Tuesday, 31st March

Note:

 Dear parents and caretakers,

Please check a new video in Arabic by Ms. Najla, one of the school counselors under the 'Counseling Team' tab. If you have trouble accessing it, please email me. Also, note that I have created a new tab for photos where I will regularly update student photos doing the blog activities. Please continue sending me photos and checking the tab weekly.

Thanks!

Play the following morning greeting message from Ms. Nazish:

Please click here for today's song


Play the following story called, 'Why Can't I Go to School?'

Narrated by Ms. Nazish Nabeel

Activity One:

Mathematics (Counting/Measurement)

Materials: A jug, a cup, water, paper, pencil

Beginning: Show the jug to the child and ask him/her how many cups of water

does he/she think may fill the jug? Once the child gives an estimate, ask him/her

to draw as many tally marks as his/her estimate on a paper.

Middle: Ask the child to fill the cup with water (from the tap or another big

container) and start pouring it in the jug, one cup at a time. Ask the child to count

the number of cups of water as he/she is pouring in.

End: In the end ask the child to draw as many tally marks as the number of cups

he/she poured into the jug.

Extension: The child compares if it took more or fewer cups to fill the jug than

his/her estimate.

How to Draw Tally Marks:

Brain Break:

Activity Two:

Science (Experiment)

Materials: 2 cups cornstarch, 3 drops food coloring and 1 cup of water

Beginning: Let the child know that you will be making something gooey that is a little bit like slime. It can feel like a solid when you hold it in a ball, but it becomes liquidy when you let your hand go loose. It takes the shape of whatever is holding it. Introduce the materials to him/her.

Middle: Mix the cornstarch and water until your oobleck is formed.

(Tip: If you would like to color your oobleck, add your food coloring to the water and then mix with the cornstarch)

End: Give the child a five minutes warning before the end of the activity and let him/her help you clean up afterward.

Video for reference:https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=making+ooblek&pbjreload=10

Note: Oobleck is fun to work with because it turns solid when you squeeze it in your hand but turns into a liquid when you open your hand and let it go.

Extension: Add toys in the oobleck and introduce vocabulary words like gooey, slimy, solid, liquid as the child explores moving the toys in the oobleck

Materials Needed for Tomorrow Activities:

Activity One:

2 tbsp of white glue, 1 tbsp washing soap (Persil), bowl, spoon

Activity Two:

Different sizes of yarn/string/shoelace

Wednesday, 1st April

Note: Dear parents and caregivers,

I look forward to the zoom meeting with all my students this evening! Also, go on the 'Counseling Team' tab to watch an informative video on 'Resilience' from Ms. Suad, please.

Thank you!



Play the following morning greeting from Ms. Nazish:

Click here for today's song

Activity 1:

Science: Making Slime

Duration: 10 minutes

Materials: 2 tbsp of white glue, 1 tbsp washing soap (Persil), bowl, spoon

Beginning: Let your child mix the ingredients with the spoon. 

Middle: Talk about the texture and use vocabulary: liquid, smooth, jelly-like substance 

End: Give 3-5 mins warning. Let him/her touch, feel and smell the slime. 

Purpose: This activity gives the opportunity to discover and to develop new skills as they form predictions and make observations. 

Extension: Let your child experiment with some ideas using slime. For example, The child may test the stickiness by seeing how many items can be picked up with their slime OR 

your child may use the magnifying glass to see the slime very closely. Ask them what they see.

Brain Break:

How many sit-ups can you do in 15 seconds?

Activity Two:

Mathematics: Make shapes with yarn

Duration: 10 minutes

Materials: different sizes of yarn/string/shoelace (string or shoelace would be easier to use)

Beginning: Give your child the pieces of yarn/string/shoelace. Talk about the sizes and use a vocabulary: long and short. Say, “I wonder what we can do with the yarn?”

Middle: First you may take a piece of yarn and make any shape for example circle. Wait for your child's response and encourage him/her to make the same shape using different sizes of yarn.

End: Compare your shapes. Talk about similarities and differences. Give 3 minutes warning before the end of the activity. Acknowledge your child’s ideas. 

