Keeping kids busy over the COVID - 19 Break March 30 - April 3
Last week was a lot of fun and a big adjustment for everyone. The boys are use to going to school and love spending time with their friends and teachers. They have both been enjoying their time at home but definitely are missing their friends and caregivers. We have participated in a couple of Connected North Sessions and have really loved having the opportunity to visit and explore different experiences without having to leave the house.
Last week I made a slight adjustment to the schedule as I started school during our outside time and then we would go outside during our learning time. The boys were both ready to learn first thing in the morning and it was nice to wait for the weather to warm up a bit before heading outside. See below schedule with adjustments.
SCHOOL SCHEDULE:
7:00 - 8:00 Breakfast and Cartoons
8:00 - 9:00 Playtime / small snack (my boys would eat all day if they were allowed to)
9:00 - 10:00 Academic time (Reading and Writing)
10:00 - 11:00 Outside play
11:00 - 11:30 Hand washing & Playtime before lunch
11:30 - 12:00 Lunch
12:00 - 1:30 Nap time for my youngest & Quiet games / activities for my oldest
1:30 - 2:30 Outside time & Snack time
2:30 - 3:30 Academic time (Numeracy and STEM)
3:30 - 5:00 Play time
5:00 - 5:30 Dinner
5:30 - 6:00 Bath
6:00 - 7:00 Snacks and before bed play
7:00 bedtime for my youngest
7:30 bedtime for my oldest
**Depending on the different zoo visits or connected north sessions I will adjust the schedule so we can have the most fun while also taking part in the educational sessions that interest the boys**
Find the link to Week 2 Connected North here
Another adjustment I made was on Tuesday we learnt about plants with Scholastic and that got us talking about gardening. We usually grow a lot of our own vegetables and some fruit in the backyard. Our boys like to help take care of the gardens and love the rewards of eating what they've grown. Well that got my husband and I talking and wondering if the Greenhouses would be opening this year with all of the other COVID - 19 closures. We decided that it would be fun to try and grow our own vegetables from seeds. We are home for an unknown amount of time, and this will give the boys an extra sense of pride when it comes to the garden. So, I went out to our local Home Hardware store and got what we needed to start growing our own vegetables. We had a couple of empty egg cartons and then will transfer to larger containers when needed. We get a lot of sunlight at the front of the house and will use our basement windowsills to house the plants as they will not survive if we leave them in arms reach of our youngest. I will keep you all posted on how this experiment goes :)
With my youngest I did "circle" time (usually just the two of us but occasionally my oldest would join). I would play nursery rhymes or other kids songs (baby shark is a hit with him). I would use the apple TV to mirror the videos and we would sing and dance along to them. Any neighbours walking by know know why we looked so silly. The MOE YouTube also has great videos under their language section that we have used for "circle" time.
To start our day usually between 8:30 and 9:00 I would get both boys to sit (I use the term sit very loosely as my youngest would go between playing and watching) and watch the video and listen to the story from Scholastic. Then my youngest would continue to play while my oldest and I would do the puzzle (quiz) to see what he learnt. He loves showing how much he knows. I would then get him to pick one of his leveled books and he would read it to me. Then the boys pick out a book that they both want me to read to them. Next my oldest gets to go and play as a reward for working so hard (this does not take an hour but your child is never getting 1 - 1 attention for an hour and they need rewards for working hard). He usually chooses to go into his room and play with the little toys he hides in there from his brother. This is when I would do circle time with my youngest. This would usually last between 15 - 20 minutes. Once circle time was over I get my oldest son to come back out as it is time to work on what ever writing activity we are doing that day. I know at school they usually practice writing their names. We start with that and then add on different words based on whatever theme we've decided to do that day or week. While my oldest is working on his writing or word recognition I try to distract my youngest with a craft, toys or colouring... this is not an easy task and he just wants to destroy any papers his brother is working with. Once we are done our writing we either all finish the craft or go outside. The boys love to be outdoors and this is a huge reward for all of the hard work they have just done.
Once we come inside it is usually time to get lunch ready. The boys play or whine at my legs telling me how hungry they are while I try to jump around them and make lunch ...
We all eat lunch together as a family and then my youngest goes for his nap. Now that my husband is working from home I take nap time as a time for me to get some exercise. I try to get outdoors if I can to get out with the dog for a walk or a run. This is my quiet time and a good time to get the dog some exercise.
Once I'm home I finish cleaning up the kitchen from lunch as my husband and oldest son are usually playing a board game. Once my youngest is up from his nap he is usually begging to go outside. We get dressed and head out for another backyard or neighbourhood adventure while keeping social distancing from neighbours in mind.
Once we come inside we have a quick snack and work on some numeracy and STEM activities. Next it is time to play or put on a movie so I can get dinner made.
Some days we would get all activities done and other days we wouldn't. Some days we would get side tracked by other learning opportunities or somethings didn't seem to be working so we would move on to something else. It is important to not force your kids to do an activity as they wont really take anything away from it, other than the fact that it is done. Find things that interest them as that will make the learning authentic and enjoyable for everyone.
