This week marked another half term in lockdown. For the most part, we’ve really enjoyed being in lockdown together as a family; but I have really missed the usual family adventures during the half term breaks. We are still trying to remain in as much as possible, so we opted to continue with schooling even though it was a school holiday. That being said, it was a very relaxed week where the girls opted in and out of each activity. We decided to do a couple of outings as a family for the first time in over 8 weeks; the girls definitely needed a change of scenery, as did we!
We are still very undecided about our eldest returning to school. When I feel like I have made the decision, I change my mind again. At this rate, I don’t think I will be fully decided until the day she is due to start back at school.
Here is a rundown of our week, and the activities we have done to keep busy;
(Note: my children are just 3 and almost 5 years old, so this is directed to both of their learning. Our eldest is able to read, but I am following the standard scheme for this age group to ensure she has no gaps in her understanding for literacy as I was not made aware of what they had covered in school up until this point. Any activities that are above our youngest’s ability level due to her age; she is given colouring/drawing and free play activities to do instead).
Monday
9:00 – 9:30 English – We spent the start of this session recapping all sounds and sight words that we have covered so far. We have started to work on spellings with our eldest; focusing on how to break words down into sound groups and writing this correctly. We used a sheet where the beginning sounds from the words were missing; our eldest had to fill in these blended sounds to complete the word (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights).
9:30 – 10:15 Maths – Counting up in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s (see the images below). To demonstrate and consolidate counting up in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s, I gave our eldest a lacing activity. For this activity, I used three paper plates; one representing the 2’s, one for the 5’s and one for the 10’s. Each paper plate had a number of holes punched around the edge of the plate. Each hole had a number written next to it, from the relevant times table. Our eldest then threaded a shoelace through each hole, in the correct numerical order.
10:30 – 11:30 STEM – Jupiter (see images below). Continuing on with our space theme, we looked at Jupiter; where it sits in our solar system, and key details about the planet. The girls then watched a couple of short documentaries on YouTube about Jupiter. I then set up a tuff tray for the girls to do (see my Tuff Tray Instagram highlights). Using star stickers, I mapped out a number of the constellations on black card; the girls then used a white pencil to join the stars up, revealing the constellations.
11:30 – 12:00 Free play – in/outdoors, child led (children decide what they want to do).
1:15 – Onward – Countryside outing. This was the first time we had all gone out properly since the start of the second week of the lockdown. It was great to get outside, surrounded by trees, enjoying the sunshine. It felt like the reality of the past few months had melted away.
Tuesday
9:00 – 9:30 English – Days of the week (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). Our eldest can recite her days of the week, but I wanted to check her grasp of their placement in relation to each other. Did she know what came before a particular day? What was missing from the sequence? We then looked at the spelling of each day.
9:30 – 10:15 Maths – Counting up in 2’s (see the images below). This was a nice little activity that our eldest really enjoyed. Using a sheet of coloured paper, I cut out a spiraled snake shape. Our eldest then wrote the two times table in each section of the snake’s body. We are going to do this again for the 5’s and 10’s.
10:30 – 11:30 Geography – Italy. We looked at Italy’s location on the globe, its capital, key monuments and locations, food (the girls loved this part as it included many of their favourite foods!), and their flag. We then watched some episodes of Are We There Yet? by National Geographic Kids.
11:30 – 12:00 Free play – in/outdoors, child led (children decide what they want to do).
1:15 – 2:15 STEM – Saturn (see images below). We looked at Saturn’s location in our solar system, its composition and rings. We then watched a couple of YouTube documentaries before creating our own solar system using balloons and paint. Top tip: ensure the balloon is being pressed down, directly from the top to prevent it slipping whilst printing.
2:15 – 3:15 Create – We spent the rest of the afternoon having a family water fight in the garden!
3:30 – 4:30 Outdoor play – in the garden. Child led.
4:30 – 5:30 Family game time – board game of the girls’ choice.
Wednesday
9:00 – 9:30 English – Months of the year (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). Like the days of the week, our eldest can recite the months of the year, but I want to ensure she has full understanding of what this means, and where each month sits in relation to one another. I printed two sheets for her to work through; one sheet required her to say which was the missing month in the sequence. The other sheet required her to say which month came before and which month after a given month.
9:30 – 10:15 Maths – Counting up in 2’s (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). Bug hunt sequence. Our eldest cut out a series of bugs, each had a number from the two times table on it. Our eldest then placed them in order.
