Whenever I am torn about what the right course of action for my children is, I always find it helps to go back to my own childhood, to a much simpler time where I never remember being stressed or anxious.
I grew up in a big joint family, and being the oldest, one of my favourite roles was playing the teacher to my younger siblings and cousins. When we grew up things were just a little different. We had play dates at home with our cousins, played in our garden, didn’t really go to any sports lessons at the weekend, only went out for dinner on special occasions or sundays, no visiting coffee shops, watched tv as a whole family and mainly ate home made food made from scratch. I can see lots of similarities between my childhood and what the world has been forced to slow back down too now. Like I said in my recent instagram post, as long as you and your family are all staying healthy this does not need to be a negative thing.
So back to my role as teacher, both me and my husband are now working from home, but he is nowhere near as extra as me, so hasn’t got involved in the planning but I know he will be great at the actual teaching. I know lots of people who are having to do this alone, so having a support network is really important. We are also very lucky that we are in this position, that we get to keep them at home with us, so many of the people keeping this country going for us are having to send them to school and nursery.
I sat down with the kids when this was announced, to decide on two main objectives, what we wanted to learn and what we wanted to do for fun. So we now have a learning list for each of them, and three fun lists divided up into playing & making, indoor activities and outdoor activities. I feel so much better knowing that I have some ideas down on paper for when I’m trying to juggle working, cooking and the house on top of trying to educate, comfort and enrich my kids too. Like so many parents, this is all unknown and brings a whole new dimension to working from home.
This is also not supposed to be used to add any extra pressure on anyone, all children are different and enjoy their own past times. We are also not teachers, this will be a learning curve for us as parents and them as children. My oldest really enjoys learning so I know that he will want to do maths and sums, and science experiments at home, but some children do not want this.
We are going to try around 20 minutes a go on the more learning goals and the fun activities will be very much child led, so however long they want to. We also have a garden for them to escape to at multiple times during the day to get some fresh air and allow me to have a cup of tea.
This is also not supposed to be used to add any extra pressure on anyone, all children are different and enjoy their own past times. We are also not teachers, this will be a learning curve for us as parents and them as children. My oldest really enjoys learning so I know that he will want to do maths and sums, and science experiments at home, but some children do not want this.
We are going to try around 20 minutes a go on the more learning goals and the fun activities will be very much child led, so however long they want to. We also have a garden for them to escape to at multiple times during the day to get some fresh air and allow me to have a cup of tea.
👦 Learning Goals ( Reception )
- Phonics
- Maths
- Writing
- Science
- Shapes
- History
- Reading
- Telling the time
- Space
- Countries - going to try and do a country day once a week, focus on the culture, food and language.
- Drawing
- School work
We are going to use books we already have at home, posters, flash cards, workbooks, worksheets, practical life examples and online portals for most of the above.
👧 Learning Goals ( Nursery Pre schooler )
- Animals
- Shapes
- Countries
- Reading
- Colours
- Life skills
- Nursery work
Playing and Making
- Board Games
- Puzzles
- Dolls
- Animals
- Action figures
- Shopkeepers
- Restaurant
- Lego
- Blocks
- Dens/Fort
- Hide & Seek
- Make Potions - use pipettes, sieves and funnels.
Indoor Activities
- Obstacle course
- Write a story
- Movie night/day
- Family sleepover
- Fashion show
- Baking
- Puppet show
- Treasure hunt
- Gymnastics
- P.e with Joe wicks
- Yoga - going to be using Cosmic Kids on YouTube for this
- Tea party
- Dance party
- Show & Tell - thanks Harps @babybrainmemoirs for this great idea
- Circle Time
- Story Time
- Superhero movie - dress up and film
- Film a toy review - setup a tripod and film
Outdoor Activities
- Obstacle course
- Park
- Adventure trail
- Football
- Running
- Olympics - egg and spoon race, hopping races, hoop jumping, skipping
- Jumping
- Dancing
- Easter egg hunt
Arts & Crafts
- Paper aeroplanes
- Bookmarks
- Make cards
- Write letters & post to family and friends
- Finger painting
- Stickers
- Play doh
- Painting
- Friendship bracelets
School supplies
Posters - Lots of questions on these, my husband actually got these a few months ago so they still have very similar ones on - Posters
Whiteboards - Great for all ages, for younger ones to do mark making and older ones for writing and maths practise - Whiteboard and Markers
Phonic flashcards - These are really easy to use and act as a great reminder even for me who finds the only phonics thing baffling - Flashcards
Learning Books - I did not buy any extra of these but we have a lot already, from random shops, the works and amazon too, there are so many available and wipe clean activity ones too.
Lots of crafts stuff
Use everyday objects - Both of the kids attend or attended a Montessori nursery and one thing I love is how they use everyday objects to learn. You do not need to go out and spend lots of money, give them your clothes pegs, plastic jugs, pots and pans etc to play with too.
Lots of crafts stuff
Use everyday objects - Both of the kids attend or attended a Montessori nursery and one thing I love is how they use everyday objects to learn. You do not need to go out and spend lots of money, give them your clothes pegs, plastic jugs, pots and pans etc to play with too.
Online links
Phonics
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
https://www.phonicsbloom.com/
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/
Maths
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/
Science
https://explorify.wellcome.ac.uk/
Writing
http://www.pobble365.com/
Reading
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/
Yoga
https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
Geography - Learning about our World
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8HYERScBt-e0kV0fpe0asg
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
https://www.phonicsbloom.com/
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/
Maths
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/
Science
https://explorify.wellcome.ac.uk/
Writing
http://www.pobble365.com/
Reading
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/
Yoga
https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
Geography - Learning about our World
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8HYERScBt-e0kV0fpe0asg
I don’t have a timetable yet, and haven’t put a schedule together because to be honest I don’t know how next week will go down, I am starting this on a day I don’t work to make it easier to adjust. But generally we will be trying to do more learning and active play earlier in the day, with more of the creative and independent play later in the day.
As much as I love the idea of this, and have always wanted to home school, I am also all to aware that the reality may not work. These lists and ideas are all good but please follow us along on Instagram to see how this pans out in reality.
Links to:
Home Learning Theme Days
Two Week Update
Home Learning Theme Days
Two Week Update
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