Hello everyone,

I hope that you are safe and well at this time.  These are very strange times that we find ourselves in.  It is an extremely difficult and stressful time for families for so many reasons. All families are under pressure, pressures of different kinds, and everyone is affected. We, as a school, recognise this and are willing to support our families and community.

All our teachers have been busy collaborating on a list of suggested activities, websites, tips, timetables and much more to help our students revise topics and learn at home over the next two weeks. I acknowledge that some families do not have internet access, printers or laptops for pupils to allow them to engage with all these suggestions at home. Some parents may not be able to help their child at home due to changes in working hours or for commitments in caring for other family members.

Please don’t panic,  these are only suggested activities that may be applicable to your family situation at present. The school does not wish to place added pressure on families, but rather support you. Remember, in school your child is comfortable working on their own for 15-20 minutes within groups and whole class settings. They don’t need constant supervision when completing tasks.

We suggest that not all learning takes place in the classroom, our advice is to try and get out and explore when possible. Your garden and home environment is now your classroom. Explore the Living Curriculum of life, insects and animals! Record your learning experiences using writing, drawings or technology. See below our suggested list. We will keep you updated with more resources and guidance as we receive it. For queries, contact principal@bgns.ie

Updated list for April/May 2020

1. Dublin Zoo webcams https://www.dublinzoo.ie/animals/animal-webcams/

2. Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover.
https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/

3. Indoor Activities for busy toddlers
https://busytoddler.com/2020/03/indoor-activities/?fbclid=IwAR3tYXAqw7tJRAzLExpPcJo4rApLsKtgL0AwghzxgnhwOajc4auX6o12_xw

4. Play games and learn all about animals
https://switchzoo.com/

5. Travel to Paris to see amazing works of art at The Louvre https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

6. This Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China is beautiful and makes history come to life.
https://www.thechinaguide.com/destination/great-wall-of-china

7. Math and Reading games https://www.funbrain.com/

8. Phonics skills https://www.starfall.com/h/

9. This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/

10. 300,000+ FREE printable worksheets from toddlers to teens https://www.123homeschool4me.com/home-school-free-printables/

11. Geography and animals
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

12. Math practice from counting to algebra and geometry http://www.mathscore.com/

13. Fave kids books read by famous people https://www.storylineonline.net/

14. Crafts, activities, mazes, join the dots etc, https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/

15. Voice based learning… learn through Alexa https://bamboolearning.com/resources

16. Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities https://www.highlightskids.com/

17. Math as a fun part of your daily family routine http://bedtimemath.org/

18. Digital archive of history https://www.bunkhistory.org/

19. 35,000 pages of online content on the cultures and countries of the world. https://www.countryreports.org/

20. Printable board games, activities and more for phonics and reading all using evidence-based methods. Can be customised to any student’s needs including creating flashcards for other subjects. https://dogonalogbooks.com/printables/

21. Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. https://www.gonoodle.com/

22. Enter your math problem or search term, press the button, and they show you the step-by-step work and answer instantly. 2nd grade through college. https://www.mathcelebrity.com/online-math-tutor.php

23. Poetry and music https://www.thewell.world/mindful-music/mindful-poetry-moments

24. 3D printing projects and Coding projects, involving maths https://www.instructables.com/member/EdgertonCenter/instructables/

25. Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook with their grown-ups. Recipes encourage culinary skills, literacy, math, and science. https://www.nomsterchef.com/nomster-recipe-library

26. 80+ do at home science activities https://elementalscience.com/blogs/news/80-free-science-activities

27. Novel Effect makes storytime a little more fun for kids (and grown-ups too!) As you read out loud from print books (or ebooks!) music, sound effects, and character voices play at just the right moment, adjusting and responding to your voice. https://noveleffect.com/

28. Free videos from around the world
https://www.projectexplorer.org/

29. Kid-friendly workouts — choose from Strength for Kids, Agility for Kids, Flexibility and Balance for Kids, Warm-Up for Kids, Cooldown for Kids, Stand Up and Move for Kids, OR create your own custom kid workout. https://app.sworkit.com/collections/kids-workouts

30. Online digital coloring pages https://www.thecolor.com/

31. Phonics worksheets for kids https://www.funfonix.com/

32. Free stories online ages 3-12 https://www.freechildrenstories.com/
33. National Geographic Young Explorers is a magazine designed specifically for kindergarten and first grade students. Children can listen to the magazine being read to them as they follow along with the highlighted text. https://ngexplorer.cengage.com/ngyoungexplorer/index.html

34. Learn all about earthquakes https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/

35. Farmer’s almanac for kids… Date, weather, moon phase, etc. https://www.almanac.com/kids

36. Space science for kiddos https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html

37. Maths Games, Logic Puzzles and Brain Builders https://www.mathplayground.com/

38. Games, quizzes and fact sheets take kids on a journey through time. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/

39. Tons of science experiments that you can do at home https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

40. Lets kids play instruments online. Instruments include the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, and bongos. https://www.virtualmusicalinstruments.com/

