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The bell has rung, the bag is packed. Open the door and off goes the pack. It is the end of the school or kindy day and time to go home. How will you get home? Do you travel home the same way every day or do you sometimes walk? If you walk do you travel the same way as you would in the car or is there a shortcut? Do you have a regular routine when you get home? Are there jobs to do?
Quick, get ready. It’s time to go. Leaving the house and getting into the car can involve a lot of talking and planning. Where will everyone sit? Are there special seats for different people in the car? Does where you sit change if there are more or less people in the car? We're going to school. We have to fit four of us in the car. All of the bags will need to go in the boot.
Look, up in the sky - what can you see? Take some time to encourage your child to stop and look up while you are out walking or lying on the grass. Talk about what you see. Clouds are always changing. Sometimes they are white, sometimes shades of grey. There are lots of clouds today. Are they big, fluffy clouds or long thin ones? What colour are they?
It’s time to go off to the shops and do the shopping. Have you checked that they’re open? How could you find out? We need to buy pita, hummus and stuffed vine leaves. I am not sure what time the shop opens. I might ring and see if they are open yet. Explain to your child that shops have opening and closing hours and they can all be different.
Babies love to be outside. There is so much for them to experience all year around. In spring you could show your baby flowers growing in gardens or parks. Talk with them about the colours, the size and the smell of the flowers. Brush their fingers in the petals. Listen to their babble and respond to it. Look how pretty this rose is. It has soft, pink petals. It smells beautiful.
Next time you are travelling in the car or going for a walk with your child, point out the different traffic signs. Why are they there? What do they tell you to do? There are traffic lights outside the school. They tell us to slow down and drive at 25km. As you notice the different signs try and sort or group them into ones that are the same.
Have you ever noticed the number of different textures around us? The rug on the bed can feel soft and cuddly, the new wool jumper might be hard and scratchy and the window after the rain could be cold and slippery. Next time you are out or moving around the house talk to your child about how things feel. As you help your child dress you can talk about how the clothing feels.
Every day the weather is different and this will effect what we can do and wear. Talk to your child about the different ways that you can find out about the weather. You could listen to the weather forecast the night before on the radio, watch it on the news on the TV or read the predicted weather forecast in the paper.
Next time you are planning to go somewhere with your child talk to them about what time you need to be there. Explain that activities have a start time. You can show them how this is usually represented - with numbers written as a time. The movie starts at 2pm so we will need to leave home at 1pm to be there in time. Look and see if there are different start times for the event.
Next time you are out and about shopping with your child ask them to help you look for a spot to park the car. Will you try and find a spot in the car park or look for a park out on the street? Talk to your child about how long you will be at the shops. Are there time restrictions that change where you park and how long you’ll stay?
