Monday Theme Discussion

Wild Animals – (Discussion time 10 minutes) The little 5 of South Africa – what are they? (Elephant shrew, ant lion, rhinoceros beetle, buffalo weaver, leopard tortoise). Why were those five chosen? (Because they mimic the Big 5). Discuss the Elephant shrew. Which animal does it resemble? Do you think they are related? What does it eat? Where does it live etc?

A fun catchy clip on the Big 5 vs the Little 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fry1lSDCH7k

Language and Literacy Skills

Letterland – Oscar Orange (Lesson time 10 minutes) Listen to the audio story on YouTube – https://letterland.app.box.com/s/jc0mchilje7ghbvhtxat9p3un1wg5mog/file/307789284303 Can you make Oscar Orange’s nice round orange shape with your mouth? The letter o has two sounds because it is a vowel – says o as in octopus and o as in oval. Does the shape of your mouth change when you say the different sounds? Listen and watch the Oscar Orange song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYwf5lDCgJo

Auditory Perceptual Skills

Listen to the story while looking at the picture. Can he/she spot any words that start with an “o” ? (see

picture attachment). Story - Oscar Orange lives at the Letterland docks. Every day, ships come to the docks bringing crates and boxes.

All sorts of things are unloaded at the Letterland docks: olives, otters and ostriches, and loads and loads of oranges. Oscar Orange has his hands full. Perhaps the octopus will help him. How many arms does he have? Oscar Orange has a good old friend called Mr O who looks after him. He is the Old Man from over the ocean. No one knows exactly how old Mr O is, but the older he gets the wiser he becomes. Now he is the oldest and wisest man in Letterland.

Visual Perceptual Skills

Puzzles. On a piece of large paper – make blocks of colours (x6) and write the word above each colour. Let your child go on a Scavenger hunt to find objects that are that colour. They place the objects under the block of colour. Then they can discuss and ‘read’ the colour words. Discuss which has the most/least/the same. (Activity time – while interested).

Numeracy Skills Discuss how weeks make months. What are the names of the months? Discuss how the months are divided into seasons. What are the names of the seasons? (Activity time 10 minutes). Count in ones from 1 – 30.

Creative Activities

Make a lion mask from a paper plate and cut strips of yellow and orange paper. (Colour in white paper if you do not have yellow and orange). Cut out the middle of the paper plate and stick on the strips of yellow and orange paper to make a mane.

Life Skills Is your child confident? How can we boost confidence in a child? (Only praise for a job well done. Do not overdo the praise – they know when you are being genuine or not. Give them opportunities to do things for themselves – even when challenging. Encourage them not to give up and let them know that some things are harder to do than others. Give them responsibilities).

Music Zebra song: I’m a little zebra white and black With a bushy mane running down my back I like to gallop, run and play Out under the African sun all day

Gross Motor Miss Mac P.E.

Fine Motor

Ascertain use of dominant of dominant hand. Throw a soft toy – ask them to catch with one hand. Which hand do they use to catch? Ask them to pick up a crayon. Which hand do they use? When they brush their teeth, which hand do they use? Is it consistent? Sensory tray – use sand to trace the letter 0 Cutting – see creative activity Playdough – can they form the letter 0 with playdough?

Guided Story Time

Bedtime story - Mouse Paint Story. A delightful story which ties in with the Colour Scavenger Hunt from today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_qLGMWMhAI

Tuesday Theme Discussion

Wild Animals – (Discussion time 10 minutes) Discuss the Buffalo Weaver Bird. Where is it found in Africa? How does it differ to our common weaver bird? Do they live in family groups? What does it like to eat?

Language and Literacy Skills

Tuesday – Letterland Oscar Orange. (Lesson time 10 minutes). Listen to the letterland song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6g3W__BdY Can they think of words that begin with o – Oscar, olives, octopus, off, ostrich, otter, office, oats, old, oven, ocean. Can they think of words that begin with the vowel o – only, open, oval, over, ok, ok, only.

Auditory Perceptual Skills

Let them lie in a quiet spot – what sounds can they hear?

Visual Perceptual Skills

Sorts according to texture – find a variety of objects to feel. Put them in a pillowcase and let them feel blind. Can they describe how they feel? Try to encourage descriptive words.

Numeracy Skills

Animal family finger fun - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpup3XqVbY0 Rote count in ones from 1 – 30.

