Yes, this blog is normally for travel experiences. But nothing is quite normal at present, is it? Many of you have to homeschool your child(ren) at present. I am a trained educator in my 8th year of teaching – now doing a support role for our school division. I have a space to share, I’m going to use it to help out.
It’s a tough time the next few weeks and families are now in charge for their child(ren)’s learning. As an educator, I’m being called, texted and emailed to share what I can about lesson ideas, etc. There is also the growing need to find online resources.
Below are some websites geared for Nursery to Grade 6 that I hope you find helpful as you try to navigate teaching fromo home.
Did I miss any? Send me an email and I will gladly add it on!
Province’s Guidelines
It’s a good idea to check online for what your province/territory or state is recommending. They usually also have a list of vetted resources to help guide families who are taking on the teaching role. Here is Manitoba’s as a reference: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/mylearning/learningathome/index.html
Math
- ABCya.com – Math learning through games. You can extend their learning by asking: What does this game teach you? Why is it important (or How can this skill help you?). If they are unsure, you can clarify for them how it is helpful.
- KhanAcademy.org – You can register for free and get math lessons (videos) and activities. We did this in Grade 6, but it does accomodate younger and older learners as well.
- Have Fun Learning – designed for our younger learners with songs to help develop numeracy and reading skills.
- Cook or Bake Together – ask questions while reading the recipe such as: “If I had to double (or halve) this recipe, how many cups of flour would I need?” Or “If it takes 15 minutes to bake one batch of cookies, how many minutes would I need to bake four batches?”
ELA (Reading, Writing)
- Get onto YouTube and search for Read Alouds if you don’t have print books for kids at home. I personally like Storytime at Awnie’s House, Readers are Leaders and Lights Down Reading.
- Go through the story together. Pause sometimes and ask questions. Here are some examples of questions to ask.
- Before Reading
- What do you predict this story will be about? (Use the pictures to help.)
- What kind of story do you think this is (scary, funny, realistic, science fiction, fantasy, etc.)?
- During Reading
- What do you notice on this page?
- What do you think will happen next? Why do you think that?
- Find an interesting word that you never knew before. What do you think it means? How can we find out?
- After Reading
- What is the big lesson of this story?
- Why do you think the author wrote this story?
- If you wrote the book, what would you change about it?
- You’re in job of making the sequel. What would happen if you extended the story?
- Before Reading
- Go through the story together. Pause sometimes and ask questions. Here are some examples of questions to ask.
- ReadWriteThink.org – tons of parent resources and classroom resources from Nursery all the way up to high school. Graphic organizers, lesson ideas to help organize student thinking for reading and writing.
- Debbie Doo – YouTube channel with nursery rhymes and singalongs to help our youngest learners!
- Write a Creative Story! Show your child a photo that can spark some creativity. Here’s an example below. Ask them to write a story that begins with, ends with, or contains in the plot some or all aspects of the photo(s) you’ve chosen.
Movement / Brain Breaks
Kids need to move and ground in some mindfulness (and frankly, so do we)!
- GoNoodle – you can sign up for free and do everything from dances to coordination games. You also adopt a character that grows the more you complete activities!
- Cosmic Kids Yoga – we all could use this!
- The Learning Station – learning songs, rhymes, brain break activity songs/dancing.
- Action for Healthy Kids – some ideas that can be adapted for home breaks!
- Growga – Mindfulness for kids. They offer some FREE videos to follow and stream activities on Wednesday evenings for free as well.
- Stand Up Kids – guided movement breaks.
Science / STEAM Resources
- Instant Challenge Library – these are fun, they’re exploratory and are hands-on learning of science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM).
- Destination Imagination – some ideas on how to set up instant challenges, and some apps/resources to help!
- Mini STEAM Challenges video
Best wishes, Homeschoolers!
I will continue to add resources as I find them. The key is to make learning authentic and meaningful. You can sprinkle in math when cooking together at home and you can add history to conversations you have. Students can keep journal entries of their experiences, or have thoughtful conversations/debates with you about the impacts of social distancing. Feel free to reach out for anything else I missed or anything you need clarification with.
Stay safe and healthy, everyone!
xoxo
Judianne