Thanks to contributing author: Christina Vunk Special note from the Editor: There are a whole lot of folks right now finding themselves at home with kids out of school for an indefinite amount of time. One of our resident Stuff finders just happens to be an elementary school teacher and has some great tips for you on how to keep the kids busy while keeping the learning going with some great fun and stealthy moves! And no worries, there won't be a quiz at the end of it. :) Suddenly find yourself with weeks of time on your hands and a house full of kids? Schools in my town as well as many others made the well-informed decision to close for the next few weeks and right now, we're not sure of when we are going back. Even though this may seem abrupt to parents and guardians, the schools have been preparing for this just in case it became a reality. Educators have been working so hard to have packets of information ready to send home so that learning can continue outside the walls of the school. The effort that has gone into this is beyond impressive. When looking through it all today after picking up my kids, I’ll be honest - I was overwhelmed. Being a Type A person, I felt like I needed to get started right away and make sure they were learning at home at the same rate the would be learning at school. Then I got hungry (stress snack!), had a bite to eat, and talked some sense into myself. You know what I realized? That is not what the schools are expecting. They want to offer as much learning opportunities as possible to stay on track, but by no means do they expect it to all be perfect. Then I got thinking in a different direction. Now that I have this extra time with my kids, what am I good at that I can teach them? What would be fun, but still a learning experience? Here’s the list I came up with: Science: Plant some flowers. Talk about what a plant needs to survive, explain photosynthesis, talk about why trees lose their leaves in the winter. Talk about different types of clouds. Talk about the moon and why it waxes and wanes. (It’s been a beautiful moon this week!) Editor's note: try a planting kit that let's kids see how the plants go from seeds to sprouting and beyond! Image by pencil parker from Pixabay Social Studies: Find some old maps and pictures of your town online. Help your kids make connections between what the town used to look like and what it looks like now. Were there cars or horses and carriages? Were the houses all close together or was there more farmland? Was your town always called by the same name or did it go by a different name when it was first founded? If you can find super old photos of buildings that are still standing today, even better! See if the kids recognize them! Historic sketch of street in Stamford, CT Reading: Turn off the volume on your child’s favorite show and turn on the subtitles. They will be more apt to pay attention since it’s their favorite show and it will promote their ability to read at a faster pace. Editor's thought: why not use their favorite movie as a jumping off point for reading as well? Most Disney and kids films are based off books. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes to mind. Maybe they will be more interested in the book if they know the story a bit? (that's why I read Heidi over and over again when I was little--Shirley Temple inspired it.) Also, our local library has wonderful digital resources online and since they too have temporarily closed, it is the main resource for readers who'd like to keep busy. Borrowing some kids books will be a great way to keep them occupied and maybe set up a sticker or goal system for every one they read during this school "break". Math: Count all the things! Count steps in your house, count how many steps it takes to get to the car, count how many socks are in the pile of laundry (Bonus points if you also get them to match the socks whilst counting them!) Also, did anyone say brownies? If I need two eggs per batch, but want to make two batches…how many eggs do I need in all? Or for the older kids, help them work on their fractions the same way. If I need ¾ a cup of oil, but want to double my recipe, how much will I need? The possibilities for math are endless!! Image by József Simon from Pixabay Writing: Lots of possibilities here too! Sidewalk chalk is a favorite at our house so after the kids are done drawing and creating their masterpieces, ask them to label all of their art! Instead of writing down your own grocery list, ask them to write it down for you. Not only will you be able to just call out items as you stick your head in the pantry and fridge, but it will be super cute to see how they spell zookini or skwash Get Moving: Here’s another tip. Even during the school day, teachers give the students something called “brain breaks.” It’s usually 5 minutes or so of a silly song or video to help them move around and get some energy out between lessons. Literally giving the brain a break. There’s a great website called Go Noodle that has SO MUCH fun stuff on it. There are even calming exercises and yoga for those times that are just out of control. Editor's thought: play your kids some music you grew up with and tell them why you like it or a story associated with it. My dad and I did this sometimes when I'd be home sick from school. I got to learn more about him and also the music as well! Learned so much about the music from when he was younger and what was popular when he was in school. It's a fun way to do a little family history lesson as well as expose kids to music they may not be familiar with now. Also, on good weather days, really try to get outside in the fresh air with the kids. It can become too easy to just stay inside, but going out and moving around, looking at the Spring flowers coming up, playing ball, etc can help so much for them and for YOU too! While these are things that I like to do, they can be modified depending on the age of your little ones and your own interests too! I say we sit back, take a deep breath, and look at this as a gift of more time with our kids. After all, doesn’t everyone tell us that they grow up too fast?
From all of us here at SWF, Good luck, be safe and enjoy your kids!
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