Reinforce number digits 1, 2 and 3 etc, by recognising and writing them. Write in sand, with play dough, or in shaving foam. (Then use the attached page to trace over and write on their own).

Creative Activities

Let them write the letter ‘o’ in the middle of the page. Use a green dot to indicate where they must begin and a red dot where to stop. Let them write around a few times. Then let them draw a picture that begins with ‘o’ in each of the four corners. Write the word underneath for them. Underline the beginning sound ‘o’. TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH AND SEND TO YOUR TEACHER.

Life Skills Is your child confident in different situations eg zoom?

Music Teacher Rachel’s music lesson.

Gross Motor

Over under ball passes – play as a family. Stand in a line one behind the other, with legs apart. Front person passes ball over the head. Second person passes the ball between their legs and so on until the end. Last person runs to the front and the fun begins all over again. It is important that your child is reminded to always sit in the correct sitting position at a table when doing tabletop activities. Feet flat on the floor, bottom towards the back of the chair and back straight.

Fine Motor

Threading – using your pipe leaner, thread a variety of objects eg, beads/ buttons/ pasta shapes. TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH AND SEND TO YOUR TEACHER. Sensory tray – see numeracy skills (include writing the letter o). Playdough – make a sausage ‘o’ letter.

Guided Story Time Can they make up their own story about the adventures of an orange?

Wednesday Theme Discussion

Wild Animals – (Discussion time 10 minutes) Discuss the Rhinoceros Beetle. Why is he called this? How does he protect himself? Is he strong like his namesake the rhinoceros? What does he eat?

Language and Literacy Skills

Letterland (Lesson time – 10 minutes). How to write the letter ‘o’. What number looks the same? Remember to start at 2 o’clock and to go in an anti-clockwise direction. Write with crayons, chalk on the carpet/bricks/paving/shaving foam in the shower, on mommy’s back etc. TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH OR VIDEO OF THEM WRITING THE LETTER O. Watch the handwriting song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pE5dKkHtoI

Auditory Perceptual Skills

Let them lie outside in the garden. What sounds can they hear? Were they different to yesterday’s sounds?

Visual Perceptual Skills

Puzzles. Recognizes similarities and differences between objects. Can they use descriptive words?

Numeracy Skills Shape – A cube. (Lesson time 10 minutes). How is a square different to a cube? (A square is flat – 2 dimensional whereas a cube is made up of 6 square sides that together make a box shape. A cube takes up space, can be solid

and has 3 measurements – length, width, and height. Go and look for cube shaped objects around the house.

Creative Activities

Write over the ‘o’ letter. (attached). Start at the star and follow the dots all the way back to the star. Sunset - Using a white piece of paper and yellow, orange, red and purple chalk or powder paint (the actual powder). If using chalk, they can use dry or lightly dipped in water to make sunset colours across their page. If using the powder, use cotton wool or toilet paper, to spread the colours. (Keep this page for Thursday’s activity).

Life Skills Let them call a friend and tell them how they miss them.

Music Oh, the Grand Old Duke of York – sit on a chair with feet flat on the floor. While singing the song, march in time with feet on the floor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWNFB8grkw

Gross Motor Write the letter ‘o’ large with chalk outside and let your walk around it. They must go in the same direction as when writing it.

Fine Motor

Let them throw and catch a ball or anything soft. Do so from a distance, or up in the air or let them throw against a wall and catch. How many ways can they find to throw their ball? Sensory tray – trace the letter o in the sand. Cutting – let them cut out 6 square shapes. Can they stick them together to make a cube? They will need help with this activity. Playdough – make a sausage ‘o’. Remember to put it down in an anti-clockwise direction.

Guided Story Time

Listen to Aesop Fables – The Lion and the Mouse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi5vPcZTHVE Discuss the moral of the story.

Thursday Theme Discussion

Wild Animals – (Discussion time 10 minutes) Discuss the Leopard Tortoise. Why is it named after a leopard? Where does it live and what does it eat? How long can it live? Have they ever seen one in the Helderberg Nature Reserve? Are they fast or slow etc?

Language and Literacy Skills

Letterland – language enrichment (Activity time 10 minutes) What word can be used instead of the sea? (the ocean) What is an overall, an occupation? What does it mean to operate? What is the opposite of under? (Over). And so on….. Listen and watch the story –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wE5PDKLDeQ

Auditory Perceptual Skills

Oh, the Grand Old Duke of York – let them beat anything as a drum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGvEQTQaTbQ

Visual Perceptual Skills

Puzzles. Using the attached worksheet, let them find the hidden birds and colour them in. (Figure-ground activity).

