This week, I chose to approach the assignment from the perspective of a parent rather than a teacher because that is my reality. I have three kids at home with me, a Junior in high school, a first graders, and a brand new 4 year old (she had her 4th birthday a couple weeks ago, in quarantine) and I am still working on getting my teaching credential and not yet teaching, so I am in the same boat as many other parents across the country trying to navigate online instruction for their kids and keep them busy and happy while also not leaving the house or having any adult interaction. In theory, staying home ALL THE TIME sounded great, but it's been a lot.
I chose to look into Wide Open School, particularly their daily schedule for Pre-K. I wanted some ideas about educational activities and games for my 4 year old, particularly ones that would keep her busy while I did math or social studies with my first grader or Chemistry with my 10th grader. We started on Tuesday and the videos and games were great that day. We went through a few of them and she wanted to keep watching the interactive dance videos from one of the links so she did a few of them. Wednesday was good also. The offline activity suggested wasn't possible (I think it was puffy slime) because we didn't have all of the needed ingredients but we did most of the rest of them. Thursday was not as successful. She just didn't like the games or videos linked on that day. And, Friday we spent most of our day at the vet and picking up orders so I didn't even look at the activities that day.
Overall, I think it's a good jumping off point for doing some learning together and independently at home. The independent part is a big deal because she has to be involved in everything and she is really distracting, especially when her older sisters are doing the subjects that they struggle the most with (quick addition for the first grader, Chemistry for the tenth grader). I liked that they made suggestions for activities that could be completed offline too and books to read. I think it was also great that they split them into different times of the day and they day isn't overloaded with activities.
I wish that there was more of a theme to the activities, though. I also wish that there were more suggestions for similar offline activities when the suggested activity is not possible for whatever reason.
I will probably continue to use this site with my 4 year old. I already have been using the Scholastic site for a themed learning. I think I will still keep that and use it as the bulk of activities along with the activity books that I have, but I plan to select one or two of the videos on Wide Open Schools to use in the morning to get her moving and use as a distraction while I get my first grader set up with her online school work. I will probably also use a video of a book reading in the evening while I am cleaning up before we read books before bed. If they have a good suggestion for an activity, I will also build that into the schedule. It has been a struggle to keep a good schedule and stay productive during this time and all of these free resources that are being created to deal with COVID-19 are really helpful and I am really appreciative that people are coming together to support others during this.
I chose to look into Wide Open School, particularly their daily schedule for Pre-K. I wanted some ideas about educational activities and games for my 4 year old, particularly ones that would keep her busy while I did math or social studies with my first grader or Chemistry with my 10th grader. We started on Tuesday and the videos and games were great that day. We went through a few of them and she wanted to keep watching the interactive dance videos from one of the links so she did a few of them. Wednesday was good also. The offline activity suggested wasn't possible (I think it was puffy slime) because we didn't have all of the needed ingredients but we did most of the rest of them. Thursday was not as successful. She just didn't like the games or videos linked on that day. And, Friday we spent most of our day at the vet and picking up orders so I didn't even look at the activities that day.
Overall, I think it's a good jumping off point for doing some learning together and independently at home. The independent part is a big deal because she has to be involved in everything and she is really distracting, especially when her older sisters are doing the subjects that they struggle the most with (quick addition for the first grader, Chemistry for the tenth grader). I liked that they made suggestions for activities that could be completed offline too and books to read. I think it was also great that they split them into different times of the day and they day isn't overloaded with activities.
I wish that there was more of a theme to the activities, though. I also wish that there were more suggestions for similar offline activities when the suggested activity is not possible for whatever reason.
I will probably continue to use this site with my 4 year old. I already have been using the Scholastic site for a themed learning. I think I will still keep that and use it as the bulk of activities along with the activity books that I have, but I plan to select one or two of the videos on Wide Open Schools to use in the morning to get her moving and use as a distraction while I get my first grader set up with her online school work. I will probably also use a video of a book reading in the evening while I am cleaning up before we read books before bed. If they have a good suggestion for an activity, I will also build that into the schedule. It has been a struggle to keep a good schedule and stay productive during this time and all of these free resources that are being created to deal with COVID-19 are really helpful and I am really appreciative that people are coming together to support others during this.
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