Click here for an amazing set of stories to share with children that address masks in schools and may make the transition back to school in the fall easier.
Physical Distancing and Play:
The current COVID-19 will have a current and ongoing effect on our society's mental well being. Here we see how the response to a virus (rightfully so), distances us from social gatherings; special events; and places of work, leisure, and education. Many people are staying home from work, have been laid off, or have the privilege of working from home at this time. Amongst many stresses we currently face, human beings are at risk of losing connection, joy, and play; three things that we depend on to thrive and feel mentally well. Our society can still remain social and connected and can spread joy and support one another even in small ways. Here is an editable Google Doc with simple, mostly affordable things to do at home if you are physically distancing yourself or your family. Please share this document and add to it if you can. Our collective ideas can create something beautiful: A dedication to joy and play even in these challenging times. Cheers, and stay well! Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uF7U2nT4yUlGSjxk-Vpj9qhflOkkgcVxHZfJ7jMmB40/edit?usp=sharing
Towards Play at Home: COVID-19 Response Study
In collaboration with the Regina Early Learning Centre and made possible by a grant from the Community Research Unit at the University of Regina, our founder will be conducting a study on how organizations can support play at home. She will be working with the community to explore what barriers and facilitating factors have come up due to physical distancing in our communities. The Regina Early Learning Centre will be using findings from this study to better support their clients, and to improve their services even after the pandemic. We are thrilled about this opportunity to work with the community and co-construct some more playful resources.
We are currently looking for people who may be willing to get involved. The Regina Early Learning Centre specifically supports families with children under 6 years old, but we are curious to explore play at home for all people and families. Involvement would include sharing your stories, complaints, and ideas surrounding play at home during this pandemic. Ideally, we would have an exploratory conversation via Zoom, Google Meet, or over the phone. Please don't feel that you need to have helpful play ideas and solutions to offer; any complaints and challenges offer wonderful insight and will greatly inform this project and the support that ensues.
There are many wonderful Canadian research projects that are compiled on a new and growing COVID-19 Resources Canada Website. Through this website you can learn more about responsive research projects, let others know about your project, find volunteers or donate your time towards another project.
Music Playlists
Make The House Sparkle Some folks have started a cleaning ritual on Tuesdays. Our community-constructed cleaning the house playlist, called "Make the House Sparkle" is available on Spotify here. Note: there are songs with explicit language. They're distinguished with an E.
Educational Resources for Families
Here is a Google Document, created by parents and educating professionals in the community, to use at home during this unique time. Enjoy! Please add, edit, and share as you see fit!
Family Schedules/ Calendars
Here are two calendars; one is made with families in mind who have wee ones (toddlers) and under at home, while the other is made for families with school-aged children. Note that they go hand-in-hand so may be blended together and used in sync for families with toddlers and school-aged children.
These schedules are quite relaxed with long stretches of time that can blend into one another. There are some entire time segments missing to offer families some grace and forgiveness. They are exactly what we are using at home and what works for us. It's quite a personal process to create a daily family schedule, and it is a challenging endeavour to attempt to offer this to other people. I've closely considered my own family and our unique personalities and interests - please adapt this to consider yours.
How you start your day will set the tone for you day. A lot of schedules suggest waking up, making the bed, and getting dressed immediately to set a productive tone for the day going forward. These schedules, particularly the Wee Ones schedule, is quite the opposite. They're slow, relaxed, and playful. They also hopefully allow plenty of time for adults to work while their children play.
Good luck! Please offer me any feedback you may have!
Wee Ones Schedule (Families with Toddlers)
Adults: Squeeze in work anywhere you need. 8am-10am (ish) Slow Morning Make coffee, put music on, set up environment for day breakfast, books, kids free play
10am-10:30am (ish) Transition Make beds, shower/bathe, clean kitchen, everyone get ready for the day. Put on fresh clothes. This is a big buffer time. If your kids bathe at this time, it will go later.
10:30am- Noon (ish) Outdoor Play Play in the backyard, driveway, park, whatever works for you (avoid playgrounds.) Try to get everyone moving. Indoor options are yoga, games - whatever! This document has great ideas.
Noon-1:30pm(ish) Slow Lunch Prepare lunch (kids help as much as possible), eat, cleanup (kids help), books.
1:30pm-4pm (ish) Naps and Quiet Time Adults: coffee, work, exercise, emotional check-in - you do you. Children: Sleeping or having quiet, independent play.
4pm-5pm (ish) Prep Supper, Outdoor Play Kids usually have a snack. Quick walk to the park to play. If not outdoor play then more (somewhat) structured indoor play works like building a train track, building a fort, making some artwork, or something else that's family-centred.
5:30-6:30(ish) Dinner Finish preparing supper (kids help), and eat together.
6:30pm-8:pm (ish) Family Movie/ Snuggles and Bedtime Prep
Note: Tuesdays are Make the House Sparkle Day. The entire routine goes out the window. You're all together and it's so much fun. Make a huge home cleaning check list and check everything off together. Kids might enjoy helping out, are enjoying some movies or shows, or have some independent play. Tuesdays are for getting your home in order. Why Tuesdays? No idea. Pick a day that works for you.
To subscribe to this calendar, visit Google Calendar on a browser. On the left-hand side, click the three dots next to "add calendar" and select "from URL." Copy and paste this URL: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/001lli9nda8a0qb45096f6f33o%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics and hit "add calendar." Make sure the calendar is check off, and you should be able to view events from this calendar! It will sync across devices for you.