Numeracy Skills Count in twos from 1 – 10 (20 for extension). Reinforce number digits 4,5,6 by writing them in sand, foam, with playdough.

Creative Activities

Black silhouette drawing on their sunset page. Using black paint, paint a big tree on the page and when dry, use a black koki and draw the Little 5 on their sunset page. TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH AND SEND TO THEIR TEACHER. For inspiration on trees found in the Kruger park watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXI396MKzXE

Life Skills

Resilience – today more than ever we need to encourage our children to develop this skill. Very young children will only recently have mastered the skills of walking and talking, and they may not be able to express their anxieties and fears. Although you may think they are too young to understand what is happening, even very young children can absorb frightening events from the news or from conversations they overhear. Watch your children for signs of fear and anxiety they may not be able to put into words. Have your children become extra clingy, needing more hugs and kisses than usual? Have your children started wetting the bed or sucking their thumb after you thought they had outgrown that behavior? They may be feeling the pressure of what is going on in the world around them. Use play to help your children express their fears and encourage them to use art or pretend games to express what they may not be able to put into words. Use your family like a security blanket for your children: wrap them up in family closeness and make sure your children have lots of family time. During times of stress and change, spend more time with your children playing games, reading to them, or just holding them close. Young children especially crave routine and rituals. If bedtime is the time you read stories to your children, make sure you keep that time for stories. Your child may be less able to handle change when he or she is going through a particularly rough time. Tips to foster resilience -

1. Make connections. ...

2. Help your child by having him or her help others. ... 3. Maintain a daily routine. ... 4. Take a break. ... 5. Teach your child self-care. ... 6. Move toward your goals. ... 7. Nurture a positive self-view. ... 8. Keep things in perspective and maintain a hopeful outlook

Music See Auditory Perception.

Gross Motor Make the letter with their body – legs, arms, fingers. Can all the family members join in to make a big o on the floor?

Fine Motor

Balloon toss – can they toss the balloon in the air, between two people etc? Sensory tray – write their name in the sand. Watch their directionality. Playdough – try make a buffalo weaver’s nest, or a rhino beetle.

Guided Story Time

Make up a story about the Little 5 going on an adventure in the bush. Where would they be going, what would they need to take with them, who would they meet along the way etc?

Friday Theme Discussion

Wild Animals – (Discussion time 10 minutes) Discuss the Antlion. Where does he live and how does he trap his prey? Is he ferocious like his namesake the lion? How? Go outside and look for some antlions. How can you spot them?

Language and Literacy Skills

Letterland – Oscar Orange (Lesson time 5 minutes). Listen to the action song for Oscar Orange. Clap their hands every time they hear a word that begins or has an o in the middle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eTi40iQMBE

Auditory Perceptual Skills

Listen to two/three words. Which one begins with Oscar Orange e.g. oval or square, berry or olive, octopus, or shark. Three words otter, seal, penguin etc. (Lesson time 2 minutes).

Visual Perceptual Skills

Puzzles. Critical thinking - Guess What I Have? (Activity time 5 minutes). With a small toy in one hand, place both hands behind your back. Ask your child to guess what is in your hand. As they make attempts to guess, give them clues such as: “It’s not blue, it’s red,” or “it doesn’t have wheels, it has legs.” This allows them to make guesses based on what they already know.

Numeracy Skills Count backwards from 10 – 0.

Reinforce number digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 by recognising and matching them. Help them to match the digits with the number names one, two, three, four and five. Now let them find objects outside in the garden to match to the numbers and number names.

Creative Activities

Fun, fun, fun – using the ‘o’ page, let your child turn the letter into Oscar Orange. Then, take an orange (or clementine), roll it in orange paint. Place the picture of Oscar in a deep tray and roll the orange around the page until it is covered with orange tracks.

Life Skills Talk about what they are missing about their friends. What can they do about it? Draw a picture, take a photograph and send via WhatsApp, have a zoom playdate, phone them etc.

Music Animals in action – a fun song to sing and move to - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT86Dl442jA

Gross Motor Jump with two feet over a low hurdle.

Fine Motor

Sensory tray – can they write the numbers 1 – 5 in the sand? Cutting – use a pair of scissors and cut playdough up into cubes.

Guided Story Time

Read a bedtime story of their choice. Can they remember the story about the Mouse Paint Story? What did the mice discover?