Week 12 of home learning was Alexander and Eliza's last week of home learning before they returned to school and preschool. I decided this week we would look at people who have been working through lockdown to continue to help us and our community. There were so many options to choose from so I narrowed it down to those that Alexander might be interested in learning about.
Monday morning I made a box for the people who have delivered packages to us to sit at the front door. I just offered some snacks that they might like to take to keep them going through the day. It didn't work, no-one took anything the whole week, but as I told the kids, it was the thought that counts and hopefully they read the note to see that we were thankful for their service during this lockdown period (we have gotten a fair few packages delivered!).
The kids all started their school work with their fine motor activities and handwriting and then the big kids launched onto their technology while Alexander drew for me a garbage truck. I loved the detail that he put on it from what he sees each week the truck drives past us.
We then did some garbage truck maths. This activity was awesome! I found the simple concept on the internet and then slightly adapted it to extend him. Alexander would roll 2 dice. He then needed to write out the equation to add the two numbers together. Once he worked out the total he used the tongs to pick up that number of pom poms and put them in the toy garbage bin. Once complete the garbage truck would drive over to Alexander and he would empty the bin into the truck. Then we repeated the process until he had picked up all of the pom poms. A great activity for play, maths and fine motor skills. After a few goes with writing the numbers, Alexander decided to draw the number of dots on the dice. He loved this activity and did so well with it.
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| I love his tongue in this photo |
He then watched a video about how garbage trucks work and what they do. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0PU0F5ouuM
After that he joined his preschool zoom. It was been awesome having preschool zoom during this time. He has loved seeing his teachers and his little friends. He had enjoyed doing the different activities and singing the songs and doing the dances. I'm really grateful for the 30min break that I got each Monday and Wednesday with him being engaged over zoom.
During recess time Daniel decided that he wanted to play the garbage truck maths game. I told him that it was too easy for him so he argued that he would make it like his maths. I was really impressed with the way that he adapted it. Rolled 2 dice to get his starting number (a one and a tenth). Then he would roll the dice again to get another one and tenth. He then wrote an algorithm which at times included trading, a new concept that he was learning last week. Once he had an answer he rounded up or down to the nearest whole number to work out how many pom poms he needed to pick up. It was a great way for him to continue to practice trading with algorithms, a concept that he found tricky last week. He alternated between addition and subtraction to work out how many pom poms he would put into the bin. He needed some help to remember the process when he started with subtraction but after I helped him with one he grasped the concept really quickly. He had a blast! He has always loved garbage trucks.
Doing lockdown Alexander had gotten over using glue. He doesn't like his fingers feeling so sticky. Today I decided we would avoid glue by using contact. He coloured in 3 garbage bins to match our ones - red, yellow and green. He did tell me that he needed a blue lid like Nana and Poppy but we were just working with our 3. He then needed to work out which bin the different magazine clippings would go into. I loved listening to his thinking and reasoning. He loved that his fingers weren't sticky.
We then wrote a letter to our garbage truck drivers thanking them. We were making a little pack for them to get with some lollies and chips in it. I was so proud of Alexander's writing. I especially loved how he sounded out his words and wrote what he could hear. It is the first time that he has done that on his own.
Daniel learnt to draw 3D shapes on dot paper.
My lockdown present arrived too which was very exciting. Because of watching Donna Hay's cooking zooms during lockdown I decided to buy her new book and it came with some extra gifts and she signed the book. I can't wait to cook some of her recipes from it.
Lunchtime Alexander went back to the garbage truck Pom Pom maths which was cute to see. Then the kids wanted the quiet books out again so he and Eliza had a great time flicking through and playing with the different pages.
The kids wanted to set up the shop again too (again another toy that I made years ago and is still played with at different times. Alexander was the shopkeeper, Eliza was a customer and Daniel was the delivery person, using the Big Red Car as his delivery car. It was cool watching them play, imaging and be creative.
After lunch Daniel had a health activity that he needed to do. It was a game on the computer which then turned into being a game for all the kids. They had a great time. I got a bit frustrated that the little 2 were distracted but I tried to just roll with it.
