Technology can be a blessing---especially right now with schools across the nation shut down and thousands of students left to do "school" at home.
Currently I teacher 4k preschool and am not required to do anything while closed, but my teacher heart can not sit idly by especially when I am doing fun educational stuff at home with my 2 girls and niece:D.
So this week I tried something new for the first time ever!!! Facebook LIVE!
I started using Facebook's Live feed to record myself doing a simplified circle time so I could share it with my students' families.
I'm still getting used to the camera and trying different things but it seems to be going well.
Click on any of the links below to watch the videos we have created so far!
Wednesday March 18
Even my daughter Kailey got in on the action and did a story time through Facebook Live.
We tried to do a video of a math game with our goldfish---it definitely didn't go as planned (certain 4 year olds and a camera LOL) but it hopefully got the point across hahaha!
Lion Directed Drawing
Thursday March 19
Colors story time
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Duncan "home" school---COVID-19
So our world has kinda been turned upside down.....businesses and schools shut down as we all try to quarantine ourselves to stop the spread of this COVID-19 virus.
I'll be honest, I swing back and forth between worry and calm....that calm only coming from the Lord. Those moments of worry sneak in at unexpected moments though. Did I get enough food, when will life return to "normal", am I doing enough to ensure my children won't fall behind in their studies, etc. Questions run through my head constantly, especially at night when I try to go to sleep.
BUT, I will not let the enemy steal my joy and my assurance in Christ. I know God is in control in all things, the good and the bad.
Our normal lives are so busy. I have really struggled with this lately in my personal life. I am a wife, mom, preschool teacher, small group director of kids at church.... I wear many hats and feel pulled in many directions. I am tired and worn out many days but I love all that I do. I know teaching is a calling Jesus has given me in my life. But I can not help but wonder if even in the midst of this storm, God has a given us a great opportunity ---a gift of time with the ones we love the most. I am cherishing these days I get to just be with my girls. They aren't having to share me with others right now and its refreshing in a sense.
This year, I have noticed how much my oldest daughter, Kailey, has grown. She is 7, almost 8 and she's no longer that baby I held in my arms. She is quickly maturing and growing up and I don't want to waste even a moment with her. I will use this time home with her to grow our relationship and to create memories together as a family.
Most of my blog posts have been centered around school things---this one is a bit different. It feels good to get things off your chest so to speak and this quarantine is something we've never experienced (and I pray we never repeat LOL)...so writing about it is therapeutic and good to be able to look back upon one day.
We will get past all of this----life will return to a new normal---hopefully one centered more around our families and communities and a nation turned back to the great healer .
We are on day 2 of our home school adventure. I will say so far it is going great!! They are excited and having fun. My oldest thought it needed to be longer and more like "real" school but quickly realized it was up to her---we can get lots more accomplished with 1 2nd grader rather than 20+. Kendall (4k) and Natalie (3k) are able to do just about the same things so I'm basically doing a mini circle time with them like I did at school.
I plan to let Kailey do some self-led research project type activities. I asked her yesterday what she would like to learn about so that gave me some ideas.
One thing I'm looking forward to is our Caterpillars! I bought them for my classroom (we were going to do them as a family towards the end of school) but since they never made it to school, we are going to learn all about them here at home!
I'll be honest, I swing back and forth between worry and calm....that calm only coming from the Lord. Those moments of worry sneak in at unexpected moments though. Did I get enough food, when will life return to "normal", am I doing enough to ensure my children won't fall behind in their studies, etc. Questions run through my head constantly, especially at night when I try to go to sleep.
BUT, I will not let the enemy steal my joy and my assurance in Christ. I know God is in control in all things, the good and the bad.
Our normal lives are so busy. I have really struggled with this lately in my personal life. I am a wife, mom, preschool teacher, small group director of kids at church.... I wear many hats and feel pulled in many directions. I am tired and worn out many days but I love all that I do. I know teaching is a calling Jesus has given me in my life. But I can not help but wonder if even in the midst of this storm, God has a given us a great opportunity ---a gift of time with the ones we love the most. I am cherishing these days I get to just be with my girls. They aren't having to share me with others right now and its refreshing in a sense.
This year, I have noticed how much my oldest daughter, Kailey, has grown. She is 7, almost 8 and she's no longer that baby I held in my arms. She is quickly maturing and growing up and I don't want to waste even a moment with her. I will use this time home with her to grow our relationship and to create memories together as a family.
Most of my blog posts have been centered around school things---this one is a bit different. It feels good to get things off your chest so to speak and this quarantine is something we've never experienced (and I pray we never repeat LOL)...so writing about it is therapeutic and good to be able to look back upon one day.
We will get past all of this----life will return to a new normal---hopefully one centered more around our families and communities and a nation turned back to the great healer .
We are on day 2 of our home school adventure. I will say so far it is going great!! They are excited and having fun. My oldest thought it needed to be longer and more like "real" school but quickly realized it was up to her---we can get lots more accomplished with 1 2nd grader rather than 20+. Kendall (4k) and Natalie (3k) are able to do just about the same things so I'm basically doing a mini circle time with them like I did at school.
