Eerie. Everything feels eerie. After a flurry of activity trying to find toilet paper, disinfectant, hand sanitizer and non-perishables, we are hunkered down at home trying to keep our social distance.
Skip my bitching and go straight to Kindergarten Resources
Shelves at stores around us are completely empty. The general background noise of life has gone silent. I see the occasional runner or biker outside, but they’re typically solo.
Meat section at Aldi. 
Soap shelves at Walgreens. 
Water situation at Walgreens. 
Paper products at Target.
I can’t really complain though, as there still seems to be plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables available, and our freezer is well-stocked with meat.
Emotionally though, it’s already frustrating. Kenzie’s school closed for a month, so we’re trying to juggle work with homeschooling. Work is already difficult, as Loyola University shut down the campus, which means I have to re-vamp all my classes for online delivery. Recording lectures is easy enough. The challenge is coming up with new labs and activities to replace the personal interaction. While coming up with new ways to apply learning is actually my favorite part of teaching, having to do it on-the-fly and under a time constraint really sucks. Jeff’s work is hard as well, as his company didn’t have the groundwork laid for everyone to work remotely. So part of his job entails getting that groundwork laid as quickly as possible. Pile homeschooling on top of that, and you’ve got some glowing embers of anger and resentment, as we both try to figure out how to support each other, support our family, and support our colleagues. Despite that challenge, we are so, so lucky to still be employed, and to not have to worry about our income. There are a lot of people in the hospitality industry who are losing their jobs because their employers (who are dealing with a massive decline in demand, and whose services might be limited by government decree) can’t afford to pay them. It’s ironic really, since the hospitality industry’s whole mission is to take care of others.
On the bright side, I was able to organize all of Kenzie’s school work over the weekend, so we were able to hit the ground running today. Her kindergarten teacher provided us with reading, writing and math worksheets, which I supplemented from some age-appropriate workbooks that I grabbed from Office Depot ( they didn’t have disinfectant or hand-santizer, but they did have kindergarten workbooks!) I organized everything by week and by day.
Kindergarten Activity Ideas
Updated May 8, 2020
Here are some free, interactive activities we’re doing:
- Movement, Dance and Activity videos from GoNoodle. Kenzie already did these in school and super loves them. Great content that really helps get the wiggles out.
- Music Exploration: This free music exploration lab was provided by Kenzie’s music teacher. It is by far one of the best online learning activities I’ve ever seen. It takes an audiovisual, user-driven approach that truly engages and encourages exploration. Well done, Google!
- On-Demand Craft Classes: Creativebug released 50 free classes that you can take on-demand. They are for a variety of levels, so you’ll need to scroll through to find ones that are age appropriate. Classes range anywhere from 15 minutes, to over four hours! Supply lists are also provided. This magic wand class looks good for kindergarteners.
- Facebook Live art class, 1p central every Monday through Friday, courtesy of Make, a great little arts and crafts studio in Kentucky.
- Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems, award-winning author of the beloved Elephant and Piggie series. He is quirky, funny and charming, much like his characters. Kenzie thinks he looks like Gerald.
- Story Units from Scholastic. These are awesome learning modules that feature stories, videos and activities all tied to a single theme.
- Our school’s P.E. department also put together a curated list of videos on YouTube, which I can’t string together in a playlist because of YouTube children’s content restrictions.
Anyway, that’s all for today. I need to don my gloves and sanitizer and hit the early poll. I am working Mondays and Fridays, Jeff is working Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we’re splitting Wednesdays. Hopefully, this is going to work and our family will come through this crisis closer and in one piece.
