Heath’s Home School Tips

“A life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives.” – Jackie Robinson #42

Each day this week Heath is going to provide a little insight on working with your children  at home during this unique time. He is a former elementary school teacher and father of 2nd & 7th grade girls. Please share YOUR daily experiences and pictures in the comments on social media or email to heath@shibleydaycamp.com. We can all work through this together!

3/20/20

Field Trip Friday – Change things up once a week from your normal “teaching” routine. Many teachers have Fun Friday or something similar.

• Go outside (somewhere with space where people can keep their distance) and take an observation walk. Ask your chid to
  • • Write down notes about animals or plants they see
    • Compare the exterior of two houses
    • Sketch a picture of something they see in front of them, add in an element of fantasy like a uniocorn or monster to the picture and write a fiction piece about their picture

Try and have a routine most days but it’s great to do something different once a week. Make it a surprise!

3/19/20

It is important and helpful for children to speak their ideas aloud so they and others can hear their thoughts.

-Teachers call this “Turn and Talk.”

-Students often hear and correct issues with their reading/writing that they don’t see as easily while correcting on paper.

-It reinforces what they have learned.

• Have them FaceTime with peers working on similar assignments and discuss what they have learned – give them a question or problem to answer together
• Have them read stories or writing pieces aloud via FaceTime to grandparents and other relatives who may be isolated due to age or health concerns
• They can also record themselves on video and watch back to give themselves feedback

If your family has multiple children, have them all share work and ideas on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter how old they are.

3/18/20

You must review, give some sort of feedback or ask a follow up question about every assignment that your child completes. And in a timely manner. Why?

• to make sure they understand what they have done
• to make sure they’ve done what you asked
• to show them it’s important and not just busy work
• to show them that your expectations may be different from their teacher’s and that’s ok for the next few weeks
  • How many of you have already heard, “But that’s not how my teacher told me to do it!!!”?

“That is a great looking vampire, why did you choose to make the cape purple?”

“Can you tell me why you chose to add those numbers? Why not subtract?”

3/17/20

Find books or articles about topics that your children already love to read or talk about. This will help them develop a love for reading and make them more likely to become life-long readers.

• • Today we read “Spider-man vs. Sandman”. I asked my 2nd grader to write 3 sentences in response to this question- Who are the two main characters and why are they fighting?
  • She must use at least two details from the story in her answer.
  • If your child struggles with finding details- ask them to tell you their answer aloud. Many children will be able to speak their answer and it will help them organize their thoughts before putting them on paper.