Today I am home for a number of reasons. The first being that my son caught a stomach bug and the second, and most important reason, is that the teachers remain on strike. This was going to be a post about me ranting and raving about how our government is full of absolute shit and how they don’t care about our kids, but I realized that this is everywhere at the moment. If you want to read about my rant that I wrote in June click here. I realized that I can continue to be negative or I can do something about it.

Earlier this Summer I realized that I wanted to keep my son’s brain stimulated. I wanted to keep all that he learned in Preschool fresh in his mind and I also wanted to build on it. I was at Michaels and I found a great book called Big Workbook Kindergarten. I also found similar books at Costco, Walmart and at Chapters. Honestly the best $10 I spent. I can’t believe how much he learned. He learned about pattern recognition, comparing objects, picking the bigger object vs. the smaller one, spelling, writing, counting, learning to tell time. It’s been wonderful for his development. We did a little bit every day and he finished it well before the end of the Summer. I was at Walmart at the beginning of August and picked up some amazing tools in anticipation of the strike continuing. Below are some great items I picked up that won’t break the bank and will keep your child’s brain going and will help to prepare them for Kindergarten. (My husband joked that by the time school starts, my son will be at a grade 2 level.)

Spelling: Crayola 4 word double sided puzzle

I found this on my way into Target earlier in August and my son loves it. It’s a simple double sided puzzle. The idea is that you can make 36 simple 4 letter words. It’s a great way to get your kids to start learning how to read and spell.

Activity Books

These books can be found anywhere: Costco, Walmart, Chapters and even Michaels. What I like about them is that they build on concepts and start preparing your child to think, to think in an academic way. I love watching my son learn how do to each activity. You should have seen his little eyes when he made the connection regarding patterns. I love it. They have books from all ages, Kindergarten all the way up to grade 6.

Writing Your Letters & Numbers

In preschool my son learned to write the alphabet and numbers. I wanted to continue that and build on it, so I decided to purchase a few exercise books, which are really cheap right now for back to school. The idea is to get them to repeatedly write the letters, upper and lower case, along with numbers. For me writing legibly is very important. I can’t stand poor penmanship!!!! These books can be purchased anywhere.

Flashcards: Learning to spell

When I was in Walmart they had these flashcards for $2.99. The idea is that one set of cards has a letter from the alphabet and the other cards have the ending. You now need to put the cards together to make a word. It’s great because it teaches kids letter recognition, spelling and rhyming. My son loves it. It’s a great way to introduce your child to spelling and reading.

Telling Time

I know that kids don’t learn to tell time until they are in grade 2 or 3, but my son loves watches. I told him that if he learns to tell time the right way, then I’ll buy him whatever watch he wants. I found this pack of 36 dry erase clocks for only $4 at Target. Thought it would be the perfect tool to start teaching my son to tell time.

BC Curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 9

If you’re concerned about what your child is missing during the strike, you can click on this link. It’s from the BC government and it includes what your child should be learning from Kindergarten to grade 9. So if you’re worried, print it off and see where your child is at and then you can see where you need to supplement. Again here is the link: https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/gc.php?lang=en

Day camps, Daycare & activities offered in the lower mainland

Here are 2 great links from The Province and from Global on different day camps, daycares and activities to help keep your kids busy, and your sanity intact.

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2014/08/26/day-camps-and-programs-offered-during-b-c-teachers-strike/

http://globalnews.ca/news/1348742/daycare-options-during-the-teachers-strike/

Learning to read

I have yet to check this out, but a friend of mine posted this saying her son likes it. It’s called Reading Eggs. It’s an interactive way, using the computer, to learn how to read. They have activities and games to make learning to read fun. This is definitely something we will be trying out.

I really hope that this helps alleviate some anxiety that you may have regarding your child’s learning being affected. Regardless of whether or not the strike would have happened, I still would have invested in these resources. I don’t believe that my child’s learning solely depends on his teacher and what he learns in school. It’s up to us parents to solidify and reinforce what they learn at school. We also need to take responsibility for their learning. It’s a team effort.

I truly hope that this strike ends soon as it has saddened me to no end that we couldn’t enjoy back to school this year with all the turmoil and uncertainty.

May this blog inspire you purchase some tools to help keep your child’s mind stimulated during the strike.

Happy Hump Day Everyone!!!!!!!