This situation is not normal and we all want what is best for our children. Just remember before your child attended crèche/ preschool or national school YOU were their main educator. You as a parent or guardian taught your child every skill they had when you handed them over to childcare practitioner/teacher. During this very scary and uncertain time you are keeping your child safe from a virus that everyone worldwide is petrified of, this is so important! Let’s hope when your children grow up they will look back on lockdown in 2020 as a time when their family spent precious moments together.
The fact that you are taking time to read this blog shows that you care and want to do everything you can for your children. There is no right way to home school your children all you can do is do what works for you and your family. If that’s a strict routine or if you change when you do school work day to day that’s ok.
I am sure teachers all over the country will be satisfied that you are doing your best. It is important to remember that well being and mental health for children are just as important as their education. Follow advice from class teachers and reach out to them on platforms that have suggested and just do what you can. We are all trying our best in these times as a preschool teacher I am not experienced to support my older children as their own teachers would but our best is all we can do. Any thing you do with your children during this time will be beneficial. If you are a parent of a preschool child you may feel that their teacher hasn’t sent work home and you need to download work sheets for them. This is not how we teach preschool children. Research has proven younger children learn better though play this is why all the play ideas we have been sharing on @preschool_teacher-ireland are all play based.
We have shared many play ideas via our account that are simple and can be set up using resources that you already have at home or can easily be purchased in your local supermarket. We are very aware that parents do not have the extensive selection of equipment we have in our classroom but we are doing our best replace expensive educational equipment with home based toys and resources. If we do share items that we have been using at home they will be relatively inexpensive and good value for money. Here are some of our favourite home play ideas.
Fine motor activity
This is a really simple fine motor activity and you only need 3 food items that you may already have at home. A banana, 3 pieces of spaghetti and some cheerio’s. The aim of the activity is for the children to thread the cheerio’s through the spaghetti. This really simple play idea promotes fine motor and hand eye coordination which lay the foundations for writing.
More Fine Motor Skills
Number recognition car park play
For this activity you will only need some toy cars, paper and cello tape. The aim of the activity is for the children to match the car to the right car space. This simple activity promotes number recognition and counting.
More Number Recognition
Small world
The children loved this one they played here for hours. We really miss our tuff tray that we use for small world set ups on a daily basis so we decided to design this using a roll of paper. You could use the back of some old wrapping paper. It was really easy to create its mainly straight lines so you do not need to be an artist. Just add small world houses people and vehicles and dolls. This activity will allow your child to use their imagination and promote their language development.
Sound lotto
You can see in the picture I selected random toys that could be associated with a sound. Next search for the sounds on you tube. When your child hears the sound they pick up the right toy or object. This is a great activity to develop listening skills.
We have four highlight sections full of really simple play ideas to keep your children busy on our Instagram page. @preschool_teacher_ireland
Just remember if you feel like you have had an unproductive day, tomorrow is a new day and do not feel defeated remember, you are child’s parent not their teacher.
Thank you for reading, we are all in this together. Keep safe.
Kelly Reay April 2020