Teachers across the country are putting in countless hours creating, compiling and sharing eLearning plans with their students. Many are learning too as they quickly navigate new digital tools. I want to thank the teachers, especially my daughter’s preschool teacher (Mrs. Stanglein), who arranged for us to pick up materials for a class project and began leading her class in a virtual daily circle time. Seeing her teacher and friends everyday, even if it’s not face to face, is helping my daughter feel connected to her classroom community.

Bear Hunt– Our neighborhood held a “Bear Hunt” today, actually, it was yesterday but I thought it was today…Epic Mom Fail! We enjoyed putting stuffed bears out for our neighbors to hunt.

Bear Books– Before we set out for a bear hunt through our neighborhood (a few bears were still out) we completed the Scholastic Learn At Home module on bears. Still my favorite online resource we read Bear Snores On for our fiction selection and then read and a non-fiction book about bears. We watched a video of a mother bear teaching her cubs how to fish for Salomon in Alaska and learned how to be safe from bears while camping. Other bear books we enjoyed were: Goldilocks and the Three Bears (which we acted out with stuffed animals), Going on a Bear Hunt and Berlioz the Bear. My daughter enjoyed making a bear den out of a blanket and chairs and that captivated her creative play for hours.

Color Songs– When I was a kindergarten teacher I loved singing the Color Songs by Frog Street Press with my class. These catchy songs have captivated my daughter as well. I just discovered individuals have posted the original songs on YouTube and added animation. Back in the day, before Smart Boards and YouTube, I wrote the lyrics on chart paper so the children could follow along while we sang. I discovered that Kindergarten Works has compiled all of the videos and color word resources in one place. Click Here for this valuable resource and happy singing!

Big Universe– Exciting news! McGraw Hill’s partner Big Universe is offering FREE access to more than 17,000 eBooks!! BigU is a digital platform of K-12 books! An ever-growing library of over 17K authentic texts. Searchable by grade, topic, language, and reading level. GO TO: www.biguniverse.com to register. Enjoy my friends!