A friendly reminder to keep reading home readers every night and practicing our tricky words. If your child has already mastered them, the next step is to begin practicing how to spell those words.
Writing
Kindergarten are loving writing procedures! We have been breaking up our procedures, step by step, making sure we remember each part of the structure and the specific language we need to use. The best part of our week is following our procedures on a Friday! Here is our procedure of how to plant a seed.
Here are our wonderful students hard at work, planting their seeds last Friday. They were able to tell us what they were doing, the materials they needed, and steps they needed to follow in order to plant their seeds!
Maths
We have started learning all about volume. We will continue this for the next week in Maths. Students will be learning to describe and compare volumes. This concept is best learned through hands-on play! Here are some super simple activities you can try at home:
The Pouring Station Challenge
Materials: Find a large tub or use the sink/bathtub. Gather assorted plastic containers (cups, bottles, yogurt pots), and a small scoop or measuring cup.
Activity: Fill the large tub with water, rice, or sand.
Discuss: Ask your child to pick two different-sized containers and predict which one holds more and which holds less.
Test: Have them use the small scoop to fill the containers. Encourage them to use our new vocabulary: full, empty, holds more, holds less, same amount.
Non-Standard Unit Filling
This activity helps your child measure volume using fun, everyday objects.
Materials: Two different-sized containers (like a small cup and a medium bowl), a filler (beans, pasta, or buttons), and a small scooper (like a teaspoon or bottle cap).
The Challenge:
Ask your child to estimate: "How many scoops do you think it will take to fill the small cup?"
Have them count the scoops as they fill it. Record the number.
Repeat the process with the medium bowl.
Compare: Ask, "Did it take more scoops or less scoops to fill the bowl? Why?" (The bowl has a larger volume/capacity!)
The Kitchen Cabinet Order
Use the containers already in your kitchen for a quick comparison game.
You'll Need: A collection of 4-5 different-sized containers (a mug, a spice jar, a drinking glass, a mixing bowl, etc.).
The Challenge: Ask your child to arrange the containers in order from the one that holds the least amount to the one that holds the most amount.
Discuss: Talk about the tricky ones, like a short, wide jar versus a tall, skinny vase and ask them to explain their reasoning behind the order
"Will it Fit?" Box Packing
This activity helps them understand that solid objects also take up volume (space).
You'll Need: An empty shoe box or cereal box, and a collection of same-sized small toys (Lego bricks, Matchbox cars, large pom-poms).
The Challenge:
Ask your child to estimate: "How many of your small toys do you think will fit inside this box?"
Have them carefully pack the box to fit as many items as possible. Count the total.
Compare: Try the same activity with a smaller container (like a coffee mug). Ask, "Does the mug have more or less space inside than the box?"
Vocabulary to Encourage:Space, takes up space, fit inside, full of, volume.
Here is a list of all the sounds and digraphs we've learned in Initial Lit, a handy reference for practicing at home!
