The Primary unit is progressing full steam ahead with our learning from home curriculum. We began the first week of stay at home right where we left off in social studies, learning all about Australia then moved onto Antarctica. There was no lag at all for science, ending our discussion of spring and baby animals, and heading right into plants. The students were sent home with cuttings from our classroom pothos plant to study as we begin to learn about roots and stems, flowers, and seeds. They care for the cuttings and soon will pot them while also making a plant book. Practical life tools were sent home with the daily packets of handouts, as well as instruments for Kindermusik, supplies for enrichment, handwriting books, and access to digital materials for each week.
A new daily schedule goes live the evening before to allow parents and students to prepare for the next day. All of the children are working every day, whether they are part-time or full-time because all of the materials are available to everyone. A typical day for a Kindergartener studying from home begins with our classroom calendar and an instructional teacher video, or digital materials for science or social studies. They have assignments for the morning work period like math, language, or journaling as well as optional activities for the work period. A list of practical life skills to apply changes each week, nature scavenger hunts, sensorial handouts and extensions, counting, sorting, and categorizing everyday items are just a few examples.
We were thrilled to be able to implement a beloved lunchtime activity called, “what’s your favorite?” at home. This is a student-driven project. Each student offers a topic like “what is your favorite thing about Egypt.” All of the ideas are written down and put in a box. One idea is drawn each day and every student can give their answer. We still had some of the student’s ideas left over, so we moved this game out of the classroom and on to flipgrid where they can record their answer with a video to share. It’s a lovely way for the children to remain connected to one another. Teachers are also keeping in touch with students on flipgrid, and sometimes a phone call or FaceTime.
After lunch, the children can enjoy recorded videos of read-aloud stories with their teachers; then, it’s time for kindergarten studio subjects: botanical science drawing booklets, woodworking videos for art, Kindermusik instruction, and Zoom meetings for social studies.
The children can wind down with some afternoon independent work time and enrichment activity to round out their day.
We are so grateful to our parents who have taken the extra time to support our classroom. We appreciate the special videos of baby farm animals and hand-drawn coloring sheets for science units, and yoga for P.E.
We miss all of the children dearly and while this is not at all how we envisioned our spring semester would be, we are grateful to keep moving forward and learning.