What’s coming up? That is a great question! We are in uncharted territory, and our district leaders are working tirelessly to determine the best course of action in an unusual situation.
Dr. VanderJagt sent an email last night that suggested some schedules and resources for at-home learning, and Mrs. Reagan shared some ideas on the Georgetown Elementary blog. If you’re on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, you may have seen similar ideas. You could adapt sample schedules/routines according to the number and ages of children in your family. Regardless of what (if anything!) you decide to work on with your child, you are doing just fine!
I know that I feel anxious or face uncertainty, I find some comfort in a consistent routine. Like we do each summer, my husband and I worked together this morning to develop an outline that we will follow each day. This loose schedule helps us (me) feel grounded and helps lower our (my) anxiety over the unknown. Little things like schedules can help us (me) feel more mentally equipped to handle tasks, deal with emotions, and just be more pleasant to be around. We included time to be outside or active, quiet time to read or do crafts, an academic time where we can work on school or our own learning, and together time where we can play games, go for walks, and enjoy our family.
I encourage you to focus on family time. Take the time to teach important concepts like humanity, kindness, emotion management. Teach a new recipe or a new craft. Try out a new game or make one up. Go outside and explore the backyard. Build. Create. Play! Take time to do all of the wonderful things that we never seem to have the time to do. And try to breathe.
For now it seems that our plan of action as a district is to do what you can. That means that I will not be ASSIGNING any work that students must complete. I will, however, post ideas or resources on our blog and on Google Classroom for students to access if that is your family’s plan. While you’re trying to find some balance in your newly hectic life, remember that students have many resources that they are used to using and are independent in navigating.
I will also put some journal prompts on their Google Classrooms and I will continue adding videos to our FlipGrid (be sure to log in with your child’s school gmail). I have so enjoyed seeing our classmates’ faces pop up in our videos! Please keep adding!
I am always (conveniently) available for help should you need it, please reach out if you need ANYTHING!
Here are some ideas OTHER than MobyMax, Prodigy, StudyIsland, NitroType, and the resources that we’re used to using.
If you’re worried about missing math…
- Bake together and discuss fractions
- Play Yahtzee! (or any other board game) and count up points
- Practice number sense by playing what-if games or how-many games
- “If our dog eats 1 ¾ cups of food for breakfast and the same for dinner, how much does he eat in a week? How many meals can we get out of this bag of dog food? Is it a better deal to get the bigger bag or the smaller bag?”
- “How many grapes do you think are in this bunch? How many grape bunches do you think they have a Meijer? If there is ___ number of grapes on a bunch and ___ number of bunches, how many grapes is that?!”
If you’re worried about missing ELA…
- Bake together and have your child read the recipe
- Read a book together, taking turns reading chapters
- Have your child read to a sibling or a pet or a stuffed animal
- Write “piggyback” songs or parodies of popular songs
To sum it up, have fun together, turn off the news when you can, and enjoy your beautiful family!
Keep watching for blog updates (and FlipGrid!), and I will keep you updated with anything else that you need along the way. I will plan on having a new FlipGrid created soon that we can continue seeing our friends.
Lastly, please let me know how I can support you and your family. Your child is my top priority, please let them all know that I love and deeply miss my silly 5th graders already!