…quarantineNteach

This week will be my first week having to teach remotely from home. Last week was in preparation of it and the two days I did work from home, I was helping my families understand how to get everywhere in this eLearning world. On top of that, I cleaned my entire apartment, shifted some things around, and threw out bags and bags of garbage.

All in all, I haven’t paid much attention to Ky while preparing for everything.

But I did set up the living room just for her to have a school feel.

I taught PreK for 5 years before moving up to Kindergarten this year. One of the important philosophies in PreK- and what should be in Kindergarten- is learning through play. I had a bunch of centers set up in my class–even now–that gave students a chance to explore. I wanted to keep that for Ky while we’re quarantined.

Writing/Art: Ky is a big writer…when she wants to be. Like most kids, she doesn’t like to be forced to do anything except on her own time (which feels like an ETERNITY!). But she’s really big on notebooks and sketchbooks. She pretends to write diary entries, music, letters, and of course, pictures. She’s always making me something at school and I’m running out of space for all of her artwork! I really want to foster more of that out of her. Some ideas I’d like to do with her is write a book and have her read it on her IG page, hunt for letters in the apartment and write them on her board, and write letters to friends/families.

Table Toys/Manipulatives/Games: Of course we have little games that we haven’t played in a while (or ever). So my hopes is to take this time to just play games with her. There’s probably a method to some of the games we play–like following directions, memory, matching, etc.–but I think we would both enjoy just playing something that’s not technically “academically” associated. Also, I’ve put together small activities (sequencing numerals, numeral/quantity easter eggs, magnetic letters, etc.) she could busy herself with while I’m on a call or doing a mini lesson.

Reading:Ky has a BUNCH of books and for that I’m grateful. She used to be a big reader; wanting me to read to her every night. And then our schedules just got the best of us, I guess. So now I’m hoping to start that back up for her. The last couple of nights we have read a bedtime story on our mommy/daughter IG page and that has kind of sparked that interest to enjoy reading again. My hopes is to have her read a book to me and draw a picture of her favorite part of the story (or even what she thinks would happen next in a story!).

Circle Time: Ky is really excited about this part. I’m sure because she enjoys circle time at school. But I also think she’s excited to have her stuffed animals and dolls to join in on the fun by sitting with her. I’m hoping to introduce different nursery rhymes, read a story, have dance parties and watch videos from her teacher. This will probably change because I want to plan off of what she chooses to do that day.

Science/Sensory: I’m not going to lie…next to the loud instruments in a music center, the science and sensory centers are probably my least favorite because it’s more to clean up. However, I know Ky will enjoy it. Here, I’m hoping to do experiments (thank you, pinterest), observations, journaling, and just explore different water/sand play activities with Ky. It will probably be messy. And I will probably regret doing it. But it’s all for her….I guess…

This will be a slight challenge for me since I don’t get to go into teacher mode with Ky often–if ever. So I’m hoping this post is pushing me to hold myself accountable for Ky’s learning for however long we’re quarantined for. And I’m hoping not to drive myself too crazy with all that I am able to do with her now.

Pray for us!

-Ash