come across that I could share with other families. Stay safe! 

Mme O'Driscoll