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Good morning families!
Thank you to all of you who were able to find time to join me and Mrs. Alzuhd for our virtual parent meeting. Being able to talk to all of you at the same time was VERY helpful for me in trying to determine what will continue to work well for both you and your children going forward.
Some of the things we talked about I will start putting into place next week (more YouTube videos you can watch when it’s convenient for you/your schedule… letter of the week… more daily activities in a variety of learning areas/subjects).
For today and the rest of this week I will continue with posting one activity per day. For today we are going to focus on science. I am including a video from YouTube with the directions for how to do this experiment. We are going to do sink/float. In this video, they use a separate container on a table filled with water. You can do this – or if you prefer – you can do this in the bathtub when your child takes a bath today.
For today, your child can watch the video of how to do the sink or float experiment. After watching the video, your child will need your help to choose items from around the house that are ok to get wet. Before putting an item into the water, talk to your child about if they think the item will sink if they think it will float. Ask them WHY they think it will float or sink. Then, have your child try and see if their guess was right or wrong.
Please feel free to send me pictures or videos of your child either doing the experiment or pictures of their chart when they’re finished. HAVE FUN!
Good morning families!
Just a quick reminder we will be having a ZOOM meeting for parents only at 2:00 PM today. I will send you the link and password to join the meeting on the Remind text message later today.
For your preschooler’s today, I have a video and a writing activity for them to do.
First, your child can watch this Home Safari video from the Cincinnati Zoo about their porcupine named Rico.
When your child is watching the video, watch it alongside them. Talk with them about what they are seeing in the video. When the video is complete, they can draw a picture of Rico the porcupine and tell you what they liked best about the video. Please write down what they say and send it back to me on the Remind text. Don’t forget to have your child write their first and last name on their picture.
Good morning families!
The sun is FINALLY shining again today! The weather is supposed to be absolutely beautiful with the forecast showing bright sunny skies and a high temperature of 60 degrees! I am asking all of you to make sure you and your children get outside for some much needed fresh air today. While remembering to stay away from parks/playgrounds and also being sure to stay more than 6 feet away from anyone else who is out and about… take a walk, ride bikes, play in the front or backyard. Most importantly, enjoy the time outdoors!
That brings me to our activity for today. Since the sun is shining, we are going to use that sun as one of the materials we need to complete this activity. Your child can choose a toy or another item from the house, a piece of paper and something to write with. Take these items outside with you and help your child place the item/toy they chose on or in front of their paper so that the sun makes a shadow of the object on the paper. Your child can then trace the shadow on the paper. Here are some picture examples:
As shown in these pictures, you could even place the paper under/near a tree and trace the shadow of the branches… or have your child stand in a pose as you trace an outline of their shadow on the ground with chalk.
After your child traces the shadow, they can decorate it/color it how they would like to. Please snap a pic of their creation and send it to me on the Remind text chat.
Reminder: Governor Whitmer is speaking on TV at 10:30 AM this morning about schools. Please watch/listen to her speak so you all have the correct information.
Good morning families!
I hope everyone is still remembering to get outside for fresh air every day. I know my kids have been enjoying riding their bikes up and down the street and also playing in our backyard on the swingset.
For today, I am including a story video. This is a story we have read in class before called “Is Your Mama a Llama”.
For today’s activity, have your child watch the story. When the story is over, they can make a picture of the people in their family. Talk with your child about what is the same and what is different about the people in their picture. For example, in my family myself, Bella and Addy has brown eyes… but Mr. Laurus and Ellie have blue eyes. Also, me and Ellie have curly hair, everyone else has straight hair. Another example is Mr. Laurus is a boy, while me, Bella, Addy and Ellie are all girls. Be sure to keep use the words “same” and “different” as you and your child talk about their picture.
When finished, please write down what your child said is the same or different on their picture, take a pic of their picture and send it to me on the Remind text message thread.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being able to see all of your children’s pictures… faces… drawings and everything else you have all been sending. They brighten my day more than you could ever know. Thank you for continuing to help your kids while schools are closed. I’ll ‘see’ everyone at 3:00 PM for our story time today too!
Good morning families!
