Tagged with 'Early learning'

Each family in the United States has found themselves at home…for a while. All this time has afforded us precious hours to do things we might not otherwise do. At Learning Resources, our minds turn toward STEM, and all the long-term experiments we might have put on the back burner simply due to a of lack of time.  

Below are a few overnight experiments that take a while. But hey – time is on our side! 

The Naked Egg  

How can you make an egg stay fully intact without its shell? The answer is (to this and many things): science! 

You will need: 

• Eggs 
• Vinegar 
• Cups 
• Corn syrup (for later) 

All you have to do is drop the eggs in, one per cup, and pour in the vinegar. The egg should be completely covered with the liquid. It’s okay if the egg floats a bit.

A chicken egg shell is made up of calcium bicarbonate. The acid makeup of the vinegar begins to react with the calcium of the egg shell. After just a short while, you will see bubbles appearing on the outside of the egg. This is carbon dioxide gas as a result from that reaction.

But now comes the hardest part: the waiting. It can take 12-24 hours before a good portion of the shell is removed. More bubbles and froth will appear. 

After the day of soaking, carefully remove the egg from the vinegar. The egg was soft, but still had a white, powdery coating. You can scrape it off, but with the egg being so delicate, it might break. Be careful! 

We used a flashlight to find the yolk in the dark. The egg glowed something awesome, but the yolk was hard to pinpoint.  

So we poured some fresh vinegar in the cup, and soaked it for another 12 hours.  

The egg came out the next morning very rubbery and fragile. We slipped the naked egg into a cup filled with corn syrup and let that soak overnight. The results were amazing! Because the corn syrup has very little water content and the egg does, the water inside the egg begins to move across the membrane (“skin” layer) and starts to equalize. What’s left is a very baggy egg.

How to Make a Rainbow Bouquet 

While you are grabbing essentials at your local big box store, why not grab a bouquet of fresh flowers? Creating your own rainbow bouquet can be turned into a fragrant scientific experiment over the course of a few nights. A trick often used by florists, dyeing white roses or carnations with colored water is actually an example of capillary action, or the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces against gravity. 

What you will need: 

• White roses or carnations 
• Scissors or knife (adults only!) 
• Containers 
• Food coloring and water 

Remove all the leaves from the stem of the flower. The experiment is to see how the colored water will travel to the white petals, so you don’t want water diverted to the leaves. 

 Once the roses are clean, have an adult snip or cut them with a knife at an angle, leaving about 6-7 inches (adults only!).  

Next, stir up the liquid your flowers will be drinking for the next few days. Decide on your colors and place about 10-15 drops of food coloring in each container. Add warm tap water until the containers are about halfway full. Stir well! 

Place your flowers in their containers. Here, two were placed in each container. 

THREE HOURS 

Recently snipped flowers can be pretty thirsty. This is what the stem and bud of the blue flower looked like after just three hours. 

12 HOURS 

The next morning, the tips of the flower petals (and most dry part of the flower) were beginning to show color. How deep will the color be with each passing day?

DAY TWO

At the two-day mark, the colors were distinguishable, and the roses were thriving.

DAY THREE 

By the third day, the flowers were just beginning to wilt, but the colors were the most vibrant, but still a pastel hue. 

These roses were colored by capillary action. The colored water was pulled through the stem and made its way up to the petals. Transpiration occurs when the colored water evaporates from the flower petals.  

Overnight Crystals 

Some crystals take several days to grow, but here’s a simple overnight recipe to get some great crystals grown right in your refrigerator.  

You will need: 

• Epsom salt 
• Food coloring 
• Clear glass cup 

Epsom salt is another name for magnesium sulfate.  

In the clear glass, fill ½ cup really hot tap water, then stir in ½ cup of the Epsom salt. Stir for at least one minute. While some salt crystals will be not dissolved at the bottom of the glass, your stirring has created a saturated solution that’s ready to make crystals. 

Then add food coloring of your choice. Place the glass in the refrigerator and wait until the morning! 

Wow! By cooling this solution rapidly, it encouraged fast crystal growth due to the dense solution. Crystals grown this way will be thin and plentiful.

Happy Overnight Science! 

Change is stressful for everyone, especially children. If you are new to homeschooling, you might be a bit overwhelmed and confused as you look for options and information. Having a homeschooling routine in place will bring a sense of security, comfort and consistency to a child’s life.

Why Is Routine so Important?

A routine is the way families organize themselves to get things done, spend time together, learn and have fun.

Children thrive in a predictable environment where they know what to expect. It makes them feel safe, secure and looked after, especially in stressful times like this. If you build a routine around having fun and spending time together, it will also strengthen family relationships. Having an important job to do in the family routine (like setting the table) helps children develop a sense of responsibility which is an important life skill. Routines for children with development delays or disabilities are even more important because they find it hard to understand or cope with change. It takes a little bit of time for children to get used to a routine, but when they do, you can give fewer instructions as they get better at following a schedule.

Having a routine is beneficial for parents too even though it takes some effort to create a good routine. But when you have one in place, it helps you get through your daily tasks and free up time for other things. A routine can help you feel organized and in control and this is very important for reducing stress levels. You will also feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day because you followed a certain structure.

Homeschooling Preschool and Kindergarten Daily Routine

In early education the entire homeschooling routine should be based on creating opportunities for your child to learn through play. The most natural way of creating relevant opportunities is to start with observation. Take a day and spend it casually with your child. Observe what they play with the most, what interests them at this moment, is there something they need help with (maybe work on speech or vocabulary more). When you know what your child likes and shows affinity for, then you can build on that and learning will be more fun and efficient. For example if your child loves dinosaurs, use that interest and incorporate dinosaurs into literacy, math, science and art.

