Cara Will, fourth and fifth grade teacher, Burgundy Farm Country Day School

Resources

Keep in mind that your CHILD is your most important resource – WHAT is interesting to HIM?
Find projects and activities he wants to explore.
Teachers
Libraries
Museums
Google: Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
www.education.com
www.burgundyfarm.org

The following tips were compiled by faculty at Burgundy Farm Country Day School.

• Be a detective!
• Use a notebook to record observations and interpretations, or even write a mystery story
• Museum visits can serve as inspiration, but so can everyday household events
• Use newspapers or magazines for a scavenger hunt
• Find specific words, pictures, happenings, maps
• Read an article a day
• Read the comics
• State license plate game when driving
• Use a map to learn geography
• Earn “extra points” for knowing capitals or abbreviations
• Bake together to practice fractions: double or halve the recipes
• Allow children to plan, shop and cook for one meal a month
• Compare prices in the grocery store and estimate the total
• Take nature walks and keep track of what you see each time
• Compare temperatures, wind, precipitation, etc.
• Sort and identify rocks, leaves, shells, sticks, etc.
• Group items and learn to skip count, multiply, estimate, etc.
• Search for patterns and shapes
• Ask children to explain their choices for collecting certain items
• Write about experiences, observations, hypotheses
• Take pictures to create a photo catalog, including descriptions
• Plan a fundraiser
• Choose a cause that’s important to your child, let them write about why they are so interested in that cause
• Write and send invitations / information
• Take the subway / metro, letting your children plan the route and calculate the cost