Kindergarten Resources
Getting Started with Learning@Home:
- Go easy on yourself. There will be days when this is challenging and that’s okay
- Create a routine. Children will do better when they have routines for eating, sleeping, playing, working, family time, exercising, and learning
- Be face to face with your child when they are learning at home
- Keep in touch with your child’s educators and let them know how things are going. They are so grateful for your help!
- Be playful and fun!
- Give your child choices in their learning
- Minimize screen time when you can
- Go outside and spend time in nature when you can
- Stay physically active
- Ask your child every day: What made you smile today? Asking this daily will help children think about gratitude in their lives.
- Stay connected virtually with family and friends
- Play games
- You may have days when your child is only able to focus and engage for a short period of time. It is okay to stop and try again tomorrow😊
- Read everyday! Not only will it improve your child’s ability to read and write, but it will also develop imagination and empathy. Reinforce and model the fun of reading!
A Parent’s Guide to Play-Based Learning in Full-Day Kindergarten
This document features tips on how to support your curious Kindergarten student.
- Give your child time to respond to their world – they are still learning how all of their senses operate together and need the opportunity to reflect on what they are experiencing.
- Ask open-ended questions (instead of questions requiring a simple “yes or no”) about what your child is doing; this allows them to practice descriptive language, and provide room for more creativity.
- Encourage them to try new activities, foods, colours, etc., and ask them about it. “Did you notice a new smell in the kitchen? What do you think it is?” or, “Why did you choose red instead of blue for your drawing?”
- Share your child’s interests with their teacher, which would allow educators to curate content more effectively.
Literacy
Reading and Writing With Your Child – Kindergarten to Grade 6 – A Parent Guide
This Ontario Ministry of Education document is designed to provide parents ideas and reflective questions to help their childrens’ literacy learning at home. Check out the “Four Top Literacy Tips” for quick, easy ways to incorporate literacy learning into your home lives.
For example: Use prompts to help foster discussion about what your child is reading. Talking about books in any way helps build excitement and curiosity. You could ask your child to guess what will happen next, or have them argue why they believe a character acts in a certain way.
Reading can also be a family activity! Read to one another throughout the day or create your own.
WCDSB Virtual Learning Commons (VLC)
Our board-wide online learning commons! Be sure to check the “Accessing Password-Protected links From Home” section on the left to access all apps. Students can read ebooks, listen to audiobooks, review research databases, watch videos/movies, and more. For example:
- Sora – ebooks and audiobooks for all ages
- Explora – research database for students
Unite For Literacy provides digital texts suitable for emergent readers. There is an option for each text to be read aloud in multiple languages, making this a great tool for helping English Language Learners become more familiar with English, or helping English speakers broaden their abilities in other languages.
Tumble Books, PebbleGo, and BookFlix on D2L
In students’ D2L accounts, click on the Green Tools button. Students have free access to these literacy apps and other educational programs.
Literacy Place Pro-Library
This resource is accessible through your child’s teacher/school, as every school is given a unique URL.
Daily reading is a crucial component of your child’s development. Literacy Place Pro-Library provides numerous books and tools for teachers and parents to help their students develop a love of reading. Explore new books, enjoy read-alouds, track progress and more!
Install Read & Write on Home Computer
Learn how to install the Read & Write toolbar onto your home computer. This tool is common on WCDSB devices and allows students to text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities. Here are some additional supports for using Read & Write:
Mathematics
Doing Mathematics With Your Child – Kindergarten to Grade 6 – A Parent Guide
This Ontario Ministry of Education document is designed to provide parents with ideas and reflective questions to help their childrens’ numeracy learning at home. Look for the “Fun Family Learning Experiences” section for games and activities you can try at home!
It also provides ways to add “math language” into everyday conversations with your child. For example, when asking your child to pass something, describe it by its shape: “Please pass the rectangular placemat.” Or you can do a simple scavenger hunt searching for 3D shapes around your house: boxes are cubes, paper towel roll is a cylinder, etc.
Curated by the Ministry of Education, this page of the EduGAINS site contains multiple activities and toolkits to help foster a love of math in your home. Below are a few examples of what’s offered:
- Inspiring Your Child to Learn and Love Math – modules based on your child’s grade level, filled with activities you can do at home
- Home Supports from Mathies.ca – math supports families can do together
These calendars are meant to provide a variety of different activities to help you and your child further develop math skills. Do them in any order. Help your child with the activities and change them to suit your family’s needs. Cross out each activity as you complete them. Happy Math-ing!
Religion and Family Life
Catholic Mass Today by Daily TV Mass
You can also check out some local options for Mass and services online:
- St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows in Kitchener, Facebook Videos – A mix of live and pre-recorded Mass and other messages
- St. Anthony Daniel in Kitchener – Mass, messages, and readings from Fr. Tim
Students can access our religion program, Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ (GIFGIC), by entering our WCDSB Sacred Space on D2L, then clicking on the GIFGIC icon at the top.
Teachers may supply Religion and Family Life content through this method, but there are many videos, stories, and readings that students can share with their families to spark discussion about living our faith.