Cercor

All You Need is a Flyer

Don't recycle that flyer just yet!  Your local store flyer is not only jam-packed with deals, it's bursting with educational activities for any age.

• Give your child the once in a lifetime opportunity to "buy" anything from a store flyer, as long as he/she knows how much it will cost.  Cut and paste the items from the flyer into a pretend shopping cart (draw it or find a photo online). Once your child has chosen items to "purchase", he/she can use adding skills to determine the cost of the flyer shopping trip!

• We gotta get our kids to learn about healthy eating habits.  How about asking your child to create a balanced weekly menu plan using the grocery store flyers we find in our weekly mail?

• Comparing prices is important.  Tell your child that you you are looking for a specific item.  Where would it cost the most?  Where is it on sale?    It's never too early to learn about smart shopping.

 

Endless Opportunities with "I Spy"

 "I Spy" is a classic game that kids love. Not only can it be modified and used with any subject at any age, but it can be made educational and played anywhere because it does not require any materials. Find out what your child is currently learning about, and try using "I Spy" to "study"!

"I spy with my little eye five ways to use this game to help my child understand what is being taught in the classroom.. " 

SCIENCE (Living Things and Non-Living Things) 

"I spy with my little eye an ant crawling out of its hole.  Is it a living thing or a non-living thing?"

SOCIAL STUDIES (Great Lakes and Mapping)

"I spy with my little eye a lake that borders Ontario and the United States."

READING (Phonological Awareness)

"I spy with my little eye something in this park that begins with a "tr" sound."

MATHEMATICS (Measurement)

"I spy with my little eye the distance that we just walked around the block would be best measured in kilometres, inches, or metres?"

TIP: Take advantage of your surroundings.  Use signs, license plates, nature, etc. to help your child with his/her learning.  Just look around!  Almost anything can be made into a learning experience!!

Pennies, and nickels, and dimes! Oh, my!

After years of trying to ‘master’ the best way to introduce money to kindergarteners and first graders, I have found the following activities to be great starting points:

•  Your child should learn to skip-count (count by 5’s and 10’s) before counting nickels and dimes.  Make this a hands-on activity using groups of Cheerios, marbles, buttons, etc. so that your child understands that when you count from ten to twenty, you are adding another group of ten.

•  It is important that your child is able to identify each coin's name and value.  I use these two songs/poems when introducing money.  I even sing the Pocket Song with my nephew when we’re in the car.  He loves to put a coin in his pocket and make me guess what it is!  It’s great because when he sings the song, he is actually showing me that he knows the value of the coin!

•  Most importantly, have fun counting money!  Children are inspired and motivated when they actually get to hold real coins and pretend to buy things..and in case you haven't noticed, they LOVE playing pretend store!   

Great for: applying reality to classroom learning

Try it with: Kinesthetic learners, children with interest in money and pretend play

Grades: JK - 2

The Activity Cupboard: "A Bracelet Shop"

This morning we take our first peek into a little girl's "activity cupboard" which happens to be my very own.  I recently came across three very special booklets which brought back so many memories of a summer spent knot tying colorful strings.   Friendship bracelets were a fad and I LOVED them so much I decided to create my own "business" and sell bracelets I made to friends and family.  Pictured below are the catalogs featuring my color offerings, pricing list, and account book.  

Isn't this such a beautiful example of authentic, cross curricular learning?  Little did I know, but I was practicing writing, math, and developing accountability and organization skills, all while having fun exploring my creative side. The beauty of activities such as these is that they begin organically, with a simple, innate interest of a child. We hope this can inspire you to encourage learning experiences such as these at home.

 

 

Great for: a summer project, an ongoing weekend activity

A channel to: develop passions, promote and celebrate a talent or a hobby

After the bell rings: Menu Math

The next time you are out for dinner with your family, you gotta take a look at the restaurant menu.  It is teeming with real-life learning opportunities.  

Younger children will love to read the money amounts listed by each item:

• Ask them to identify the most and least expensive items on the menu.  
• Give them some coins and bills and ask them to “order” and “pay” for something on the menu.  

Older children can put some of their more advanced math skills to use:

• Figure out tax and tip (no iphone apps please!)
• Play the "guess how much the bill will be" game!  Excellent for estimation skills.  

The next time your little one asks "why do we have to learn this in math?" remind him/her about how you ordered and paid for ice cream sundae at dinner the other night. The opportunities are endless!

 

 Great for: understanding the concept of money, learning about tip and tax

Try it with:  "hungry math students"

 A channel to: display a real life application of addition, estimation, and tax

 Grades: K-5