I plan to let Kailey do some self-led research project type activities. I asked her yesterday what she would like to learn about so that gave me some ideas.
One thing I'm looking forward to is our Caterpillars! I bought them for my classroom (we were going to do them as a family towards the end of school) but since they never made it to school, we are going to learn all about them here at home!
Zoo Week From Home
Let's make lemonade from the lemons right now and still create fun learning activities!!!
This week is zoo week! I'll add some links to the activities we were going to do in class so that you and your families can do them at home! Remember, play is the best way for kid to learn (plus when its play they are more likely to do it!!)
I have had some parents ask about our daily schedule to help their kids stay on their routines. Click on any of the links to discover lots of great activities!!!!
9:00-9:30 Morning centers
Students sign in (we are working on writing our first and last names independently) and then pick from some morning centers set out on our tables. These would be easy to implement at home. Many of our activities are fine motor skills :
1. cutting on lines,
2. playdough: shape mats, alphabet and number mats, or try even making your own playdough . Playing with playdough builds the muscles in their hands and there are endless possibilities with creativity!
3. legos
4. magnatiles
5.stencils/coloring
Pinterest has SO many great ideas for simple fine motor skill games and activities---it is a highly valuable resource as a teacher and a parent!
9:30-9:45 Circle Time
This is the part of our day where we to our pledges: American Flag, Christian Flag , and the Bible.
This week is zoo week! I'll add some links to the activities we were going to do in class so that you and your families can do them at home! Remember, play is the best way for kid to learn (plus when its play they are more likely to do it!!)
I have had some parents ask about our daily schedule to help their kids stay on their routines. Click on any of the links to discover lots of great activities!!!!
9:00-9:30 Morning centers
Students sign in (we are working on writing our first and last names independently) and then pick from some morning centers set out on our tables. These would be easy to implement at home. Many of our activities are fine motor skills :
1. cutting on lines,
2. playdough: shape mats, alphabet and number mats, or try even making your own playdough . Playing with playdough builds the muscles in their hands and there are endless possibilities with creativity!
3. legos
4. magnatiles
5.stencils/coloring
Pinterest has SO many great ideas for simple fine motor skill games and activities---it is a highly valuable resource as a teacher and a parent!
9:30-9:45 Circle Time
This is the part of our day where we to our pledges: American Flag, Christian Flag , and the Bible.
We do our calendar with songs for the months of the year, days of the week. We have been singing a song for each month. Here is the one for March
We also sing an alphabet song and a count to 100 song to get us up and moving (and to get some wiggles out). I linked the ones we do most often but there are so many great ones on Youtube.
9:45-10:00 Table Time
At this time we move to the tables to work on writing our weekly letter or the number (we stagger it throughout the week so its not overwhelming).
There are lots of great worksheets for writing. I prefer ones where they can practice tracing it a few times before trying it on their own. You can search google images and pinterest for handwriting worksheets BUT you can do other things to help them learn to write their letters too!
Rainbow Write: you use a pencil/pen to write the uppercase and lowercase letter. Then your child uses their crayons and practices tracing the letter over and over, each time using a new color. This helps your child gain muscle memory of how the letter is formed. At age 4, its more about the shape of the letter than perfecting it on handwriting lines. That will come!
Sand/Salt Trays: while these can be messy (sorry) they are lots of fun and a great way to practice writing letters. Here is a bunch of ideas for using sand/salt trays.
Shaving Cream/Pudding Writing: same idea as the sand/salt trays but with a different materials :D
I have many worksheets I can email you if you would like, but don't feel like you have to do them. There are plenty of more hands on type activities.
10:00-10:30 Recess
We have 30 minutes daily of gross motor activity. We go outside if the weather is nice or use our playroom or tricycles at school if the weather is not great. With being home, you have LOTS of choices in play time. Learning doesn't end at recess ---go on a nature walk, count the toys you have outside (balls, swings, trees,etc).
Here is a link to some ideas.
If it is rainy, there are some indoor recess games through Youtube that are really fun too!
Cosmic Yoga is fun too! https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga?pbjreload=10
After Specials and Lunch, we do some read aloud activities. These either go with our weekly theme or our Bible lesson.
Use this week's theme to explore different animals. Cincinnati Zoo is doing an online safari everyday at 3pm.
Use resources like Google, Youtube, and Pinterest to find activities and crafts that interest your child. Pick an animal and do some fun research about it.
Due to all the school closings, there are many amazing resources available for FREE! I have been sharing many of them on Facebook, but will add a few more below :
I'm gonna add the links to the stories we were going to read as a class. You can watch these with your kids through Youtube if you do not have them at home .
Animal Facts Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9DtbDpYJdU
Curious George Visits the Zoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RNpRjMcZDA
Zoo Action Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwRmivbNgQk
Never Ever Shout at the Zoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke5wvFgQso4
We were going to make a class book for this story---I can email everyone the page and then we can still make it !
