We will continue with our virtual preschool activities. This week we will have Circle Time via a ZOOM connection. I will have our circle time with the kids and we will do familiar songs. finger plays and a story. During the next 5 weeks I will send out daily activities plus include our weekly note with the theme for the week… since we are not in class you are definitely the assistant teachers for the next few weeks. It will be a new form of cooperative learning.
During the next few weeks we will be working on four skills that are important life skills for your child. The first one we will work on is focus. According to Ellen Galinsky, the author of “The Mind in the Making”,
Focus refers to attention and involves being alert and “orienting.” Orienting refers to the ability to focus one’s attention on the specific tasks that will help them accomplish whatever their goal is. Concentration is also a big part of focus as children get older.
This week we will be looking at colors. We will talk about rainbows, the sun in the sky and clouds. There will be a rainbow of colors in our activities. Take time to talk to your child about all the colors they see at home and outside. The spring flowers are one way you can talk with your child about colors as you walk around your neighborhood. The daffodils are out and the tulips are getting ready to bloom – lots of colors to talk about and to practice “focus”. You can play ‘I SPY’ as you walk: I spy something___(insert a color). Kids love this game and then you can let them take turns being the leader and the one who gets to find something for you to ‘spy’.
Other ways you can work on focus – switch words to a familiar song and see if your child notices ( wheels on the train instead of bus). This is a fun and creative way to sing songs that encourages focus and listening skills. Play a sorting game when you clean up toys – let’s find all the blue toys, put all the round toys in the basket, who has a soft toy? Try singing a song while making dinner or sitting in the living room. In our other ‘ normal’ life I wold have said you can practice this while waiting in a line or waiting for your food to arrive at the restaurant. With the new “ normal” children will be learning to adjust and create new ways to entertain themselves. Learning to focus and develop this skill gives children a tool for managing a situation that they cannot control and allows them an outlet to deal with frustration that they might have as they deal with na change in their schedule or household rhythm. Later they can use this skill as they are waiting in a line, for food to come, sitting at a table. Listening skills and focus skills will help a child adjust to new or difficult situations as they find something they can control or relate to.
This week the activities will include ways to expand their vocabulary with words that describe colors, textures and spatial skills. The weather looks like it will be cooler and wetter so the outside activity will be closer to home and will include options for indoor large motor ideas.
I hope you are finding ways to create fun memories during this challenging and uncharted time.