Extension: Composing different shapes like a house with square and triangle/ circles to make a caterpillar etc)

Yarn

Making shapes

Materials Needed for Tomorrow's Activities:

Activity One:

Magnet, paper clips, (wooden stick/rod/ pencil), glue, string, marker, scissors to cut out a fish shape 1-inch, minimum 10 pieces, (if you don’t have individual magnets at home, you could use an old fridge magnet the size of a coin. Or you can use tongs) Optional: laundry basket, light blue blanket/ bedsheet.

Activity Two:

Playdough, straws, googly eyes, scissors. Optional (backup): pipe cleaners, buttons, small sticks, rolling pin, plastic knife. 

Monday, 30th March

Play the following morning greeting message from Ms. Nazish

Click here for the song

Activity One:

Fine Motor Skills:

Duration: 15 minutes

Materials: Different containers with their lids, different sizes of juice/water bottles, two

large baskets/bins.

Beginning: Tell your child that you have two big containers that got separated from their

lids and that you need his/her help to figure out which top/lid goes on which container.

Middle: Encourage your child to pick up a lid and search for the lid that he/she thinks

might fit that container. Talk about the different sizes and colors. Encourage the child to

put the lid/cap on top of the container/bottle and twist. Listen to the children’s comments

and extend their observations and vocabulary.

End: Give the child a five-minute warning for clean up. Ask him/her to help you separate

the containers and lids back into the two baskets.

The purpose of this activity is to strengthen the small muscles while engaging math skills in

problem-solving.

Extention: The activity can be extended with pots and pans. Remove the lids from

different sized pots and pans in the kitchen and let the child guess by just looking at

them that which lid should go on which pot or pan (and then let them try putting them

on).


Sample Picture - You can use different kinds of lids like in the following picture:

Brain Break:

• Stretch to each side five times
• Do 5 leg lifts like the picture below:

Activity Two:

Science:

Duration: 10-15 minutes

Materials: Plastic knives, two kinds of fruits (apple and oranges, banana, kiwi, grapes, etc)

Beginning: Ask your child to wash his/her hands and place the material on the kitchen table. Encourage the child to make predictions about the touch, smell, and texture of each fruit.

Middle: Listen and acknowledge what he/she is saying. Encourage the child to slice the apple and look for the stars and the seeds inside the apple. Then let the child cut the orange or any fruit that is available in the fridge. Encourage the child to compare the texture and taste and draw conclusions. Expand their vocabulary.

End: Give the child a five- minute warning and ask him/her to help in cleaning up.

Materials needed for Tomorrow's Activities:

Activity One:

 A jug, a cup, water, paper, pencil

Activity Two:

2 cups cornstarch, 3 drops food coloring and 1 cup of water

Sunday, 29th March

Listen to the following morning greeting from Ms. Nazish:

Click here for the song

Activity One:

Language & Literacy:

Reading

Duration: 15 Minutes

Materials: Book - The Cat in The Hat

Link to the book in case you don’t have a hard copy of the book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LL62u6-OjY

Beginning: Go through the pictures in the book without reading the words. (Mute the video if you do not have a hard copy of the book and are watching the video. The link to the video is provided above).

Middle: Turn the volume on or read the words in the book if you have a hard copy. Acknowledge children’s ideas as you go. Make them predict what may happen next

in the story, as you go through the book/video.

End: Recall the story. Ask them questions related to the book.

Extension: You could give your child a piece of paper and pencil and ask them to draw what they remembered from the story. You could also play the video of the story ‘The Cat and the Hat’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jK6l1WJKUU

Brain Break:

• How many frog jumps can you do in 10 seconds?
• How many times can you hop on one leg?

Activity Two:

Math (Geometry)

Duration: 10-15 minutes

Materials: paper and pencil to keep a record

Beginning: Ask your child to go around the house to look for shapes: circles, rectangles,

squares, triangles.

Middle: encourage your child to describe the shapes, naming their attributes. For example,

a triangle has three sides; a circle has one curved line, a square has four equal sides.

Encourage them to compare their attributes. ( the rectangle has two short sides and two

longer sides, whereas, the square has four equal sides.)

End: Ask him/her to count how many objects he/she found

Extension: Ask the child to draw all the shapes that he/she found on paper with a pencil and then tell which shape did he/she find the most of around the house (Compare the numbers...For example, squares were the most)

Materials needed for Tomorrow's Activities:

Activity One:

Different containers with their lids, different sizes of juice/water bottles, two large baskets/bins.

Activity Two:

Plastic knives, two kinds of fruits (apple and oranges, banana, kiwi, grapes, etc)