Our memory verse this week is so great!!! When I am afraid, I will trust in You Psalm 56:3
The story is for Daniel and the lions den but another story that goes well with this verse is Paul and Silas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqJl0dzYYuA Daniel and the Lions Den movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV3eQ2PBqHE Daniel and the Lions Den
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t_3BuseTS0 Paul and Silas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7qcHEDjk6w Paul and Silas
Memory Verse Songs
Stay tuned for more activities !
Do not stress during this time, instead think of it as a blessing in disguise---we have been given a gift of time. Time with our families, time to make memories and create new traditions. Our world is normally so busy and now we are forced to slow down. Use it to your advantage!
Do not stress during this time, instead think of it as a blessing in disguise---we have been given a gift of time. Time with our families, time to make memories and create new traditions. Our world is normally so busy and now we are forced to slow down. Use it to your advantage!
Have fun! Love you all!
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Farm Week
This week our class will be learning all about life on the farm! To start us off, we made a class anchor chart about "What does a farmer do?"
Each child had a turn telling me what they thought a farmer did---they really did well! Some of the answers were: grow corn, milk cows, work outside, have pigs,etc.
Farm animals are pretty familiar to kids since they all love the Old McDonald Had a Farm song. Later in the week we will turn this fun song into another class-made book :D
I love reading and try incorporate lots of stories into our day. So far we have read Farm Animals and Inside a Barn in the Country.
Our art center is joining in on the farm fun too. I found two farm clipart pictures and hung them on the easels.
I gave the kids the invitation to draw something they might see on the farm. Only a few have gone to the art center so far but boy-oh-boy have they blown me away!
Throughout the school year we have been working on directed drawings and seeing ourselves as artists and writers. Their confidence in their abilities has grown so much---like you can see in these pictures!
I love to use big anchor charts for graphing and presenting information---so to help us think about what animals live on the farm, we made our own chart.
This is a very short list but enough to get their little brains thinking.
To finish off today, we talked about some tools a farmer might use and of course, the biggest, coolest one= the tractor. The various pieces were laid on the table and they assembled the tractor first. Then we mixed shaving cream, glue, and brown paint to make puffy "dirt" paint for the fields. It didn't end up quite as puffy as we wanted (and looked just like chocolate pudding LOL) but it got the job done. While they were painting, we talked about how the farmers use the tractor to make long straight rows to plant their seeds. In a few weeks we will learn more about plants and how they grow too.
It's only Tuesday so we have more fun farm things to do as the week progresses. I am particularly looking forward to Thursday because we are going to learn all about COWS! We will get to "milk" a cow and we will try chocolate, strawberry, and white milk to see which is our favorite (and we will graph our results!!) Stay tuned!!
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Entomologist Laboratory
Bugs---some people love them and some people hate them! In our classroom we are trying to encourage students to learn more about the world around them and using play helps young children do just that!
Welcome to our Entomologist Laboratory--or bug science area! Our students will spend the month of March exploring bugs!
Welcome to our Entomologist Laboratory--or bug science area! Our students will spend the month of March exploring bugs!
In our pretend area you will see different anchor charts we have made together as well as pictures and diagrams with bug related knowledge! We can label the parts of an insect (and determine if a "bug" is an insect or not!), we can explore the life cycle of a butterfly, we can use magnifying glasses and microscopes to observe the many different animals, we can dig for insects, and we can use insect stampers to record what we have found!
Being able to safely examine these amazing little creatures is a lot of fun!
Voting
Today was Super Tuesday and our school (church) is a polling center. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to teach our class about voting. We have done a few other voting activities and we love making graphs but today we amped it up a bit!
I created a simple ballot with our 2 "Candidates": Chips Ahoy Cookies and Oreo Cookies. We discussed at Circle Time what it meant to vote and why it is important for us to do.
Then the fun part---I introduced the two options and we discussed what we liked about both. Then each child got the opportunity to "vote" for their choice of treat.
After placing their vote, they got to insert their ballot into our ballot box and got a "I Voted" sticker (the real deal too--the sweet volunteers gave me a big roll!!)
After lunch, the votes were tallied and the data was presented on a graph so we could determine the winner.
And the winner was..........CHIPS AHOY!
I think the kids really had fun!
I created a simple ballot with our 2 "Candidates": Chips Ahoy Cookies and Oreo Cookies. We discussed at Circle Time what it meant to vote and why it is important for us to do.
Then the fun part---I introduced the two options and we discussed what we liked about both. Then each child got the opportunity to "vote" for their choice of treat.
After placing their vote, they got to insert their ballot into our ballot box and got a "I Voted" sticker (the real deal too--the sweet volunteers gave me a big roll!!)
After lunch, the votes were tallied and the data was presented on a graph so we could determine the winner.
And the winner was..........CHIPS AHOY!
I think the kids really had fun!
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