Early Childhood
Check out these five free videos on different ways you can have some fun and engage your preschool child at home.
1. Watching TV with Your Preschooler
2. Go For a Walk!
3. Food Prep: Cooking with your Young Child
4. Read a Book!
5. Sing a Song !
Spanish videos available here!
Many preschool classrooms contain learning centers (for example, a block center, a water table, a writing center) where young children can engage in hands-on learning to build specific skills. Teachers will be able to use this document to guide parents in setting up mini centers at home using plastic bins or cardboard boxes and many common household materials. "Center Time" is an important part of the day for young learners and it can happen at home too!
The CIRCLE Family Activity Collection translates child development research into practice by providing families a variety of hands-on activities for young learners that are organized around seven learning domains: Language and Communication, Reading and Writing, Math, Science, Social and Emotional, Physical Development, and Art and Sensory. This collection of activities will give teachers options for assisting families in planning for engagement and learning throughout the day. Access to activities is free and offers options in both English and Spanish.
Dr. Jean has created many practical, amazing resources. Here are some we really like. Visit her website drjean.org to see all her resources.
The Active Learning Approach was created by Dr. Lilli Nielsen for students with multi-sensory/multiple disabilities and is rooted in the philosophy that children with significant disabilities, like their typically developing peers, learn best through active, independent exploration of their environment. Independent exploration is often a challenge for those learners who have multi-sensory disabilities, such as deaf-blindness or severe multiple disabilities. This resource is a tool for assisting families in choosing activities for their child to engage in at home using household materials.
KidsTV123 addresses emergent literacy and math concepts for young children through short, engaging videos of songs. The playlist includes songs that touch on such topics as letter recognition, phonics, number recognition, color and shape recognition, transportation, animal sounds, and so much more. Kids love the simple animation and soothing vocals.
This video series features destinations geared for early childhood such as visiting a fire station, a dentist office, the beach, a museum (dinosaurs!), an apple orchard, and more! To access the field trips, click on the link, scroll down and select the "field trip" tab. Subtitles in Spanish and other languages are available.
This interactive website allows you to read user-made books appropriate for students of all ages and reading levels
This web page includes multiple links to resources to help teachers partner with families in selecting and sharing activities that tie to all learning domains included in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. The page also includes links to fillable teacher and family planning templates in both English and Spanish as well as an example lesson plan.
NAEYC's "Coping with COVID-19" web page offers multiple links to resources to assist teachers and parents in navigating this unprecedented time. Resources include information about health and safety, how to talk to kids about COVID-19, tips for using technology to teach, and links to instructional activities and websites.
This online library of supports can help you build kits to give parents the tools they need to work with students at home.
This article from NAEYC features six activities that can support math readiness using simple materials that families may have at home.
EcoLand is a hands-on, multi-sensory learning center where children learn about the earth and its properties through investigation. In the Home School Connection page there are learning videos, educational games, music, read-alouds, printables and activities. In Terry’s Travels, you can take a virtual tour of ECO Land with Terry the Tree Frog and his friends and meet all the animals that live there through educational videos.
This website features weekly lesson plans and sample daily schedules for both parents and teachers. Options for instruction are available in an online format if students have access to technology, or in the form of print packets, if students do not have access. The lessons and resources are available in both English and Spanish.
New Pyramid Model Resource for Emotional Regulation at home.
"Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think at Home." Read the story here.
Tucker is a turtle who sometimes needs help with his emotions. In this scripted story, parents are given ways to help their child learn to “tuck” and think like a turtle to help with calming.
Relevant for: Childcare, Early Childhood Special Education, Early Intervention, Families
Source: National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI)
This website features a multitude of ways for young children to engage in literacy, art, science and sensory work using ziploc bags.
To keep staff and students safe, schools have closed their physical doors. This simple story provided by Conscious Discipline answers the question of “why” in a simple age appropriate way in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Turkish. It can be read at story time during a distance lesson or shared with parents. All languages are included in the downloadable story (57 pages total- the first 13 pages are English, followed by Spanish).