HOME LEARNING
Currently, The Booker School is closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For many, this will be the most time spent at home together as a family, and the need to 'entertain' and to 'educate' can be felt by all. At The Booker School, we believe that learning life-skills can be as important as academics and should not be seen as two separate entities. We are putting together this page, with a number of resources from educators around the world, to support families with home learning. We know that the circumstances can vary for every family and every child, so be open-minded, try some of these things out, and if they don't work - don't beat yourself up about it.
Our teachers will be supporting students and families with our online tools of Seesaw and Google Drive, but we wanted to create something here that would be open for everybody. While we have categorised it by age groups, many of the activities and resources can be enjoyed by all ages and we shall be adding to this page over time.
As an organisation, over the next few years we shall be looking forward to PYP (International Baccalaureate) accreditation. Here is a PYP Profile for Home Learning:
Don't forget to have fun!
Creating Structure with Wiggle Room
Valley Family Fun have put together a useful page of Online Sites for Kids to Use for Screen Time during Covid 19.
EARLY YEARS & LOWER ELEMENTARY
BrainPop - Educational videos and quizzes covering a wide range of topics
Brilliant Labs - Daily 'maker' challenges
Cosmic Kids Yoga & Mindfulness
GoNoodle - Physical Activity, Mindfulness & More
Jack Hartmann - Kids Music Channel - Alphabet & reading songs
Raz-Kids - Online Reading Library & Assessments
Epic - Free student access to Epic reading library
Audible - Great audio books for all ages, hundreds of free resources available for children
Scholastic - Great literary resources for all ages
Duolingo - Second Language Learning
A few extra resources and ideas
(The above are UK Times)
MIDDLE ELEMENTARY & UP
LIFE SKILLS & PSHE
This is a great opportunity to work together with your child on some life skills. Instead of focusing on the concept of 'Chores', consider 'Responsibilities'. Children are often capable of more than they are asked to do, and by contributing to a house-hold's needs, they can get a real sense of worth. Involve them in decision-making and planning so that they have a sense of ownership. As well as different household responsibilities, you can spend time each day developing life skills, these may include but are not limited to:
Biking and ball games (coordination)
Cooking and baking
Washing up/using the dishwasher
Laundry
Shoelace tying
Creating schedules and shopping lists
Reading time on clocks
Designing and drawing
Feeding, cleaning and entertaining pets
Gardening (start getting ready for spring!)
LITERACY
At The Booker School, we try and inspire a love of reading and writing in all of our students. For some, this can be more challenging than for others, so creating an environment where it can be enjoyable is really important. Reading together with your child can be enjoyable at any age, so can listening to Audio Books together. Try and incorporate this into your daily routine. Writing ideas include:
MATHEMATICS
As students progress through Elementary into Middle School with Mathematics, practicing core skills through mental recall and the written method is important, as well as developing conceptual understanding. We shall be using Google Classroom to continue the facilitation of learning throughout this period.
Math is all around us in our daily routines, especially when you are trying to facilitate home learning. Here are some ideas for you:
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Use TIME to have your child create and keep to a schedule. Ask questions about time remaining, time spent, cumulative time, etc.
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Develop skills with decimals and number by having your child help with MONEY. Create budgets and shopping lists together.
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Involve your child in cooking and baking in the kitchen to help them develop their skills with MEASUREMENT. These opportunities can also support core science skills.
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Set design challenges such as drawing their bedrooms to SCALE and then rearrange the rooms using this drawing as a tool. This is great way to engage learning in SHAPE & SPACE.
Great math games to play daily include but are not limited to:
Uno
Chess
Monopoly
Flash Cards
Card Games
ONLINE RESOURCES
This free resource goes through the steps of written methods for Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication & Division really well. It is a great resource for some students and they can pause and play as they need.
In our school we use Mathletics to supplement our Math program. The teachers can open modules and see the success for different students. We use this to practice skills and assess understanding as Math units progress. Throughout this home-learning period, Grade 4-6 students at The Booker School will be set different work on this format.
On this website, students can learn about different math concepts through videos and then do quizzes and activities afterwards to check for understanding.
MathIsFun uses different visuals to talk through the methods of different math concepts. It normally provides practice questions at the end too. So if you are having trouble explaining a written algorithm or other concept with your child, try using this as support.