As I’ve been thinking about what essential skills are needed to continue to help your kids maintain their learning and even grow some skills – I keep coming back to their fine motor skills. Fine motor skills refer to the small and tiny muscles in your child’s hands. These muscles are important to keep strong for them to be successful in all grades of school and to be strong enough to do writing. So what’s something everyone can use to have strong muscles in their hands?
Playdoh! Playdoh is a GREAT thing for children to use to build these muscles. If you already have playdoh at home, GREAT! Go ahead and have your child use that. If you do NOT have playdoh at home, here is a recipe you can use to make it, right in your kitchen. Have your child help you with the measuring and pouring of ingredients as you make it.
In a pot on the stove, pour 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of oil, and a few drops of food coloring. (If you don’t have food coloring, that’s ok! Just leave it out of the recipe.) This part is just for the grown ups: Heat the liquids in pan up until it is hot… but not boiling.
Next, in a bowl on the counter your child can help measure and pour 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt and 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar (again if you don’t have cream of tartar… you can leave it out or use lemon juice instead if you have that.)
A grown up can pour the hot water into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix it up.
Once the dough is cool enough to touch, your child can help with mixing and kneading the dough on the table or countertop.
Make sure when you’re not using the playdoh, you store it in an airtight container… preferably a bowl with a lid, but you can also store it in a ziploc bag.
Once the playdoh is cool enough and mixed enough to touch and use, have your child roll the dough into lines and curves to make letters and/or numbers… like this…
Have your child use the playdoh to make their own first and last name as well as the names of others who live in your house. Have them make numbers and shapes too! Most importantly, have fun!
Don’t forget to send pictures of your child’s playdoh creations to Ms. Laurus.
We will Zoom at 3:00 PM today! I can’t wait to see everyone!
Good morning families!
Today we are going to do a story… along with some writing/drawing. There is a story that has been a favorite of all three of my daughters throughout their lives. It is also an all time favorite of mine! Recently, there was a video made using a puppet to retell the story, and this person does puppets way better than I ever could! We are going to watch a video retelling of this book:
After your child watches the video, give them paper, pencil and crayons/markers so they can draw a picture of their favorite part of the story. Have your child tell you about their picture and what they liked most and write their words at the bottom of their picture. Send me some pictures! The pictures I have been getting are FANTASTIC!
Here is the link for the story:
One last thing, I will send a link on remind for a Zoom story time this afternoon at 3:00 PM again! “See” you all then!
Good morning families!
Today I am going to challenge everyone with the task of letting your kids get a little messy… while at the same time… being clean! For today, find some shaving cream in your house and put a squirt of it right onto either a table or some kind of plastic placemat. Then, voila! Your kids can literally dig right in with their hands and get to work!
While using the shaving cream, encourage your child to draw letters (specifically their own name but also the names of other people in your home), numbers, shapes, people, anything they want to draw.
At my house, my kids started out with using their finger to draw/write… they then started using the eraser side of a pencil to make their letters in the shaving cream. We also have these little foam blocks (from Dollar Tree) that stick together great when you use shaving cream to put them together!
Check out my YouTube video on writing your first and last name in the shaving cream….
Last but not least… we will do a new story on Zoom today! We will meet on Zoom at 3:00 PM. Parents, please join the meeting via the link on Remind a few minutes before 3:00 PM and make sure you allow both video and microphone so you can see and hear me. “See” you all at 3:00 today!
Good Morning families!
For today’s activities we are going to look at math…. more specifically, making patterns! You can use just about anything you have at your house to do this. For example, you can use coins (quarters, nickels, dimes, pennies), colorful cereal (like Fruit Loops), crayons, toys… anything you can think of.
Start off by having your child make a simple pattern:
If a simple pattern is easy for your child, they can make a slightly more complex pattern:
After that, you can make it increasingly more complex per your child’s current ability level. If using crayons/markers… your child can create patterns on paper by drawing a circle of one color, then a circle of another color – and draw the pattern out. Don’t forget to send me pictures of your patterns!
Your child can also visit this website and play this pattern game online today: https://www.abcya.com/games/fuzz_bugs_patterns
To get some physical activity in, have your child follow along to this video…. we have done this lots of time in class so they are familiar with it.
