Teaching And Home Schooling Ideas

Parts of a Fraction. We drew a big 3D Fraction and labelled the parts. Top number is the numerator. Bottom number is the denominator. We coloured the numerator blue as the sky is at the top and coloured the denominator green as that is under the sky! We discussed what the numbers mean. Numerator is the number of parts you have/are working with. Denominator is the number of parts altogether/number of equal parts.

We read The Slimy Book by Babette Cole and noticed some of the sentences used alliteration and rhyme. Ask your child what alliteration is, if they don't know, it's when words in a sentence start with the same letter. Eg Spicy sausages sizzling. We found the alliteration in the book and also made up some sentences using alliteration. Dr Seus books use alliteration. Also tongue twisters eg Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. You could get the children to write tongue twisters using alliteration. For younger children you could go through the alphabet. Eg Angry ants, barking bats, cowardly cat, etc We would love to hear any of your alliteration sentences, so please share.

Make a mosaic picture. You could use coloured paper for the mosaic pieces. Either tear up or practice cutting skills and cut coloured paper up. Use a piece of coloured card for the background. Black looks good. Decide what the picture will be in the middle. Pick two colours for the border and alternate the pieces. Place on card first then glue down. Create the picture in the centre. Could be a flower, animal, sport related, initials, a rainbow, football etc Glue central picture down when happy with picture. Then choose one or two similar colours  to fill in the background. Glue pieces down. We used painted lasagne pasta (which was out of date) which we've had in the craft cupboard for over a year! Paint the lasagne pasta sheets different colours, leave to dry, break up into pieces once dry and place in zip lock plastic bags or tubs.

We counted some bean seeds we had saved and shared them out. You could count sweets, milk carton tops, buttons, lego pieces, coins etc We then worked out half, quarter and eighths by sharing the seeds out. We also practised counting in 2s, 3s, 5s. You could workout different fractions.

Write a journal/diary about this time at this time. Pick out your favourite part of the day. Could write in a sentence, paragraph, draw pictures or stick in photos.

Here are some online lessons that may be of interest: PE with Joe Wicks The body coach on youtube. https://youtu.be/6v-a_dpwhro Maths with Carol Vorderman www.themathsfactor.com English with David Walliams https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/ Lunch (cooking with Jamie Oliver) https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/category/get-kids-cooking/ Music with Myleene Klass https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQh2wgJ5tOrixYBn6jFXsXQ Dance with Darcey Bussel https://twitter.com/diversedancemix/status/1241098264373592065 History with Dan Snow (free for 30-days) https://tv.historyhit.com/signup/package Home Economics with Theo Michaels (Mon/Wed/Fri) https://www.instagram.com/theocooks Dance with Oti Mabuse Go to Oti Mabuse page on Facebook. Yoga with Cosmic Kids Yoga on youtube. Has themed yoga sessions.

We made our Elmer the elephant junk model a number of years ago. (Some of the tissue paper has faded.) We have now made it into a tealight lantern. Read an Elmer book with or to your child and look at the colourful pictures of Elmer.  To make Elmer you will need. A plastic washed milk carton Coloured tissue paper Glue White paper for eyes. Black pen Battery operated Tealight optional. An adult will need to cut the bottom off the milk carton and cut the handle so it looks like a trunk. Take top off the milk carton. Cut up coloured tissue paper - child can practice scissor skills or adult can cut out. Get your child to glue the coloured pieces on the milk carton. Cut out two circles for eyes and draw the eyes in black pen. Stick eyes on. Place tealight under to light up Elmer.

We have an old xbox 360 that has been passed down from an older cousin. In this game children can use their imagination to create a world. If playing it with a sibling then they can take turns, work collaboratively. Thomas wanted to create a wooden house but was unsure how to do it. We found a youtube video which was like a tutorial so Thomas followed the instructions in the video, then adapted it for his own creation.

David Walliams is releasing free audio stories for 30bdays. Today's was  roughly 15 minutes long. Great to listen to. https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/

Look at the parts of a Flowering Plant. Pick a flower from the garden, we picked a daffodil. (Just be careful when picking flowers as some can irritate the skin, daffodils have a liquid sap that can irritate the skin. You could wear gloves or you touch the flower and wash hands after touching the flower. ) We cut the flower down the middle and looked at the different parts. Adults can do this or assist depending on age of child, we used a Stanley knife. Ask the children what they think the parts are. Petals, stem, leaves, pollen. Talk about what jobs they do. Stem anchors the plant and takes in water, leaves take in sunlight, petals attract bees for pollination, pollen is made to fertilise the plant to produce seeds. Use books and the Internet for scientific info. I had googled parts of a flowering daffodil and found some images with the parts labelled which can help with the more scientific name eg stigma, stamen anther, ovule, ovary, filament, spathe, sepal. We looked

For those of you with plenty of lego around. Challenge your children to create a lego picture or object. Maybe related to something they like or a project they are working on. We picked some daffodils from the garden the other day, so whilst Thomas was setting up all his lego vehicles to attack mine, I created a lego daffodil picture.

If your family is self isolating and the children are at home, I thought it would be good to have a central place with resources listed for educational activities, learning through play for younger ones, art activities, educational apps, games we've used that are good. Please message me or use the contact for with any good websites, you tube channels, apps resources and I can add them here. For x table practise our school uses tt Rock stars. We've been using it every day and my  quick fire x table knowledge has improved! 😂play.ttrockstars.com For a free download able curriculum based learning booklet. One for preschoolers, one for 5-7 and one for 7-11. www.tts-group.co.uk Twinkl for printable sheets and activities for lots of ages. https://www.twinkl.co.uk/ This is more for printouts, and usually at a fee, but they are offering a month of free access to parents in the event of school closures. SEN Resources Blog and YouTube channel with learning through play ideas.

How do flowers take in water? What happens when we put flowers in coloured water? You need a white or light coloured flower eg daffodils or carnations. Food colouring, jar or vase, water.  Ask you child How do flowers take in water?  Talk about the roots taking in water from the soil and the water travels up the stem and into the veins in the petals and leaves. .  Ask them what happens when we put flowers in coloured water? You can talk about it or to extend it you can get the children to write a prediction giving a reason why.  Eg I think the petals will turn red because the coloured water travels up the stem and into the petals because flowers need water to live.  Put the cut flower into a glass jar or vase add water and some drops of food colouring - blue or red work well. Wait a day or so to see what happens. 

You can get your child to practise their spellings by writing them into a word search grid. Draw a grid or print one off the Internet. Fill in the grid with the words your child is learning one letter in each box. Words can be written forwards, backwards, across, diagonal. Can make it as simple or as challenging depending on your child. Once all words in grid fill in the remaining squares with letters from the alphabet. Write the spelling words at the side of the sheet. A few days later they can try to find the words.

Here you will find PE and Exercise Ideas On YouTube watch the body coach at 9am UK time Monday to Friday for PE lesson and daily workouts for children daily here youtube.com/thebodycoach1 Set up an obstacle course and time the children completing the course.  4 marker challenge - Use 4 cones or 4 old cloths as a marker. Set the 4 markers a metre apart from each other some distance from a start line and finish line. You could use a marker for start and finish lines. From the start line run to marker one and back, then run to marker two and back, run to 3 and back then 4 and back, then first to finish line is the winner. If only one child doing it you could time them to get quicker each day. You can adapt this activity. Eg a) a) Run to marker 1 and back repeat b) Hop to marker 1 and back repeat c) Use a football and dribble to marker one and back d) Football kick ball to marker 1 and back repeat e) Bounce ball to marker 1 and back f) throw tennis ball at marker 1 and back g) throw