Learning Resource for Week 32 May 10-14
Message from Teacher Dave & Teacher Jessica:
May is clean air month! Air quality significantly impacts children’s health. Indoor air pollution levels are 2-5 times greater than outdoor levels because of indoor pollutants such as: tobacco smoke (including e-cigarettes or “vaping”), mold, cockroaches, household chemicals, fragrances, and pet dander.
The health impacts of poor indoor and outdoor air include: decreased lung size and function, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and some types of cancers.
Children are more susceptible to the health impacts of poor air quality because their lungs are still developing and they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. Children also spend on average more time indoors than adults.
Children of color, and children from low-income households, are at a greater risk for adverse health outcomes because of their exposure to high levels of air pollution. They are more prone to live near polluting industries due to long-standing housing and economic policies that have led to higher rates of poverty and racial segregation.
You can reduce harmful chemicals and particles indoors by improving ventilation or bringing in fresh outdoor air.
- Increase ventilation by opening screened windows and doors. But avoid these actions when outdoor air pollution is high. You can use the following tool to assess outdoor air quality and levels of particulate matter (PM).
- If you have a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, run the system fan for longer times, or continuously.
- Consider upgrading the HVAC system filter to a higher efficiency MERV 13 filter, or the highest-rated filter that your system fan and filter slot can accommodate. Change out HVAC filters according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- HVAC systems need maintenance-have them checked yearly by a certified professional.
- Portable Air Cleaners can be used to supplement natural and mechanical ventilation systems in certain situations, e.g. when windows can’t be opened or HVAC system fans can’t be run continuously.
Our four program-wide expectations are Be Courageous, Be Curious, Be Compassionate, Be A Community. Again this week we will focus on how children can be courageous.
Children are courageous when they:
- Try new things for the first time
- Ask questions
- Make a mistake and try again
- Share their own feelings
- Stand up for what is right
Language / Literacy
Rhyming Hopscotch – Use tape to create a hopscotch game inside, or chalk for an outside game. Have pictures inside each hopscotch square. Yell out a word, then have the child hop to the appropriate rhyming word. The picture on the side is an example to use but if you’re child is not at the level of reading, draw or use pictures inside the boxes!
Math / Science
Number Match – It is important the kiddos are continuing to count and learn their numbers. This activity is easy and fun to do. Use white paper and draw the numbers 1– 10 on each paper or if you have long butcher paper, write out the numbers 1-10. On sticky notes, make corresponding sets for each number (you can do quantity or math problems) Ex: for number 5, you can draw 5 dots on the sticky notes. Have your child match the correct amount of dots or math problems on the sticky notes to the correct number.
Sorting: Cut out pictures of fruits and vegetables from grocery flyers or magazines. If you don’t have any you could draw fruits and vegetables. Then make a chart like the one below. Help your child sort fruits and vegetables into the correct column. This is an example of what it may look like when completed.
Watch the video below of Teacher Dave brushing his teeth! Ask me for the password if you need it.
After you have viewed the video, use this song to brush your teeth in the morning and before you go to bed.