School-Aged Kid Schedule
This schedule is also quite different from many schedules I see online. Something that is important to remember is that educating at home won't necessarily resemble educating in school. You don't have 30 kids (at least I hope not.) You can give your children careful and direct instruction and attention (for much shorter amounts of time than is necessary in schools) in a way that teachers with 25+ kids can't. You can still provide a routine and structure, but don't need to spend the same amount of time on school per day for your children to learn. Also, remember: you couldn't stop your children from learning even if you tried. They'll be fine : )
8am-9am Morning Routine Make coffee, put on an album, set up environment for the day. Breakfast, books (just have them around the breakfast area), and transition to start the day--make beds, everyone get dressed in fresh clothes.
9am-10:30am School Balanced Literacy Hour: 9-10am 20 minutes (ish): Read to self (read independently), or Read to Someone (they read to a sibling, parent, stuffed animal, pet, or plant 10 minutes (ish): Spelling Practice (list of 15 spelling words), 20 minutes (ish): Work on Writing Use a daily writing prompt (unless your child has something they want to write about - then definitely go with their choice!) and allow your child to just write, uninterrupted, the whole time. They often enjoy adding pictures to go along with their stories. This could be a different writing prompt daily, or a continued writing project that they work on for a long time like a story or novel. Remaining time: Listen to Reading: If someone in your household wants to/has time, they can read to your child. Otherwise, Tumblebooks and Raz Kids are both free for families right now and have wonderful books your child can listen and follow along to.
*After literacy hour, take a 10-15 minute play break! inside, outside, doesn't matter. Play is great for the brain! They also may want a snack. Quick Math: 10:15 (ish)-10:30 Quick math facts, games, flashcards, or worksheets to enforce whatever concept they're currently learning. Check the Saskatchewan Curriculum and ask your child what they want to practice. *Congratulations, your child is done school for the day! Even what you've accomplished is incredible. This was already optional and now you're really going above and beyond if you do anything else! There are many more opportunities for learning, but take it slow and read your child. This is an incredibly difficult time for children. You know, better than anyone, what is best for them and how far to push them. 10:30-Noon Outdoor Play Go for a walk or play at the park. Play in the backyard, driveway, whatever works for you. Try to get everyone moving. Indoor options are yoga, games - whatever! This document has great ideas. You could incorporate some math at this time. Movement and math go hand-in-hand. Can you skip-count while you skip on the sidewalk? Can you group items together and demonstrate multiplication? Can you challenge your children to answer fast facts while you walk? Make it playful, light, and fun.
Noon-1:30pm(ish) Slow Lunch Prepare lunch (kids help as much as possible), eat, cleanup (kids help), books.
1:30pm-4pm (ish) Quiet Time and Inquiry Brew some fresh coffee and set up your child before you get started on your own work. Your child could have any kind of quiet time they want at this time. They will probably be feeling anxious and sad. There have been rapid changes, there's stress all around them, and they have just lost their typical connections with their teachers and friends. Give your child love and space. Remember this is all a huge learning experience, too. Students are learning about social studies through the discussions and reactions they see in their communities. Talk to them about what's happening in the community. You are educating your child in Health, Social Studies, and Science just by talking to them about this pandemic and its affect on our communities, health, and healthcare system. If you both want to do extra work to continue your education for the day, here's an idea of how you could structure that time: Your Child: 1. Read and look at books for 20 minutes. 5 minute break. 2. Edit their writing from earlier. Read it out loud and make any improvements they can. Use a device (if allowed and available), to check spelling words and edit their own work. Draw pictures to support their work. This would be a cool time to explore The Novel Effect resource 3. Inquiry Time: This is optional time for your child to engage in Health, Science, Social Studies, Art, and French. You could pick one per day, dedicate one week to one subject and switch, or whatever else may work for you. It would be neat to start an ongoing project that your child is interested in. There are tons of cool resources on this page across all subjects for your child to choose from. Let this be child-directed (if that's appropriate for your child.) Let them have fun. I would allow educational screens at this time but that's your choice. Within this time, you may want to encourage your child to have a movement break and to call a friend on the phone to check-in with and maintain their social connections. 4pm-5pm (ish) Prep Supper, Outdoor Play Kids usually have a snack. Quick walk to the park to play. If not outdoor play then more (somewhat) structured indoor play works like building a train track, building a fort, making some artwork, or something else that's family-centred.
5:30-6:30(ish) Dinner Finish preparing supper (kids help), and eat together.
6:30pm-8:pm (ish) Family Movie/ Play/ Snuggles and Bedtime Prep
Note: Tuesdays are Make the House Sparkle Day. The entire routine goes out the window. You're all together and it's so much fun. Make a huge home cleaning check list and check everything off together. Kids might enjoy helping out, are enjoying some movies or shows, or have some independent play. Tuesdays are for getting your home in order. Why Tuesdays? No idea. Pick a day that works for you.
I hope that this is somewhat helpful! Please let me know your thoughts and feedback. Get in touch if you have any questions!
To subscribe to this calendar, visit Google Calendar on a browser. On the left-hand side, click the three dots next to "add calendar" and select "from URL." Copy and paste this URL: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/6evn6a4o6hb0l4k1csa9g7u3dk%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics and hit "add calendar." Make sure the calendar is check off, and you should be able to view events from this calendar! It will sync across devices for you.