Learning at Home
Low-Tech Assignments for the week while school is closed
We may not be in school, but... the learning doesn't stop! This week's theme is HOME
How to structure the day/week.
Dear Parents,
Each week we will send you a newsletter with activities for the week. None of the activities will require a computer, though some might require your assistance (depending on the age of your child). We encourage you to set aside two hour-long blocks of time each day for learning, and, to the best of your ability, stay consistent with these two block of time for as long as we're out of school.
RECOMMENDED SCHEDULE:
- 20 minutes writing (2 times per day)
- 20 minutes reading (2 times per day)
- 20 minutes mathematics (2 times per day)
(k - 5th grade; for 6-8th grades, it's possible to double the time)
Literacy!
Writing Activities about Home
Either choose a school notebook for use as a Writing Journal (it's ok if there are other things in there), or staple paper together. Each day, your child should choose two activities from the list (it's fine to repeat activities). How long should the piece of writing be? Whatever your child is able to comfortably write in a 20-minute session. It will be different from child to child.
- Pick a room (bedroom, living room, kitchen, family room, even bathroom!) and describe your dream version of it. What would it look like? What would it have in it?
- Write a conversation between two people in your home, or two imaginary people, where one person is surprised by something in the conversation.
- Write a conversation between two people in your home, or two imaginary people, that has a problem or disagreement that gets solved.
- Describe your favorite meal
- Interview a person in your family about their childhood. Ask about their favorite: games to play, foods to eat, and music to listen to. Write it up in your journal.
- Write a journal entry about how you're feeling and what your day was like.
- Write down your dreams
* Parents, take a picture of your child's daily journal and send it to me using the contact info below. I will send comments back to you to share with your child.
Reading
Your child should either read independently for two 20-minute sessions per day, or listen to an audiobook or be read to. Any reading material is fine, as long as you feel it's appropriate. If your child struggles with five or more words on the page, then the selection is too difficult.
* Reading and writing can be in English, or in your home language, or in a combination.
Math
As with writing, choose two of these activities to do each day.
- Make a map of a room in your home
- Build towers and measure them
- Give your child a pre-determined weight or measurement and challenge them to find objects in the home that are that length/measurement and then check their accuracy.
- Play the Yes/No game. 2 Players. Use slips of paper or index cards and draw simple shapes or write numbers on them. Each player takes a card from the pile (face down) and holds it over their head. The object is to guess what's on your card, using only Yes or No questions (ex. Am I more than 10? Am I less than 15?). Keep asking questions until you get it correct.
- Play 24. Write down four numbers under 10, and try to make them add up to 24 using any mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division.) Write down all the ways you come up with.