Another thing we have had to do is order a printer. I know I will be wanting to print off resources for the boys and getting a printer was very important for that.
My sister in law recently got my oldest son a subscription to The Little Passport. He gets a monthly package that has a work booklet for him to work through (different games, colouring, etc.), stickers to add to his world map and there is always one big activity to do as well. It is a great educational resource and lets face it, what kid doesn't love getting something in the mail!
Monday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 6
Writing: Have kids draw a picture and write a story about what was their favourite thing we did last week.
Craft: Make Play dough
Connected North - Tombo Trail - Toledo Zoo at 11:00
Numeracy: Basic math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) with sidewalk chalk outside (Side note: we will just be doing addition as my son is in JK)
STEM: COVID - 19 Germ experiment for kids (I'm really excited for this as I know my son had a GERM presentation at school before the school closure and he was really excited about it)
Tuesday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 7
Writing: Play dough letter mats
Craft/Snack: Teddy bear toast (toast with Nutella or peanut butter, banana slices for ears and nose, blueberries or chocolate chips for eyes and nose)
Connected North - Beaks, Bubbles and Burrows - Alaska at 11:30
Numeracy & STEM: Using LEGO Build a bridge for either plastic animals to cross or toy cars. You can get creative and map out a river for them to cross. Have kids count how many blocks they needed to create their bridge.
Wednesday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 8
Writing: writing name & letter puzzles
Craft/Snack: Blindfolded taste test (have various foods for kids to smell, feel and taste and see if they can guess what they are. Have a variety of different flavours, sweet, sour, savory. We avoid spicy as our kids are still pretty young)
Numeracy: Basic Math Practice
STEM: Disappearing eggshell Experiment
Mom's Birthday Dinner :) (I've heard some rumors about breakfast in bed... here's hoping I get to sleep in a little and eat in bed)
Thursday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 9
Writing: Writing name & Shark writing activity
Craft: Hand print butterflies & egg carton Bees
Connected North: Shark Babies at 10:30 and Bees and Butterflies at 11:00
Numeracy: Online math games
STEM: Mystery Science Can Animals Laugh mini lesson.
Friday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 10
Writing: Writing name & Letter puzzles
Craft: French Painting
Connected North: Home Science at 10:00 and Sea Turtles at 11:30
Numeracy: Balloon Drop (See how many times you can keep a balloon up in the air. This can be done as a group or challenge your siblings to see who can keep the balloon in the air with the most hits)
STEM: Build a LEGO car and see if you can get it to move by balloon power.
Last week I made a slight adjustment to the schedule as I started school during our outside time and then we would go outside during our learning time. The boys were both ready to learn first thing in the morning and it was nice to wait for the weather to warm up a bit before heading outside. See below schedule with adjustments.
SCHOOL SCHEDULE:
7:00 - 8:00 Breakfast and Cartoons
8:00 - 9:00 Playtime / small snack (my boys would eat all day if they were allowed to)
9:00 - 10:00 Academic time (Reading and Writing)
10:00 - 11:00 Outside play
11:00 - 11:30 Hand washing & Playtime before lunch
11:30 - 12:00 Lunch
12:00 - 1:30 Nap time for my youngest & Quiet games / activities for my oldest
1:30 - 2:30 Outside time & Snack time
2:30 - 3:30 Academic time (Numeracy and STEM)
3:30 - 5:00 Play time
5:00 - 5:30 Dinner
5:30 - 6:00 Bath
6:00 - 7:00 Snacks and before bed play
7:00 bedtime for my youngest
7:30 bedtime for my oldest
**Depending on the different zoo visits or connected north sessions I will adjust the schedule so we can have the most fun while also taking part in the educational sessions that interest the boys**
Find the link to Week 2 Connected North here
Mystery Science is another great resources that has plans for and resources online. It's organized by grade as well as full length and mini length lessons.
The KPDSB also sent out a list of online resources to help families with learning during this difficult time. They've also shown which resources will work best for each grade.
Another adjustment I made was on Tuesday we learnt about plants with Scholastic and that got us talking about gardening. We usually grow a lot of our own vegetables and some fruit in the backyard. Our boys like to help take care of the gardens and love the rewards of eating what they've grown. Well that got my husband and I talking and wondering if the Greenhouses would be opening this year with all of the other COVID - 19 closures. We decided that it would be fun to try and grow our own vegetables from seeds. We are home for an unknown amount of time, and this will give the boys an extra sense of pride when it comes to the garden. So, I went out to our local Home Hardware store and got what we needed to start growing our own vegetables. We had a couple of empty egg cartons and then will transfer to larger containers when needed. We get a lot of sunlight at the front of the house and will use our basement windowsills to house the plants as they will not survive if we leave them in arms reach of our youngest. I will keep you all posted on how this experiment goes :)
With my youngest I did "circle" time (usually just the two of us but occasionally my oldest would join). I would play nursery rhymes or other kids songs (baby shark is a hit with him). I would use the apple TV to mirror the videos and we would sing and dance along to them. Any neighbours walking by know know why we looked so silly. The MOE YouTube also has great videos under their language section that we have used for "circle" time.