Alexander then watched how to draw a garbage truck. He did an amazing job with it! I hope the garbage truck drivers enjoy getting it. Alexander was pretty excited to give the packs to the drivers.
Tonight Daniel decided that he wanted to make dinner and he was keen to try and make it by himself. He started pretty well but James did step in to help him out with different steps and pieces of advice. He still did a great job at making dinner. It was Donna Hay's meatballs which we made in one of the first zoom sessions with her.
While waiting for dinner Alexander played with the magnet blocks and excitedly came to show me that he had made a garbage truck. He showed me the different parts that would open to collect the garbage and to empty it. Very cool.
Tuesday morning we started the day early. Why? Because the garbage truck came down the street at 6:15am. All 3 kids jumped out of bed, put on a jumper and raced outside with the packs. Alexander did well with waiting for the truck to put the bin back down before shouting 'We have something for you'. He held it up and the garbage truck driver poked his head out the window, said thank you and gave me a thumbs up. The kids were so excited! What a lovely way to start the day.
Once all ready for the day the kids again looked at the quiet books and then Alexander and I read some postman stories - yes, today was Postman Day. We then paused to do our last Mainly Music together. It has been so nice leading with Alexander by my side and I am a bit sad that I am losing my right arm man but it has also been very fun doing it together.
Daniel learnt about shape poetry. I loved teaching this at Christmas time because you could make Christmas decorations and pictures out of Christmas words and information. Daniel was a bit stumped about what he could make so I suggested that he could make a shape poem for our postman and it could be an envelope. Daniel was keen. He looked up how to draw an envelope and drew one and then wrote the poem around it. He also found a really cute envelope picture in Art for Kids so asked if he could draw that one too on the back. Sure. Why not.
Alexander watched a few YouTube videos about postmen and how letters get from your place to someone else's. This video was particularly cool! https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/45317539972561518/
He then wrote a letter to our postman - Postie Pete and drew a picture using Art for Kids Hub. Alexander did another awesome job sounding out his letters in the words to write his letter. I also wrote a letter thanking Postie Pete. We have loved him stopping and saying hi to the kids during this lockdown. He has also delivered our mail into the artists letterbox because Daniel asked him if he could. He has just been a fresh face to say hi to during lockdown. He really is a legend!
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| Thank you for giving us our letters. Thank you. From Alexander |
Alexander then did some maths envelope sorting. He needed to place the addition and subtraction equations in the correct numbered envelope. Then he decided to make houses for some of his toys. We made simple letterboxes for them and wrote the numbers on them and then Alexander dressed up as a walking postie to deliver the letters.
I enjoyed doing some teaching again of equations with trading and carrying the numbers. This was still a new concept for Daniel so he needed a bit of help to remember what he did to solve the equations. He learnt that it was important to set out his work neatly so that he can see his thinking processes. He did really well though.
Alexander and I played the Postman Pat game together. It is such a fun game that I played when I was little. After we played a round of it we flipped the board over and played slides and hills.
While we were playing the kids heard the 2nd garbage truck come down our street. They were so excited, grabbed the package and ran to the driveway. Alexander did the right thing in waiting until the bin had been emptied and put down before he walked forward to give the gift but the garbage man shook his head and said something to him. Alexander shouted again 'We have a present for you' but he shook his head and drove off to the next house. Alexander was so sad! It broke my heart really. The driver didn't even wave hi to the kids. I gave Alexander a hug and told him that maybe the driver doesn't want anything because he is nervous about COVID or something. We just needed to know that the thought was what was important. (The following week we also ran out before breakfast so give the gift and it was the same driver. This time he didn't even look at the kids. He just kept driving after emptying the bin. So sad, especially when he could see the kids excitement at seeing the garbage truck! We plan to give the gift to the recycling people instead).
In the afternoon the kids watched some Postman Pat episodes together to end our Postie day.
Wednesday morning was Police Officer day. Alexander started by using tongs to pull out different transport vehicles that he thought police officers would use. He then explained why he thought they used these vehicles. He did some amazing writing and drew a cool police car.