41. Cool Kid Facts gives your child access to educational videos, pictures, quizzes, downloadable worksheets, and infographics. They can use these to learn about geography, history, science, animals, and even the human body.
https://www.coolkidfacts.com/

42. This NASA initiative covers a wide range of topics including weather, climate, atmosphere, water, energy, plants, and animals. https://climatekids.nasa.gov/

43. Kids Think Design explores careers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design, book design, product design, film and theatre, architecture, animation, and environmental design. http://www.kidsthinkdesign.org/

44. This educational website hosted by the Smithsonian Museum takes a deep dive into ocean life. https://ocean.si.edu/

45. Alaskan Wildlife cams http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewing.webcams

46. Coding with Star Wars https://code.org/starwars

47. Tons and tons and tons of games some learning some just fun https://www.crazygames.com/

48. Crafts, projects, science, recipes for young children https://www.funology.com/

49. Online photograph jigsaw puzzles You can set the pieces from 6-1000+ https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/

50.Toddler and preschool age ideas https://preschoolinspirations.com/

List from March 2020:

1. Please read as a family, this will help you get to grips with learning at home https://irishprimaryteacher.ie/advice-for-parents-covid19/
2. Tips For Learning at Home, some useful advice here to begin with https://www.into.ie/2020/03/18/tips-and-tricks-home-learning/
3. http://www.scholastic.com/learnathome this website offers free exciting articles, stories, videos and fun learning challenges
4. Easy to navigate website for talk, play, reading and writing activities at every level http://www.helpmykidlearn.ie/
5. Addition Tables Practice, really good for number facts https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/game?key=8205aef8
6. Subtraction Tables Practice, number facts practice https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/game?key=07e035a9
7. Multiplication Tables Level 1, number facts practice https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/game?key=13fdc8c6
8. Multiplication Tables Level 2, number facts practice https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/game?key=5b087182
9. Multiplication Tables Level 3, number facts practice https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/game?key=7550253f
10. Dance Mat Typing, useful if you want to learn to touch type at home https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zf2f9j6/articles/z3c6tfr
11. Oxford Owl Ebook Reader Library, Oxford Owl has an ebook library with over 250 books in it and offers free access once you create an account at www.oxfordowl.co.uk They also have some vocabulary and comprehension activities for most of the books.
12. Writing Legends, Junior Classes, Free Writing templates, Writing Legends is a comprehensive writing program, containing hundreds of activities for students. https://www.writinglegends.com/
13. http://www.sorchaj.com Infants – 5th Class, This site covers phonics, dolch, Jolly Phonics including tricky word lists and practice reading sentences
14. 30 Day Lego Challenge https://www.mykidstime.com/entertainment/download-free-30-day-lego-challenge-creative-fun/
15. Irish Activities https://www.cula4.com/ga/feach/player/?pid=6142017456001&teideal=Dot&series=Dot&dlft=7
16. First and Second Class online activities https://padlet.com/ffarry1/firsec
17. Third and Fourth Class online activities https://padlet.com/ffarry1/thifou
18. Music Resources, SoundTrap, All Classes, www.soundtrap.com A great way for students to experiment with loops and sounds through layering tracks and building songs. Supports GSuite and Office365 logins which means all work saved to the cloud. Free version gives students five compositions to explore. Lots of learning in students playing around with the built in demo songs and their use of sound recording techniques, musical effects and layering of sounds (texture etc.)
19. Juniors to Second Class Home Teach Resources, website jam packed of useful templates and activities https://mash.ie/product/parent-pack-covidhometeach/
20. Seomra Ranga History Links, Infants to 6th Class https://www.seomraranga.com/links/sese-links/history/
21. History and Geography, Ask About Ireland, Infants to 6th Class, This web site covers both History and Geography from infants to 6th class including some great project ideas. http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/
22. 3000 free EBooks and Audio Books available for pupils to access online https://worldbook.kitaboo.com/reader/worldbook/index.html?usertoken=Mjk5MzQ6MTpJUjA5MjAxNjoyOmNsaWVudDE2OTc6MTY5NzoyMjE2Mjg4OjE6MTU4NDM4MDExMzA2Mjp1cw==
23. Resources to support PE or Exercise at Home, GoNoodle, All class levels, GoNoodle is a really easy and good way to get kids moving. https://www.gonoodle.com/
24. www.cjfallon.ie School Book Publisher have given free access to all, so all class levels can view their books, interactive books and content online. Simply select your class level, subject and book you wish to view.
25. Read, Read, Read, Write, Sort, Draw, Paint, Dig, Bake, Explore, Build a Fort/Tree House, Help at Home, Keep a Diary, Call Your Friend, Write a Letter.
26. Plant seeds, do the gardening, wash the car!
27. Do something nice for Mum and Dad
28. Write a letter/post card to your grandparents or relatives in another part of Ireland.
29. Great spelling activity website https://play.edshed.com
30. Maths Week Ireland have launched an excellent”Maths At Home” section on their website. This will be updated daily. Suitable 8-12 years. http://www.mathsweek.ie

Keep safe and well!

Niall Madden

Príomhoide