To start our day usually between 8:30 and 9:00 I would get both boys to sit (I use the term sit very loosely as my youngest would go between playing and watching) and watch the video and listen to the story from Scholastic. Then my youngest would continue to play while my oldest and I would do the puzzle (quiz) to see what he learnt. He loves showing how much he knows. I would then get him to pick one of his leveled books and he would read it to me. Then the boys pick out a book that they both want me to read to them. Next my oldest gets to go and play as a reward for working so hard (this does not take an hour but your child is never getting 1 - 1 attention for an hour and they need rewards for working hard). He usually chooses to go into his room and play with the little toys he hides in there from his brother. This is when I would do circle time with my youngest. This would usually last between 15 - 20 minutes. Once circle time was over I get my oldest son to come back out as it is time to work on what ever writing activity we are doing that day. I know at school they usually practice writing their names. We start with that and then add on different words based on whatever theme we've decided to do that day or week. While my oldest is working on his writing or word recognition I try to distract my youngest with a craft, toys or colouring... this is not an easy task and he just wants to destroy any papers his brother is working with. Once we are done our writing we either all finish the craft or go outside. The boys love to be outdoors and this is a huge reward for all of the hard work they have just done.
Once we come inside it is usually time to get lunch ready. The boys play or whine at my legs telling me how hungry they are while I try to jump around them and make lunch ...
We all eat lunch together as a family and then my youngest goes for his nap. Now that my husband is working from home I take nap time as a time for me to get some exercise. I try to get outdoors if I can to get out with the dog for a walk or a run. This is my quiet time and a good time to get the dog some exercise.
Once I'm home I finish cleaning up the kitchen from lunch as my husband and oldest son are usually playing a board game. Once my youngest is up from his nap he is usually begging to go outside. We get dressed and head out for another backyard or neighbourhood adventure while keeping social distancing from neighbours in mind.
Once we come inside we have a quick snack and work on some numeracy and STEM activities. Next it is time to play or put on a movie so I can get dinner made.
Some days we would get all activities done and other days we wouldn't. Some days we would get side tracked by other learning opportunities or somethings didn't seem to be working so we would move on to something else. It is important to not force your kids to do an activity as they wont really take anything away from it, other than the fact that it is done. Find things that interest them as that will make the learning authentic and enjoyable for everyone.
Another thing we have had to do is order a printer. I know I will be wanting to print off resources for the boys and getting a printer was very important for that.
My sister in law recently got my oldest son a subscription to The Little Passport. He gets a monthly package that has a work booklet for him to work through (different games, colouring, etc.), stickers to add to his world map and there is always one big activity to do as well. It is a great educational resource and lets face it, what kid doesn't love getting something in the mail!
Monday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 6
Writing: Have kids draw a picture and write a story about what was their favourite thing we did last week.
Craft: Make Play dough
Connected North - Tombo Trail - Toledo Zoo at 11:00
Numeracy: Basic math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) with sidewalk chalk outside (Side note: we will just be doing addition as my son is in JK)
STEM: COVID - 19 Germ experiment for kids (I'm really excited for this as I know my son had a GERM presentation at school before the school closure and he was really excited about it)
Tuesday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 7
Writing: Play dough letter mats
Craft/Snack: Teddy bear toast (toast with Nutella or peanut butter, banana slices for ears and nose, blueberries or chocolate chips for eyes and nose)
Connected North - Beaks, Bubbles and Burrows - Alaska at 11:30
Numeracy & STEM: Using LEGO Build a bridge for either plastic animals to cross or toy cars. You can get creative and map out a river for them to cross. Have kids count how many blocks they needed to create their bridge.
Wednesday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 8
Writing: writing name & letter puzzles
Craft/Snack: Blindfolded taste test (have various foods for kids to smell, feel and taste and see if they can guess what they are. Have a variety of different flavours, sweet, sour, savory. We avoid spicy as our kids are still pretty young)
Numeracy: Basic Math Practice
STEM: Disappearing eggshell Experiment
Mom's Birthday Dinner :) (I've heard some rumors about breakfast in bed... here's hoping I get to sleep in a little and eat in bed)
Thursday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 9
Writing: Writing name & Shark writing activity
Craft: Hand print butterflies & egg carton Bees
Connected North: Shark Babies at 10:30 and Bees and Butterflies at 11:00
Numeracy: Online math games
STEM: Mystery Science Can Animals Laugh mini lesson.
Friday:
Reading: Scholastic Day 10
Writing: Writing name & Letter puzzles
Craft: French Painting
Connected North: Home Science at 10:00 and Sea Turtles at 11:30
Numeracy: Balloon Drop (See how many times you can keep a balloon up in the air. This can be done as a group or challenge your siblings to see who can keep the balloon in the air with the most hits)
STEM: Build a LEGO car and see if you can get it to move by balloon power.
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