School Bus
Dear ECC families, 

Happy Tuesday! With many children unable to attend school, we put together some learning activities that can be done at home. Below are age appropriate activities to support four main areas of development. These include literacy, social/emotional, mathematics and physical development. Also, we have included a special video for Jesus time, story time and zoo phonics. To view these videos, simple click on the underlined Jesus time story and book titles. Enjoy! 

Jesus Time: Ms. Alesha
Jesus is Crucified and Rises Again (Matthew 27 & 28; Luke 23: 26-49) 
 
Story Time: Mrs. Nancy
Infant/Toddler: Peek-a Who? by Nina Landen 
After reading, engage in a simple game of peek-a-boo with your child. 

Transition/Preschool: Maria Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez 
For English click here. 
For Spanish click here. 

After reading, ask your child these questions:
-  Have you ever seen a llama? 
-  If you could bring an animal to school what animal would you bring?

Age Appropriate Activities
 
Literacy: 
Letter of the week: Xx (Xavier Fox)
Click here for a list of the zoo phonics animals, their sounds and movements. 

Infant/Toddler: Action Words
Describe what is happening while you and your child move in interesting ways. Imitate your child’s movements and talk about the action as they tumble or roll around on the floor.  We’re rolling over. You’re standing on your head.  Suggest new actions to try and remember to give him/her words for what you are doing. By hearing or saying the words while doing the movement, your child will be likely to learn action words.  Move your hands up and down. Bend over. Spread your arms wide.  Try these movements with your child:

-  Stand on your toes with your arms stretched high and say:  Reach high.
- Squat, tuck in your head, hold your knees, and say:  Make a ball.
-  Lie on your back with your feet in the air and say:  Feet up.
-  Turn around quickly and say:  Spin. 

Transition/Preschool: Same Sounds
Say pairs of words and let your child tell you if their beginning sounds are the same (as in  mouse  and  mat ) or different (as in  tall  and  pan ). Invite your child to join you in a word game. Say,  Listen to these words. Do they sound the same at the beginning? Or do they sound different? Mouse, mat . Repeat the words if your child seems unsure. Exaggerate the beginning sound:  Listen again. Mmmouse, mmmat.  Comment positively on your child’s successes.  Yes, they are the same beginning sound ! Practice with one sound (such as  m ) until you feel your child fully understands the game. Add more words to the groupings as you play. This activity would be great to play at the dinner table, bath time and/or while on a walk outside. Through repeated playing, your child may begin to pay more attention to the important sounds that come at the beginnings of words. 

Social/Emotional:  
Infant/Toddler: Smile and laugh to show your feelings as you raise your baby and say up or lower your baby and say down . Hold your baby around her chest and under their arms. smile at him/her. Raise them over your head gently and slowly saying, up or up you go. Lower him/her saying, down or down you come . Then hug him/her close to your body. Maintain eye contact with your body as you lift him/her up and down to help feel connected to you. Smiling laughing and talking to them can tell by your face and words that you have happy feelings about the game and that the feelings of excitement are appropriate. When you express your excitement and happiness your baby will be encouraged to join in and show you the same feelings.  

Transition/Preschool: We all feel emotions at different levels at different times. Help your child think about his/her emotions and what scenarios cause those emotions to intensify. This will help your child be prepared to manage emotions and problem solve. It also builds empathy and helps your family support one another during times of big feelings. Here are a few examples:

-  It’s your birthday, you wake up, but no one remembers it’s your birthday. How do you feel? 
-  You’re at Target and your mom lets you pick out a toy. How do you feel? 

Mathematics:
Infant/Toddler: Sorting Shapes
Talk to your child about shapes as they sort objects into containers. Give your child one or two balls to drop into a wide-mouthed container such as an oatmeal box. Keep the game simple to start. Notice how she/he drops the ball in, listen for the clunk of it hitting the bottom, and then dump it out again. Offer two containers when they seem ready for more variety. Prepare each container with a different-shaped hole in the lid, such as a square opening and a round opening. Give them a few blocks to go with the balls they already have. Show your child how the block fits in the square hole and how the ball fits in the round hole or wait to see if they do it by themselves. Encourage them to continue when they successfully drop in blocks.  You fit the block in the square hole! Now can you put the ball in the round hole.  Your child will begin to recognize and understand the similarities and differences between objects. 

Transition/Preschool: Color Patterns
Color patterns are everywhere, and your child probably loves to spot and create them. Legos and colored blocks both lend themselves to creating color patterns: red-red-blue-yellow-red-red-blue-yellow. Assist and/or encourage them to make their own patterns. Your child may love coloring rainbows which follow a color sequence; help them learn and follow the sequence.

Physical/Movement:
Infant: Stand Up and Move
Arrange furniture so your baby can pull up to a standing position and try taking a few steps while holding on. Your baby will have the chance to practice with confidence when you give them objects to help him/her stand and take steps. Click  here  to view more. 

Toddler: Low Jump 
Invite your child to jump from a low place while you hold on to him. Your child will have a safe way to try a new skill and feel confident about moving his/her body. Click  here  to view more. 

Transition/Preschool: Copy Each Other
Play an imitation game with your child, saying your actions as you do them. Give your child an opportunity to say words that help him/her lead or follow. Click  here  to view more.

We would love to see/hear how these activities are going! Feel free to share your experiences on your child’s ClassDojo page. 

Blessings, 
Jessica Platte
School Bus