Dear parents and guardians,
We hope you and your families are all safe and well during these uncertain times. We all miss the children and hope we will see them very soon.
Here are some ideas for Learning From Home for the next two weeks (weeks beginning Monday 20th April and Monday 27th April). Choose some activities to do each day!
We have made a timetable to give an idea of how long to spend on each subject each day. You know your child best so it may not be suitable for them or your circumstances at home.
Junior Infants learn best by constant repetition and revision. It may seem repetitive to you but this is how they consolidate and retain their learning.
English: 15-20 minutes
Maths: 15-20 minutes
Gaeilge: 10 minutes
Spend as much time as you like being playful, active and creative!
Throughout the week, you are welcome to email photos of creative writing/colouring pictures/being active to room1@stconlethinfantschool.ie
During this time, it is important to stress that one of the best methods of learning for your child is through play. The benefits of play are huge for a child’s development at Junior Infant level. Please see below a list of the different types of play your child may engage in.
Types of Play:
- Creative play: Painting, play-dough, junk art.
- Games with rules: bingo, board games, word and number games and puzzles, hide and seek, snakes and ladders, hop scotch
- Language play: All types of books, books with no words where a child can make up a story, puppets, materials to make books about themselves and family, story bags-pillow case with a book and supporting material
- Physical play: sand, water, twigs, pasta, lego. Hoops, balls, jig-saw, magnets, old broken toys, paints and brushes, textured materials, straws, lollipop sticks, crayons, paper. Musical instruments, cooking and baking
- Pretend Play: Playing shop, post office, dentist, vet, restaurant, mechanic, dolls, dress up, cars, make a den (inside or out)
This month we suggest the theme of The Restaurant – Play with things at home, bake with an adult, washing up and cleaning up too! Create your own takeaway menus, answer phone calls, take orders, set the table etc
English
Handwriting
Encourage good posture: Tummy to the table, feet on the floor (or off the chair)
Correct pencil grip: pencil held between thumb and peter pointer, and other hand holding page/work steady.
Continue to revise letter formation for c, o, a, d and g, q and i.
- Week starting 20/04: Move on to letter formation for r and n.
- Week starting 27/04: Move on to letter formation for m and h.
See the letter formation sheet below for the rhymes. Use pencils, crayons, markers, paint, trace, playdough or sand!
YouTube: Let’s Get Squiggling
Write a simple caption using correct letter formation for children to copy such as ‘Today is Monday’/’My news’ etc.
If children find it difficult to copy it, the letters can be traced for them to copy.
Draw a picture to go with their caption
Practise writing your name using correct letter formation.
Again, if children find this difficult, you can write it out for them to copy or trace.
Rhymes
- Revise previous Nursery Rhymes.
- Clap the rhyming words (e.g. beep, sheep).
- Draw pictures of the rhymes. Sequence the rhymes.
- What happened first, next, then? (See sequence sheet below)
- Discuss language in rhymes eg what does ‘pail of water’ mean etc.
Week starting 20/04: Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat Where Have You Been https://youtu.be/ZYiPnxEsYEU
Week starting 27/04: Little Bo Peep
Phonics
Continue to revise sounds in the sound bag and make CVC words.
Games: sound bingo, sound snap, guess the sound, I spy,
Revise making and reading at and an words.
- Start making ‘in’ words. (pin, fin, tin, bin, win )
YouTube: Alphablocks
https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/ Lots of phonics games in the Resources section. Phase 1 and Phase 2 are suitable for Junior Infants. Username: march20 Password: home
https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/literacy.html
Reading
The Ugly Duckling
Pizza at Sally’s (links with the play theme of the restaurant https://youtu.be/nOijAfaQ3Uw )
Continue to read stories at home and sequence beginning, middle and end (see sequence picture below).
Ask questions about what happened in the story. Draw pictures of the story.
Stories online – Many popular stories are available on YouTube and on these websites:
https://www.storylineonline.net
Oxford Owl – free e library access to 100 books lots of good phonics books https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/?view=image&query=&type=book&age_group=Age+4-5&level=&level_select=&book_type=&series=#
Ebooks available on: https://www.librariesireland.ie/join-your-library Complete the registration, set a PIN and you’ll be able to log into BorrowBox
Oral Language
- The Restaurant (see Play above for ideas at home!)