He then completed a Police puzzle and a maze.
He then watched a few videos about Police cars and Police officers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MILhzvM0cRA
Daniel did some writing about if he had a Super Power. It took him a little bit of time to come up with an idea but he ended up doing some great writing.
Alexander and I made some police badges out of cardboard and foil. Alexander decided that they needed a P on the front so that we knew they were for police officers. He then asked if we could make a badge for everyone in the family so we worked together to make 4 more badges. We stuck one on a blue hat to make his police cap and then stickytaped another badge to his shirt.
We then talked about how officers can talk to each other and he said using a walkie talkie. We then made our own ones using resources from our recycling collection. They were perfect to use in his Police Station. In the morning I set up a police station for him to play at. It included a computer/phone, case notes book, coffee cup, camera to collect evidence, keys and a fingerprint station.
I showed Alexander what a police officer might need to do to collect fingerprints for evidence and records. We collected his fingerprints. He then looked at them using a magnifying glass to try and identify qualities of a fingerprint. I explained to him that no one has the same finger print as him.
Officer Alexander then decided that he needed my fingerprints on record so took them. He went them to be a pattern so he used different colours. He then took photos of the fingerprints so he had them on record.
We sat down and he wrote a letter to the police officers which we were going to deliver on Friday. He wasn't too motivated to do the writing this time so I encouraged him to write the start and end of the letter and then he told me what message to write to them. Even though we spoke about different jobs police officers do to help others, he still wanted to thank them for catching bad people.
He then coloured in and cut out a police officer person puzzle. His cutting has come a long way.
Eliza had finished her work and was asking what she could do so I offered her to do an artwork that Alexander wasn't keen on - a fingerprint picture. She loved it and was very excited. She didn't fully grasp the concept that the finger prints became different things, and instead used her fingerprint for outlines as well as different people and objects but she made it her own and she had fun and that is what is important.
Meanwhile Daniel was learning how to draw 3D shapes. He was getting quite confused by how they would look from the top, bottom and side so I helped him by finding the different 3D objects so he could move them around, look at them and be able to draw the different angles.
Alexander then went onto ABC kids App and made a couple of police cars for his little town and then he played a few other games.
During lunch Postie Pete came to deliver our letters and the kids were so excited to give him his little package. Alexander said "Today we are giving you a package". He was very grateful.
The kids then spent lunchtime playing in the police station. It was cool to see it all being used and see their creativity flowing. They even used the Wiggles Big Red car to drive around to different jobs.
In the afternoon Alexander then learnt to draw a police car using Art for Kids Hub. He did an awesome job and enjoyed colouring it in, including the flashing lights. He saw a link to drawing a policeman as well so he drew a police officer as well.
Thursday morning saw them kids starting their work on the iPads and laptops. Today was Firefighter day for Alexander. We made a fireman hat out of a paper plate which was very cool. He decided that he would be number 5.
Because firefighters need to solve problems and puzzles, Alexander needed to make 2 fireman puzzles to start his day. He did them pretty quickly.
We then sat down to read a few firefighting books - Who Goes Ne-Nah? and LegoCity.
Then he watched a few videos to show what firefighters do and have a look in a fire engine. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL31A3BA939BE32AD8
We then paused firefighter day because he had his first Kindy Zoom session. We didn't really know what to expect but we had a package that the school sent to us. It included a book about starting school and also some worksheets that they were going to do in the zoom session. Alexander's teacher had them all on mute and read them the story. She then explained the worksheet for them to do - putting their uniform on and then said bye. 15mins and the session was over. Alexander was a bit disappointed that they couldn't talk during the time and I was very surprised that they didn't do the activity together over zoom. It was just an odd way to do it. Anyway, he had a good time so I guess that's what is important.
After morning tea Alexander and I sat down to write a letter for the firefighters that we would deliver tomorrow. He again did really well with sounding out his words and writing the sounds he could hear.
