Evernews
Home Learning @ Everlearn Prestons
April 1, 2020
Inspiring confidence and bravery…
Sounds good doesn’t it – inspiring confidence and bravery? I mean, we could ALL do with a bit of both at the best of times, let alone now. But here’s the thing. We’ve prided ourselves in working alongside our beautiful Everlearn families to foster exactly those qualities from the time of our inception. Now it’s time to reap what we’ve sown. In the space of a few weeks, our lives have changed dramatically, and for the most part it feels like we’ve settled in a space of the unknown. That’s scary. We know it, we’re feeling it too. But it’s our job as educators to do our best to turn the scary into safe, and make the unknown a little more predictable. The good thing for us (and yourselves) is that this is what we do every year in preparing your precious ones for school together – as a team. Granted these are incredibly unprecedented and unique circumstances, but we’re going to give it our best.
So, with that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of resources, home learning activities, videos and links to help support our families whilst you transform your lounge rooms into makeshift cubby’s/classrooms/play areas and hopefully take a little bit of the load off your hands.
- Through Storypark (including daily home challenges)
- Through our Everlearn Online Resource Drive (we are currently adding to this)
- Through our YouTube channel
As we progress through sending these resources out to you we wanted to get the ball rolling with some useful tips and activities that you can get going with right away…
Right now, in the midst of all of this change it’s vital that we recognise the emotional impact this will be having on our little ones. With lots of big words like ‘virus’ and ‘pandemic’ being thrown around and visible uncertainty it’s important to recognise this and support them as best we can. There are many books out there that help children navigate their feelings and understand their emotions.
Here’s a few of our favourites for preschoolers and primary school aged kids…
Reading and storytelling with your child promotes brain development and imagination, teaches your child about language and emotions, and strengthens your relationships.
You don’t always need to read books. Try looking at picture books, singing rhymes and songs, or telling stories from your culture.
Anytime is a good time for a book or story! As your time will surely be spent juggling many responsibilities there’s always the option of having someone else read a story for you. That’s where Audible comes in. And right now they’re offering many children’s titles for free. Just tap the link and head straight there. Don’t forget the classics!
“Play is our brains favourite way of learning.” – Dianne Ackerman
Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength.
Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.
Here’s 8 classic games that secretly teach life skills:
- Duck duck goose – excellent game for teaching strategic thinking
- Musical chairs – helps children to practice patience and resolve conflict peacefully
- Simon says – helps children pay close attention to instructions
- Row your boat – helps encourage physical self awareness
- Parachute game – great way to learn teamwork (works just as well with a sheet)
- Hopscotch – great game to encourage critical thinking and gross motor planning
- Red light, green light – great for teaching patience
- Sleeping lions – helps with staying focused despite distractions
Cooking with kids provides practical experience with many essential skills such as reading, following directions, and measuring.
Getting involved in cooking helps your child to develop fine motor skills, eye hand coordination, and even early concepts of maths and science.
It can also be a lot of fun. Here’s a few links to some great websites that offer recipes that you can enjoy with the whole family. Remember: No licking of fingers and all cooking begins and ends with a good 20 second hand wash.
Meditation at a time of instability is the perfect way to bring peace to a busy mind.
The great thing is, children benefit just as much as adults. Even as little as five minutes can make a huge difference to creating a calmer day.
What are some of the benefits you ask?
- Helps children to learn core emotional regulation skills
- Provides an opportunity to unplug from devices
- Helps to reduce stress and anxiety
- Builds emotional and psychological resilience
- Helps to learn breathing techniques
- Helps to increase focus
- Fosters a mind, body, spirit connection
To help you get started, here’s some links to great meditation sites:
https://mindtastik.com/meditation-for-kids-benefits-guide/
https://www.headspace.com/meditation/kids
https://magicalmeditations4kids.com/
https://www.cosmickids.com/mindfulness-meditation-videos-kids/
Ok….so you’re stuck at home and still wondering what else can you do as a family?
These activities will help your children:
- build confidence
- feel loved, happy and safe
- develop social skills, language and communication
- learn about caring for others and the environment
- develop physical skills.
20 Great Activity Ideas
- Create a bubble painting.
- Animal walk – pretend to be different farm animals
- Keep the balloon up game
- Dance party
- Create a marble painting.
- Craft a story together.
- Dig in the dirt.
- Collect leaves together from the backyard for art work
- Make an obstacle course.
- Bake together (see links above)
- Fold towels.
- Do the washing up together
- Build a house of cups.
- Play dress-ups
- Make a path of pillows to use as stepping stones.
- Write a book.
- Play I Spy with colours.
- Draw pictures in chalk on the sidewalk.
- Make a large box into a playhouse
- Complete a connect-the-dots picture.
Technology can be empowering for children of all ages, with tools that help children learn in fun and engaging ways, express their creativity and stay connected to others. In moderation, at this time when our movements are temporarily limited, the use of devices to remain engaged have never been more needed. Here’s a bunch of apps that we feel may help inspire, entertain and learn.
Right now there’s A LOT of information coming at us from all forms of media. Whilst it’s great to be informed, it’s also a little daunting. So we thought we’d help you out by linking some articles and websites we thought might best help you navigate this time with your little ones, including how to care for your loved ones if you get sick with COVID-19.
Coronavirus and Children in Australia
https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/a-z-health-reference/coronavirus-and-children-in-australia
Bluey is now helping kids to understand the coronavirus pandemic
6 Ways Parents Can Support Their Kids Through Coronavirus – 19
How to talk to your child about Coronavirus
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/coronavirus-how-talk-child.html
Supporting Children During the Coronavirus
https://emergingminds.com.au/resources/supporting-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/
Coronavirus Tips for Homebound Kids-Parents
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-tips-for-homebound-kids-parents.html
Caregiving during Coronavirus
https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-parents-caregiving-guide/
Now, in a preschool we’re used to having to maintain a high level of hygiene at all times. We have regulations and guidelines that we must adhere to, to provide the safest centre and highest quality service. At home, as much as we all try to keep a clean environment, we obviously relax a lot more. With the arrival of this pandemic our individual approaches to cleaning has had to be centralised (if you will). Why? Because to protect ourselves and our families there’s a few key things we need to implement as a part of our ‘new’ daily lives.
We’ve found this article from the ABC a great source of important information – https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-24/how-to-help-keep-your-house-free-from-coronavirus/12080550
Clovelly(02) 9665 4648
Prestons(02) 9608 8458
Clovelly
58 Arden St
Clovelly NSW 2031
Prestons
61 Dalmeny Dr
Prestons NSW 2170
Everlearn Preschool
Copyright © 2019
Mon - Fri
7:30AM - 5:30PM
