Learning at Home during the Coronavirus
/What day is it? How many weeks have we been quarantined at home? When will school start again…if ever this year? This has been rough…are you with me?
Luckily, both my boys are still rather young, so school is more about socialization and learning is more through play, asking questions, doing experiments…basically happening all day. However, spending time on some age-appropriate topics each day helps the day move along is beneficial for my son as it provides some structure, focuses him, and exercises his mind and creativity on other ways. My focus right now is numbers, the alphabet, and learning to spell and write his name. I’ve been using a couple of resources to come up with fun ways for him to learn. First, I use groups on Facebook like 253 Parents Get Resourceful and Too Cool for School. Then there are two awesome Instagram accounts: Busy Toddler and Happy Tot Shelf.
I also try to do our “learning time” (that’s what we call it) the same time each day, then we have a “learning chair'“ and he can earn a Griffin Pride each day if he cooperates and behaves well (the Griffin Pride is a take on the Lion Pride he can earn at preschool). It’s all been going well. The hardest part is finding the things and getting them set up in the morning. The best time to do it is at night, but by then I’m beat from the long day. So I usually try to find some ideas and then make it a note in iPhone and get it all ready in the morning while Caleb watches a show and Wesley follows me (or plays, ideally).
Our learning time starts off with talking about what day it is, the weather, and our moods (see the board I made in the slideshow). Then we do an activity with markers, dots, or something. Then he plays ABC Mouse for a bit (he loves this app…almost too much…especially the hamster). I have him “read” a book first and then allow him to chose the activity/game within the app.
A few materials I think are key to all our activities so far: markers, sharpie, construction paper, white paper, dot stickers, and dot markers.
Anyhoo, if you’re like me, time is limited, so I’ll keep this post short. Here’s a quick slideshow of some of my favorite activities so far.
