Learning About Eclipses: Day 5 (Easy Preschool At Home)
We’re rounding out our week of sun, moon, day, + night lhome preschool with a day focused on something special. My son was excited to spend time learning about eclipses, because he knew very little about them. (I love how exciting anything new is for a 4 year old!) You’ll definitely want to check out all the fun we had today learning about eclipses!
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LEARNING ABOUT THE SUN, MOON, DAY, + NIGHT: WEEK 3 dAY 5
Learning About Eclipses: Day 5 Ideas
Letter of the day:
E is for eclipse. I created a simple free printable ‘E is for Eclipse’ page on Twisty Noodle. First my kiddo colored the ‘E’ in with black, to represent the shadow of the moon. Then he used yellow around the outside of the ‘E’ representing the light from the sun shining behind the moon.
Word of the day:
Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘sky’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!) (And yes, you’re right. I originally intended for today’s word to be ‘eclipse’. But I took inventory of my son’s attention span in the morning, and KNEW a shorter word was needed for him to be successful. Ya gotta adapt to the kid you have, always!)
Books of the day:
Sun. By Susan Canizares and Daniel Moreton.
The Night Sky. By Alice Pernick. Illustrated by Lisa Desimini.
Journal prompt of the day:
During an eclipse the… shines behind the… (I went for a more fact-based entry today, since I wanted to be sure he had a decent understanding of an eclipse.)
Activities and play we enjoyed:
Together, my son and I put together 2 different models that helped him visual an eclipse. The first one I printed helped to show how the moon moves in front of the son. It was also a great way to show that eclipses can be either partial or total. The project came together super quickly, but had a big impact!
Our second eclipse model was another I printed out. My son colored the pieces with crayons. Then I cut them out for him. Together, we assembled the model using tape and a craft stick. Afterwards, we talked a bit about what we were seeing.
Finally, ever the singer, my son was thrilled to end our day with a song about eclipses. The tune is simple, and by our second time going through it, he was able to join in on parts of it. He even asked me to be sure I saved the song sheet for later, because he liked it so much!
YOU MAY NEED THESE FOR LEARNING ABOUT ECLIPSES…
colored pencils / crayons / markers / transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / brass fasteners / craft sticks
But PLEASE Remember…
This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.
Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…
- We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
- I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
- Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
- Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
- I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!