- Spring: can you name the 3 months of Spring, name special events that happen during Spring, valentines day, mothers day, Easter etc, describe the weather is Spring and the longer days, discuss signs of spring around us, buds on trees, baby animals born etc and watch out for signs of spring while on a walk.
- Call or video-call a relative for a chat!
- My News:
-What day is it today?
-What is the weather like today?
-What did you do today?
Asking questions:
Encourage your child to interview members of the family and ask them about their news.
Draw a picture of something you did. Sometimes include a simple caption (see handwriting section) Maybe share a photo of your drawing to room1@stconlethinfantschool.ie
Maths
- Days of the Week – What day is it today? What day will it be tomorrow? What day was yesterday?
YouTube – days of the week song
- My daily routines – e.g Morning: First I wake up, Next I get dressed, Then I eat my breakfast
- Count forwards and backwards within 10. Start at different numbers.
- Continue to practise number formation 1 -5
Use pencils, crayons, markers, paint, trace, playdough or sand!
- Make sets of different amounts using toys/pasta/anything!
- Draw sets of different amounts, count them and write the number beside the set.
- Sort your toys/Lego into different groups (colour, shape, size)
- Make patterns using two colours.
- https://www.abcya.com/games/counting_fish
- https://www.abcya.com/games/counting_sorting_comparing
- https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
- https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/index.html
Gaeilge
Where possible at home:
- Encourage children to sing/recite any songs or poems they know in Irish – for example:
Rólai Pólai https://youtu.be/q5KxTACF3cM
Lámh lámh eile https://youtu.be/MhwVt1SU4ts
Is mise an traein https://youtu.be/aYxfF5a1FOU
Cad atá sa mhála? https://youtu.be/73LyagWCSJE
- Talk about the weather. Cén saghas lae é? ,Tá an lá fuar/té/tirim/ag cur sneachta/fliuch, tá an ghrian ag taitneamh.
- Practise the colours (dathanna), cén dath é sin? Dearg, gorm, glás, buí https://youtu.be/4jUO1bmbIug
- Count as Gaeilge: a hoan, a dó, a trí, a ceathair, a cúig, a sé, a seacht, a hocht, a naoi, a deich
- Practise naming items as much as you can e.g. fuinneog, doras, cófra, bord, cathaoir, lón, peann luaidhe, leabhar, leaba, bainne, ceapaire, úll, milseain etc see below for attached posters
- Dino Lingo https://youtu.be/LvBSZb6y5FA
- Cula 4 na nÓg www.cula4.com/en/cula4-na-nog/home/ Cartoons, games and activities for younger children.
- Séideán Sí https://www.seideansi.ie/naionain-bheaga.php There are free games/activities available here
Creativity
- Make a map of the garden/kitchen/bedroom/sitting room
- What can you make out of an egg carton?
- Make a Time Capsule!
- Draw or paint a Spring picture
- Youtube: Art for Kids Hub
- Youtube: Draw with Don Conroy
- Make a craft (Pinterest is helpful for ideas!)
- Play with playdough or make your own! https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/playdough-recipe
Music
- Spring Song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DobrRgD5aOU
Stay Active
- Go for walks/cycles if possible
- https://rtejr.rte.ie/10at10/
- YouTube: Cosmic Yoga
- YouTube: The Body Coach (Joe Wicks has Kids Workouts and daily PE lessons)
- www.gonoodle.com
- www.supertroopers.ie
Irish education publishers
The major publishers of schoolbooks – including Edco (edco.ie), Gill Education (gillexplore.ie) and CJ Fallon (cjfallon.ie) – are making their online education resources for primary and secondary students available free of charge, including ebooks, podcasts, games and puzzles.
Over the Moon English resources (GillExplore.ie)
Gill Education has provided Over the Moon English resources for junior infants to second class children on their site GillExplore.ie
Created by teachers, ideal for home education, it has lots of appealing games, stories, worksheets, etc. It is offering a free month’s subscription (enter offer code: IRLTWINKLHELPS)
Orchard Toys – range of activities and free printables
https://www.orchardtoys.com/dept/things-to-do_d0127.htm
You can use these guides to help children while sequencing stories, forming letters, an aimsir (the weather), éadaí (clothes) and an seomra ranga (the classroom).