@teachingspecialthinkers

There are many themed activities and resources available for you to use on this theme and your child will enjoy this and learn much faster.

It’s important that you make your routine work for your family. Here is an example of a homeschooling routine we use and you can use it as a base and then adjust according to your needs.

07:00 am – Wake up/Get dressed/Breakfast

08:00 am – Storytime

We sit on the floor in a relaxing atmosphere, talk about what day it is, what the weather is like that day and they choose a story for me to read to them.

We spend a bit of time talking about the story – What is their favorite part/ characters? Did we learn a new word today? If they really like the story and we have materials, like relevant figurines or plush toys, we reenact the story together or they do it on their own. If they engage in free play, I will let them play while I tidy up or plan the next activity.

09:00 am – Songs/ Dance/ Movement

After they were playing quietly for a while, we have a loud activity like singing nursery rhymes, dancing to children’s songs or do some yoga for kids.

09:30 am – Literacy or Math

Now that they are fresh and awake from moving around, I like to do a short activity involving letters, numbers, shapes, or measurement. You can use printable worksheets, activity pads or play a game like letter hunt or sorting by size and working on patterns.

10:00 am – Snack time (fruit and nuts for healthy body and mind)

10:30 am- Free Play

It is very important to provide time for them to learn through independent play. All you need to do is offer open ended toys and resources like play food, old boxes, animal figurines, building blocks and similar.

@the_very_hungry_slp

12:00 pm- Lunch/ Family Time

1:00 pm- Outdoor Play (playground, backyard or patio)

If we can’t go out due to weather, then they either play on their own.

2:00 pm- Art/ Science

If we didn’t go out, I'd try to do more activities where they need to move or stand so we paint on the big art easel or do science experiments and they help prepare materials and clean up later.

2:30 pm- Snack Time

3:00 pm – Free Play

Most of the time kids are very good at finding opportunities to learn on their own but if you see they need a bit of direction, you can encourage some dramatic play. Give them some bandages, old syringes and let them be doctors and heal their dolls or maybe set up a grocery shop from an old cardboard box and food containers.

@teachingspecialthinkers

4:30 pm- Dinner Time

5:30 pm – Family Time

Playing board games is a fun way of learning and strengthening family relationships. Money Bags^™ Coin Value Game is always a hit!

We laugh, tell jokes and try to have as much fun as we can together. Sometimes we also have a movie night at this time. If you choose to watch a movie, just make sure it’s short and appropriate for your child’s age.

6:30 pm – Bath time/ Getting dressed for bed

7:00 pm- Read a Bedtime story/ Sleep

Being flexible is the key to creating a good routine. Flexibility let's us take advantage of those moments when children discover something that sparks their interest. This allows us to extend a play period so they can gain maximum satisfaction from their play and we can do our own thing in the meanwhile.

When you are creating a schedule, it is important to provide a good balance between quiet and noisy activities, solitary time and family/sibling play and outdoor/indoor play. And also don’t forget to allow enough time for a transition from one activity to another to avoid stressful situations. Warn them once in advance before a change in activity. For example, if you are planning to go out, give them a 15 minute warning so they can finish their play and prepare for what’s next.

Homeschooling should be fun and relaxing above all. Enjoy the time spent with your kids, be present and sneak little lessons while you cook and play together. If you keep the wake up/ sleep time and feeding time the same everyday, this alone will provide enough structure so that everything else can be flexible and enjoyable.

As schools around the country close, we're here to help you navigate the world of at-home learning. While your little ones may not be in the classroom right now, there are easy online resources to help you turn your home into a place of learning. Below, you'll find five of our favorites:  

Lesson Plans from Hand2Mind

As you switch from parent mode to teacher mode, you'll probably need a little help planning lessons that are skill- and grade-appropriate. That's where the curriculum resources of our sister company Hand2Mind come in. Designed by grade level and calibrated for all levels of learners, these free lesson plans will help you introduce and reinforce math concepts from counting and shapes to fractions, decimals, and more. You can also visit Hand2Mind's Teacher Corner for tips and resources trusted by teachers across the country.

Physical Activities from GoNoodle

Studying is important, but so is staying physically active. Pump up the fun of at-home gym time with the app-based fitness games at GoNoodle. These high-energy videos challenge kids to jump, duck, and wave along with the hosts, with your smart device detecting their movements and making them a part of the story. It's a novel way to get kids moving, and an easy way to help burn off excess cabin fever. 

Fantasy Math Fun from Prodigy

When your kids need a break from traditional at-home lessons, there are plenty of ways for them to keep learning while they play. One of our favorites is Prodigy, the free online roleplaying game built around the concepts of Common Core math. Calibrated for students in grades 1-8, the game turns kids into wizards studying at the magic-filled Academy. As they explore and adventure, they'll solve real math challenges in order to defeat enemies, find treasure, and build their characters. In addition to fun gameplay, Prodigy also offers parent resources to help you incorporate the game into your own at-home learning plan.   

Video Classroom from OutSchool

At-home learning is wonderful, but sometimes you need the collaboration of a full class to fully spark kids' creativity. With the small-group video classes at OutSchool, your kids can connect with inspiring teachers and students from around the world in sessions dedicated to everything from Spanish and game design to creative writing and music theory. OutSchool offers video classes for kids ages 3-18, so there are plenty of options to go around. Best of all: classes start from just $5. 

Online Library from OverDrive

If you can't make it to your local library, Libby is ready to bring the library to you. This innovative app from the folks at OverDrive uses your own library card to connect you to your library's ebook holdings without the need to leave the house. From downloadable audiobooks you can play right from the app to graphic novels, picture books, and more, Libby is a free and easy way to expand your own learning resources.

At Learning Resources, we're here to help you make the best of this challenging time. Stay safe and healthy, and check back with our blog for more tips and learning ideas as the situation unfolds.