• Read together on a daily basis and ask questions about the book: discuss the characters, talk about the setting, make comments on each picture of the story, ask questions about the story, retell the story

• Play with letters of the alphabet, naming or making their sounds

• Create a comfy reading space at your home and find time to read, read, read!

• Read recipes and invite your child to help you

• Use songs and nursery rhymes to build language

• Engage your child in reading labels at home by labeling objects and places at home

• Play word games at home. For example, start by asking questions like “What sound does the word _____ start with?” “What sound does the word ______ end with?” “What words start with the sound ____?” “What word rhymes with ____?”

• Play games to memorize high-frequency/sight words every day.

• Keep markers, pencils, and crayons available at home. Children develop skills that prepare them for writing through their normal play- like drawing, painting, and tracing objects. This kind of play helps prepare the brain and the muscles for holding a pencil and forming written words.

• Help your child learn to write their name.

• Involve them in writing activities.

• Make a shopping list together and point out the words that start with the same letter.

• Write a letter or note to a family member.

• Practice letters, you can practice writing them on paper, in the air, in sand, or shaving cream.

• As your child begins to write letters, caption what they have written. Ask your child, “What does this say?” Write their words under their writing. This helps them learn more about letters and words.

• As you read to your children, point out things the author of the book did to make the book fun to read. For example, “Wow! Listen to how the author describes the ocean. Don’t those words make you feel like you are jumping over waves?”

• Show your children that you write too. Let your children see you writing thank you notes, composing an email, or communicating with your child’s school.

• Create a book by just putting together several blank pages. Each day work on a page until you build a story.

*Objects can include things in your house such as q-tips, buttons, paper clips, toys, shoes, etc.

• Have fun counting objects. After he/she has counted them, rearrange them in a circle, in a row, or spread them out and ask her to count the objects again.

• Practice numbers by:

  • Counting objects (windows, doors)

  • Drawing a picture to show how many you counted

  • Write the numeral to show how many

• Put objects into groups and compare the groups with words like “more, less, the same”.

• Trace an object and estimate how many items (e.g. pennies, pasta) will cover the space. Write the number that tells how many.

• Line up toys or family members and tell who is first, second, next, last?

• Sort snacks (e.g. by color, shape, size)

• Teach your kids about handwashing and the importance of doing it to stay healthy. Here are some resources:

  • Germs, Germs, Germs

  • Wash Your Hands song

• Practice the finger play “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and show the accompanying hand motions.

  • Then go outside on a nature walk and see if you see any spiders.

  • Read a story or article about spiders. (e.g. The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle)

  • Draw a spider and count the legs. (Spiders have 8 legs)

  • If you have some playdough, see if you can make a spider family. Use your fine motor skills to roll out all of the legs.

  • Can you move like a spider or crawl like a beetle or fly like a butterfly? Go outside and try it!

• Sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and point out your body parts. Tell someone what each part is used for (e.g. “My arms are for carrying things and holding myself up. My ears are for listening. My mouth is for eating, and singing, and talking.”)

• Pretend to play a doctor’s office or veterinarian's office and let your child help make your family members or stuffed animals feel better. (Play is a great way to see what fears or questions your child has about the virus. Help them feel safe by role playing a doctor that shows healthy habits like washing hands and not touching your face and if you still get sick, show that rest and fluids and medicine can help.)

• Start a weather journal to show your teacher when you get back to school. Record each day’s weather with a picture to match. Include: temperature (hot, cold, cool, warm), wind conditions (calm, breezy, windy), sky conditions (sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy), and precipitation (clear, rain, fog). Since you live in Texas, you may have many different pictures for each day!

• Keep a “Quarantine Calendar.” You and your family are living a special time in history. Write the date for each day you are home and draw pictures of what you did to keep busy each day. You did three things? Draw a picture for each! You can compare it with your classmates when you get back to school.

• Work together to create a map of your house or neighborhood. Use blocks, legos or drawings to create. Have your child tell you directions for getting from place to place using words like “beside, over, under, next, up, down”.

• Build a fort with pillows and blankets and pretend you grew up during the wild west. Use a flashlight and tell a story about what you think it might have been like.