It’s already our final day of our first week of School at Home! Please let us know what you want to see next week — More singing? More dancing? Games? Independent activities? Writing or reading activities? We want these emails to be as useful as possible for you.
Story time:Join Teacher Patricia for a fun adventure and a felt board rendition of “Five Little Monkeys Swingin’ in a Tree”
An activity for today: Playing with tongs and tweezers!Tongs and tweezers (or even homemade tongs made from from chopsticks) are great tools to help develop fine motor skills and strengthen hand muscles. Kids can transfer objects between bowls or cups. Encourage your child to keep their thumb on one side and fingers on the other side (like this.) Use tongs/tweezers with:
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Pom poms
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Marbles
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Beads
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Dry beans
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Small blocks
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Inside of any fruits or vegetables to pick out the seeds (especially squash!) – make sure to keep clean hands so you can eat it later!
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Putting dirty clothes in the laundry basket
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Clean up bath toys with tongs when bathtime is done
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Collect nature with tongs
An activity for today: Card games!There are many card games that you can play with a traditional set of cards! One is called “Gobble Up!” (a simple version of “War” we just made up.) You might want to take face cards out of the deck before you play, unless you explain the hierarchy of face cards to your child beforehand or you write numbers on them.
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Deal out the entire deck between two players.
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Cards are kept face down until used, and players are not supposed to look at their cards until they play them.
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Both people play at the same time. You both flip over the top card of your deck, so that it is face-up and visible to each other.
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Whoever draws the greater number gets to “gobble up” the other card and put both cards at the bottom of their deck. If they are the same, they are “equal numbers”. Just put these at the bottom of the deck.
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Keep going until someone has all the cards!
This game helps with numeral recognition, comparing quantities, and mathematical vocabulary. Try using the terms “greater”, “less than” and “equal”.
For parents: Activities to explain/understand coronavirus to your kids.Rachel’s graduate school professor, Genevieve Lowry, made a video for parents about some activities to help kids talk about, understand, and express their thoughts and feelings about coronavirus. Watch it here.
You are all doing an amazing job, juggling so many responsibilities and being there for your children. As the Oak teachers said in their note yesterday: “You’re doing great! A reminder this is a national emergency, not a voluntary experiment in homeschooling.” If there is anything we can do to help you or if you just need a listening ear, do not hesitate to reach out.
Warmly,
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