Alternate Curriculum

The following page provides you with activities to do at home. Times are just suggestions and meant to help you plan.  

• Literacy: reading, spelling, writing, vocabulary, writing (45 minutes)
• Math: measurement, geometry, time, money (30-45 minutes)
• Science (30 minutes)
• Social Studies (30 minutes)
• Other: consider opportunities to embed activities such as grooming, fitness, recreation, games, communication, cooking, cleaning, washing, etc.

Online Resource

• PBS Learning Media is a dynamic platform offering the best of public media content and produced specifically for PreK-16 teachers. - https://kera.pbslearningmedia.org/
• Texas Home Learning - https://texashomelearning.org/
• Do2Learn - A Resource for Individuals with Special Needs - https://do2learn.com/
• Fun Brain - https://www.funbrain.com/

Activities to Do at Home

ELA - Writing Practice

• Spray shaving cream on a smooth surface and have your child practice writing letters, numbers, and name. Other items you could use include sand, sidewalk chalk, and watercolors. 
• Hold a pencil or crayon correctly in hand and color or draw pictures.
• Have your child tell you about the picture they drew and write their story for them.
• Write or trace personal information, including name, phone number, address, etc.

ELA - Reading Practice

• Ask child “wh” questions (who, what, when, where, why) after each page while reading a book aloud
• Do a picture walk through a book and talk about what the pictures are telling you about the story.
• Look at the book while it’s being read aloud by a family member.
• Look through the refrigerator and pantry and name items or read labels.
• Go for a walk and recognize or read street signs.
• Retell stories that have been read.

Communication Practice

• Take photos of family members making different facial expressions and discuss what each expression means
• Create a job chart for all the children in the home and use stickers or clips to mark off when each chore is completed
• Greet other family members in the house (i.e., look at the person, wave, spoken greeting)
• Practice a turn-taking conversation and remain on one topic.
• Practice communicating needs. (e.g., hungry, tired, help, I'm frustrated, I need a break)

Math

• Use a calendar to count days “How many days until Friday?”, “How many days left in June?”
• Count objects around the house (e.g., dishes, chairs, pillows)
• Sort snacks by size, shape, color, etc.
• Find shapes in your house.  
  • How many different shapes did you find?
• Find different objects in your house (e.g., blocks, legos, rocks, leaves, coins) and make different patterns.
• Measure while you cook or bake.
  • Can you measure a half a cup? Can you find the tablespoon?
• Use loose change to identify coins, sort coins and/or count coins.

Science

• Discuss and chart the weather each day and at the end of the month create a bar graph for all the different types of days
• Go on a walk and discuss the weather, including temperature (hot, cold, cool, warm), wind conditions (calm, breezy, windy), sky conditions (sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy) and precipitation (clear, rain, fog, snow).
• Watch videos about germs and personal hygiene from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and BrainPOP.
• Practice personal hygiene (i.e., washing hands, going to the bathroom, washing face, getting dressed)
• Organize food from the pantry and/or refrigerator into the different food groups.

Social Studies

• Look at pictures of community helpers (e.g., police officer, firefighter, librarian, doctor).
• Have daily conversations, using a calendar, to identify the day of the week, month, date, and year.
• Talk about events (family or current) related to time; including before, after, next, first, last, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
• Talk about or list places in your neighborhood/community (e.g., stores, offices, restaurants, churches, community centers)