Educational at-home activities for toddlers through middle school
BY DANIELLE ALEXANDER
Schools are closed for the remainder of the academic year, and although K-12 students are learning remotely, parents everywhere are still trying to fill time that would normally be dedicated to homework, extracurricular activities and errands.
As a parent and educator, I am a big believer in rest and play, as well as taking this unexpected time to learn life skills; nevertheless, if you do happen to be looking for more educational yet enjoyable activities for your children beginning at the toddler phase through middle school, here are my recommendations:
Toddlers/Preschoolers
My children are 2.5 and 5, but since my teaching background is in sixth grade and up, I admittedly have to Google ways to keep my kids busy at this stage. However, in order to make sure that an activity is fitting for their ages and levels, I always refer to the list of readiness skills that their teachers provide at the beginning of the school year.
For example, one of my daughter’s readiness skills for Preschool Four is “Shape Recognition, including Octagon and Crescent.” Knowing that this is a skill she should know, I tailor my Google searches to fun activities that practice this. If your child is not in school yet, don’t worry: you can always do a quick search like “kindergarten readiness skills” beforehand.
One easy and engaging activity I’ve done while quarantined with my five-year-old was sight word practice using an idea from Orchard Lake resident, former teacher, tutor and educational entrepreneur Zena Samona Ibrahim (@edukidsco on Instagram or EduKidsCrafts on Etsy). After using painter’s tape to stick a few sight words to a magnetic board, I had my daughter use magnetic letters to not only spell the words but also read the words aloud to me. The ones she struggled pronouncing I placed back in the practice pile; those she read right away were set aside.
My 2.5-year-old is obsessed with making Froot Loop rainbows, which is one of many activities that Sterling Heights resident Grace Jamoua (@momzandmimosas on Instagram) regularly works on with her four-year-old daughter, Ryleigh. Not only was it great for my son to review colors, but I loved that he was also simultaneously practicing fine motor skills, as well.
Elementary
Similar to how I recommend using readiness skills for toddlers and preschoolers, fifth grade teacher Alana Bahoura recommends seeing what grade level standards elementary students are presently learning or have learned throughout the year.
“It is always good to review what the child has previously learned before moving on to the next concept,” Bahoura said. “After finding those standards, assess the child. Where does the child fall in his or her grade level? It may differ for each subject, and the parent may know the answer based on their school assessments. Are they above, on or below grade level? If a child is below level, that may mean the parent will need to look up resources for a grade level below.”
A winning at-home project for this age group is ordering a butterfly growing kit, and while waiting for the kit and caterpillars to arrive, spend some time learning about how caterpillars become butterflies; similarly, you could also do this with a frog growing kit. Depending on the grade and skill level, there are many resources out there ranging from fictional texts like The Caterpillar and Polliwog by Jack Kent to non-fiction books and activities that are awaiting you online.
If it’s a nice day out, you can also try hopscotch math, which can be tailored to any math skill level and simultaneously works on kids’ gross motor skills. For this one, use a piece of chalk to draw a hopscotch grid that looks like a giant calculator. Give your child an operation that they need to practice (4 + 1, etc.). They would first jump on 4, then +, then 1, then = and finally land on the correct answer (5).
Bahoura also recommended some online resources for this age group, including Khan Academy, Education.com, LearnZillion, Scholastic and NASA.
Middle School
Sixth and eighth grade science teacher Heather Boyd Deddeh said it is very difficult getting kids off electronics at this age because it is their way of “hanging out” with friends, moreso while quarantined, so she recommends having middle schoolers help with a chore, cook or bake something and/or learn a new board or card game every day.
“I have been asking my students (through Zoom meetings) what they are doing to keep busy,” Deddeh said. “Coloring, lots of puzzles, writing chalk messages on sidewalks, creating and going on scavenger hunts for walks in the neighborhood and playing catch were mentioned.”
Many middle schoolers are having fun creating a time capsule to record their experiences at home. An 11-page document called the “My 2020 COVID-19 Time Capsule” can be downloaded here and then printed for your child to fill in; this activity encourages kids to practice interviewing and writing skills while also recording what will be a major part of history someday.
Since middle schoolers usually like proving their parents wrong at this age, try coming up with a STEM activity challenge. One idea is to say, “I bet you can’t create a structure using only 10 gumdrops and 20 toothpicks that can hold the weight of a large textbook.” Need more of a challenge? Add a time limit or add in how high the textbook has to be off the table.
Deddeh also suggested that middle schoolers should use Quizlet for vocabulary, Sora and Libby for reading, Newsela for current events and Crash Course Kids and SciShow for science.
Danielle Alexander owns a metro Detroit tutoring, editing and writing business, Edify LLC, and is the editorial coordinator for both Birmingham Life and West Bloomfield Lifestyle magazines. Visit the chaldeannews.com to link to the 2020 Covid-19 Time Capsule.