10:30 – 11:30 Geography – Greece. We first looked at its location on the globe; we then looked at the key monuments, capital, food, climate, religion, and flag. We then watched some videos on YouTube. The girls then watched a couple of episodes of Go Jetters whilst I began to sort lunch.
11:30 – 12:00 Free play – in/outdoors, child led (children decide what they want to do).
1:15 – 2:15 STEM – Uranus (see the images below). We looked at Uranus’ location in our solar system and its conditions. We watched a few short YouTube videos about Uranus before creating our own solar system mobile.
2:15 – 3:15 Create – Bake cookies! Because who doesn’t love cookies?
3:30 – 4:30 Outdoor play – in the garden. Child led.
4:30 – 5:30 Family game time – games of the girls’ choice.
Thursday
9:00 – 9:30 English – Word Searches, using common sight words (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). This is a great way to help improve spellings and word recognition. There are endless resources online for all abilities; because this is a new activity for her, we’ve used some small sized (number of letters in the grid) word searches. As she grows in confidence and skill, we will increase the difficulty and size of the words and word search grid.
9:30 – 10:15 Maths – Which is bigger? (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). Our eldest is pretty confident with place value, so this was a nice activity for her to work though. Each question presented her with two numbers; she had to decide which number was the larger number. Top tip: if they are struggling with this concept, ask them which is the bigger amount of sweets. It really helps! This is something I do a lot as a Maths teacher. Which team has the larger amount of players? Who would have the most chocolate? etc.
10:30 – 11:30 PE– Assortment of games in the garden (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). We played football; catch with velcro hand bats and ball; had egg and spoon races; whatever the girls wanted to play, we played it!
11:30 – 12:00 Free play – in/outdoors, child led (children decide what they want to do).
1:15 – 2:15 STEM – Neptune (see the images below). We looked at Neptune’s location in our solar system and its conditions. We watched a few short YouTube videos about Neptune before creating some straw rockets. I printed some small rocket images for the girls to colour in. Once coloured in, we created a small tube out of card and stuck it on the back using sellotape. We then sealed the top of the tube off with sellotape. Using a paper straw, we placed this into the tube and blew.
2:15 – 3:15 Create – Invisible art, and tissue paper printing (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). This was the first time we had tried this; it worked pretty well but admittedly needs a little tweaking for even better results. This is really easy to do, and is very limited mess. The girls drew their designs on white card using a white wax crayon; we then sprayed the surface of the paper lightly and covered it with tissue paper scraps. We then sprayed the paper with more water so the tissue paper was fully saturated. We set these aside to dry. Once dried, we peeled off the tissue paper. This left behind the colour bleed from the tissue paper onto the card; where the girls had drawn their designs, the colour could not stick, therefore revealing their pictures.
3:30 – 4:30 Outdoor play – in the garden. Child led.
4:30 – 5:30 Family game time – movie night.
Friday
9:00 – 9:30 English – Word search and crossword puzzles (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). These were very short and fairly easy activities for our eldest to do. Because it was Friday and the weather was lovely, we wanted to spend as much time outdoors; so we whizzed through any activities.
9:30 – 10:15 Maths – Counting in 2’s, dot-to-dot (see my Home Sch 3 Instagram highlights). This was a standard dot-to-dot activity, however, each number was a number from the two times table. Our eldest had to link up the numbers in order to create the image.
10:30 – 11:30 STEM– Pluto (see images below). We looked at Pluto’s location in our solar system and its conditions. We discussed the history of it’s removal from our solar system and why this was the case. We then watched a few short YouTube videos about Pluto before creating rocket hand prints.
11:30 – 12:00 Free play – in/outdoors, child led (children decide what they want to do).
1:15 – onward – Woodland walk. Greg had taken the day off work; so we made the most of the afternoon. We climbed trees, collected sticks, drew in the dirt and hunted for pine cones. It was nice to feel a sense of normal life again.
This is just a quick overview of what we had been doing – to see this is more detail, make sure you follow my Instagram account where I post up our activities throughout each day. Don’t forget to check out what we have done in previous weeks;
If you’re home schooling too, I hope it is all going well. If you have any questions, or there is anything you’d like to see, pop a comment below or on my latest Instagram post.
Elisabeth
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LITTLE CUP OF MUM 