Then we had a LOT of fun! I think this his one of my favourite activities that he did. We set up a little fire station in the lounge room complete with computer, phone, uniform and most importantly, my school bell. I would call Alexander on the phone to let him know there was a fire and I needed him to come and put it out. He would then get dressed in his protective gear and head outside to his firetruck (the Little Tikes car with a ladder stuck on top). He would then drive to the fire (which was either on the driveway or on the pavers) and put the 'fire out'. The fire on the pavers was a stack of paper cups with flames painted on it. He needed to spray them off the table to put it out. The fire on the driveway was capital and lowercase letters. He needed to use a spray bottle to spray out the matching letters in alphabetical order. He loved it! He asked to do it again and again.
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| Working in the fire station |
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| Driving his fire engine |
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| Spraying out the fire |
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| Fire's out. Returning to the fire station |
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| Back at the fire station taking another call |
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| Heading to the fire truck |
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| Putting out the letter fires |
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| My little fireman |
And then repeat.
We also started spelling words using the sprayer.
Of course the big kids couldn't miss out and wanted to have a go at spraying the paper cup flames. Again at lunchtime the kids decided to play firefighters and police officers. Good thing I left the police station set up too. Eliza also wanted to make her own fireman and police woman.
After lunch Alexander used Art for Kids Hub to draw a fireman. It was a pretty awesome drawing. Then he was able to play with the fire engine on the ABC Kids App.
Friday morning we started Ambulance Day and also delivery day. The kids all started the morning on the computer and iPads. Alexander watched a video about how ambulances work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WTWGS_Ev-g
Then he wrote a letter to the ambulance drivers. Again, he was a bit over writing so I had him start and then finish the letter and I added what he wanted to say to them. It was important that we got this done early so that we could deliver the letters and a box of chocolates to the different places. I also wrote a letter on behalf of our family.
Alexander and I hopped into the car and headed to Berowra to give the firebrigade their letter and chocolate. Unfortunately they weren't there so we placed it in their letter box and hoped they they would check it before the day ended.
We then drove back to Hornsby Police Station. We checked in a walked into the station and Alexander saw an officer sitting in the waiting room chairs. He walked straight up to her and said 'This is for you'. I felt a bit bad because we were going to give it to the man behind the desk but Alexander gave it to the first officer that he saw. But I'm so glad that he did. Constable Rachel was just so lovely! She asked Alexander how old her way, asked if she could open the package, asked him what encouraged him to do the letter, asked him if he was at school yet. When we said no, she asked him which school he was going to and said that she will write in her notes to try and go and visit his school to talk with Kindy. How beautiful was that! She also complemented him on his writing and drawings. It was just so special to see. She also told him that the officers will enjoy the chocolates when she takes them inside. We thanked her for her time and then hopped back into the car.
Next stop was Hornsby Ambulance station. I never knew that it was there but thanks to Google Maps we found it. We rang the number on the door and said that we had a gift for the ambulance drivers. A lady (who I assume is on reception) came and thanked Alexander for the gift and said that the ambulance officers will definitely enjoy their chocolates.
It was pretty cute seeing Alexander's perspective of the different places that we visited. At the Police Station Alexander noticed that they didn't have a letter box out the front like the fire brigade did. He also noticed that the Fire Brigade flag was different to the Australian Flag. Sort of the same with the Union Jack in the corner but different. I liked having a glimpse of his thoughts.
We headed back home and had some lunch. Then the kids asked what they could do (Eliza and Daniel had both finished their work already). I gave them a challenge to make an ambulance out of recycled materials. Now this was a bit of mistake because there were definitely 'too many cooks' and arguments happened quickly. We were rescued by Nana popping over to drop off some Woolworths lego bricks for the kids and they changed their attention to opening and making those. Saturday morning Eliza was busy making her own ambulance using her ideas, complete with the trolley that the officers can pull out to put a patient on.
The end of home learning for Alexander and Eliza. What a time it has been. They have grown so much, they have learnt a lot, they have bonded and they have pushed themselves. I'm very proud of them and their learning during this home learning time and I'm going to miss having them around. (I will do a proper reflection of home learning after next week when all are back at school/preschool).
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