New Learning Activities for the week of April 23-30

Belonging and Contributing

--  Children need to see themselves as contributing members of our society. As we all journey along these next weeks/months practicing social distancing and isolation, consider the needs of those around you in your neighbourhood. Perhaps there might be a special person in your life who is elderly and unable to get out of the home. Discuss as a family some things that you/your child can do to lend a helping hand and brighten the day of those close by. Consider making a baked good together and leaving on their porch. Create a ‘CoVid19 Care Package’ which might include a bottle of hand sanitizer, a few rolls of toilet paper, a crossword puzzle book, a Sudoku puzzle book, a package of hard candies, a deck of cards, a gardening magazine, a home baked food item (e.g., cake, pie, cookies, scones, etc…), a puzzle, a fresh potted bulb plant and a card made especially by your child. Deliver the ‘Care Package’ to the recipient’s front door and leave it for them to find.

--  Involve your child in folding laundry and putting it away this week. Have him/her sort socks, fold t-shirts and fold towels and face cloths. 

Self-Regulation and Well-Being

--  Give your child a bucket of sidewalk chalk and have him/her go outside on a sunny day to create a game, write a message or create a pretty picture that will be an encouragement to someone walking by your home. 

--  Include your child in meal planning for the upcoming week. Give him/her a simple chart to complete which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. Make sure that each meal has at least one vegetable or fruit, a protein source and a carbohydrate.

Demonstrates Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours

--  Watch Franklin Plants a Tree on Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB0t0IITJ54

If you have a copy of this book at home, ask a parent or older sibling to read it to you.  

After watching or hearing the story, here are a few things to discuss…

--Who were the characters in the book?

--What happened to Franklin’s tree as he was taking it home?

--What did Franklin learn from Mr. Heron about what trees need?

--How did Franklin get his tree back?

--Franklin was given a sugar maple tree to plant. What can you learn about a sugar maple tree on the internet? What is the sap of a sugar maple used to make?

--  Measurement:  Today’s activity involves measuring and comparing. Trace your foot onto a piece of heavy paper or cardboard. Cut is out with scissors or have an adult help you. 

  --  Find something in your home that is about the same length as your foot. 

  --  Find something in your home that is shorter than your foot.

  --  Find something in your home that is much longer than your foot.

  --  Using the cut-out of your footprint, have someone in your family lie down and allow you to measure them using your footprint. Before measuring, ESTIMATE (make a good guess) how many ‘footprints’ long the family member will be. What do you need to do when using a unit of measurement like your footprint to get an accurate measurement?  

How do your estimate and the true measurement compare? Were you close in your estimation?

What else could you measure with your footprint?

Problem Solving and Innovation

--  Everyone seems to have a ‘stockpile’ of toilet paper in their homes these days. If your family is like mine, the cupboard has quite a few rolls of toilet paper stacked up, waiting ‘to be needed.’ Your building challenge this week is to ask for permission to use those full rolls of toilet paper to build a structure of your choice. I would LOVE to feature your pictures on our blog in a ‘K-1 Toilet Paper Roll Building Challenge.’ Get creative and have at it. Please, just don’t unroll any of them…!  ;o)

--  Here is your PROBLEM SOLVING CHALLENGE for the week… Rhys built a spaceship with his Legos. He used 4 blue Legos and 5 black Legos. How many Legos did he use in all? Draw a picture of what his spaceship might look like.