Reading Reading Everywhere!!

Kia Ora Children, Parents and Whanau,

Firstly I want to say a big thank you to all of you who have sent me emails, videos and pictures letting me know how you are and what you have been up to. It gives me big smiles and makes me so happy to hear and see you!

Here is Shayaan doing an excellent job of teaching a morning mat time reading session to his little sister. You are an amazing super teacher Shayaan - keep up the great work!!

And here is Elijah doing a reading session with Sunshine Classics which can be accessed here: 

https://www.sunshineclassics.co.nz/

For parents who want to extend their child's learning in reading: 

In order to gain confidence and fluency in reading, it is best that children read each evening for five to ten minutes. 

While levelled readers are listed on the Sunshine Classic App, your child certainly is not limited to reading just those! Some readers will be instructional (i.e. needing your support) and some will be independent (your child can read them to you without much support). There are different ways reading time can be enjoyed:

 • You read to him/her. 

• You read with him/her. 

• They read independently to you. 

• They read by themselves. 

Here are some suggestions to help your child when he/she is having difficulty reading the text on their own: 

• As you read, point to each word to make the oral language and print connection. 

• Give a few seconds of wait time to see what attempts are made. 

• Ask what would make sense in that sentence. 

• Use picture clues. 

• Skip the word and come back. 

• Go back to the beginning of the sentence and try again. 

• Sound the word out with your child.  

Jolly Phonics Song for sounding out letters

Always talk about the book with your child.

Reading Prompts & Questions:  

The following are some questions and prompts to help your child gain a deeper understanding of the text. 

Before Reading Look at the front cover: 

• What do you think this story will be about? 

• What makes you think that? 

• What clues does the title give us? 

• What could be interesting about this story? 

During Reading:

• What do you think will happen next? 

• How is the character feeling? How do you know this? 

• What is making the character feel this way? 

• What is happening? Tell me in your own words. 

• What would you do if you had this problem? 

• Have you ever experienced…? 

• Why did the author do this to the text? (E.g. bold writing, use of ellipsis, use of exclamation marks.) • What is another word for…? 

After Reading:

• What did you like or dislike about the story? 

• How did the story make you feel? Why? 

• Does the story remind you of any other story? 

• How could it have ended differently? 

• What was your favourite part? 

• What did you learn from reading this text?

Alternatively check out the Twinkle Learning Hub (https://www.twinkl.co.nz/home-learning-hub) for more interactive stories like this one: 

The Bear who came to babysit

As always stay safe, take care and keeping sending in your messages, pictures and videos.

Aroha nui and big virtual hugs from my family to yours!

Mrs Futcher 

Activities at home

Hola Friends and Families,

It's raining today, so my children and I are stuck inside - unable to kick the ball around outside, or go for a much needed walk.....so what can we do?

Here are some ideas for you all, if like us, you are stuck inside:

You could draw your toys like this:

You could ask your parents to tape you a road on the carpet for you cars, lego and building toys:

You could visit the San Diego Zoo:

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animal-cams-videos

or do some of their activities...

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/activities/prehensile-play

or play some of their games....

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/index.php/games

Or visit this site for fun ideas when it's raining:

https://www.mykidstime.com/things-to-do/50-fun-rainy-day-activities-for-kids/

Things like: Make a fort, create a town in a cardboard box or maybe instead of visiting a library (cos we can't do that) maybe you could create a library at home out of your books, or create a shop and sell goods to your customers (family). Monopoly money - or creating your own money is fun to use and helps you learn Mathematics counting.

In the twinkl home learning hub - search for shop labels to give you ideas of what you can create or for those with a printer you can print your own.

https://www.twinkl.co.nz/home-learning-hub

You could even have a Lego building competition!

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Whatever you end up doing, I hope it is fun, whimsical and dramatic. Don't forget to share with me via email/pictures/videos. 

Join us next time when we will explore Writing Fun!

As always take care, stay safe and keep having fun/making beautiful memories with your loved ones. 

Sending you big virtual hugs from my family and I, to your family and you. 

Kia kaha, and aroha nui, from Mrs Futcher 

Home Learning Hub

Kia Ora Children, Parents and Whanau!

Here is Noor working on some awesome activities at home! Fantastic job Noor, it is awesome to see your creativity and happy smiling face whilst you work on making a caterpillar and planes.

I have managed to find a Home Learning Hub from twinkl for those that are interested in resources for Phonics, Maths, Fitness, Story Time to name a few. 

Please know that your child does not have to do any of this work at home, as they can learn through playing games with you and on their own, and interacting with the family at home. This is here for those of you that want to do something fun, challenging and educational. 

Twinkl Home Learning Hub

Also David Williams has set up a story reading site: 

Elevenses story reading site

In saying all this, here is something important everyone with children should consider: 

You might be inclined to create a minute by minute schedule for your kids. You have high hopes of hours of learning, including online activities, science experiments, and book reports. You’ll limit technology until everything is done! But here’s the thing...

Our kids are just as scared as we are right now. Our kids not only can hear everything that is going on around them, but they feel our constant tension and anxiety. They have never experienced anything like this before. Although the idea of being off of school for weeks sounds awesome, they are probably picturing a fun time like summer break, not the reality of being trapped at home and not seeing their friends.

Over the coming weeks, you will see an increase in behavior issues with your kids. Whether it’s anxiety, or anger, or protest that they can’t do things normally - it will happen. You’ll see more meltdowns, tantrums, and oppositional behavior in the coming weeks. This is normal and expected under these circumstances.

What kids need right now is to feel comforted and loved. To feel like it’s all going to be ok. And that might mean that you tear up your perfect schedule and love on your kids a bit more. Play outside and go on walks. Bake cookies and paint pictures. Play board games and watch movies. Do a science experiment together or find virtual field trips of the zoo. Start a book and read together as a family. Snuggle under warm blankets and do nothing.

Don’t worry about them regressing in school. Every single kid is in this boat and they all will be okay. When we are back in the classroom, we will all course correct and meet them where they are. Teachers are experts at this! Don’t pick fights with your kids because they don’t want to do math. Don’t scream at your kids for not following the schedule. Don’t mandate 2 hours of learning time if they are resisting it.

If I can leave you with one thing, it’s this: at the end of all of this, your kids’ mental health will be more important than their academic skills. And how they felt during this time will stay with them long after the memory of what they did during those weeks is long gone. So keep that in mind, every single day.

Here is virtual tour links for those children who want to explore it virtually: 

https://www.wearethemighty.com/MIGHTY-SURVIVAL/free-virtual-field-trips-quarantine

https://www.popsugar.com.au/parenting/virtual-field-trips-to-take-with-kids-47316884?utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=US:NZ&utm_source=www.google.com

https://www.weareteachers.com/best-virtual-field-trips/

I hope you find this information useful. Please leave a comment letting me know how you are getting on, what you are doing in your days at home, and if there is something you would like to see posted on the blog next :) As usual sending big virtual hugs from me (Mrs Futcher) and my family to you and your family. Be safe, take care and have fun.