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KLRN Learn at Home for Monday, April 6, 2020

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by Melissa Galvan • Published on
KLRN Learn at Home
KLRN Education

KLRN strives to provide valuable educational content to every family in our viewing area, from great drama, world-class music, in-depth news, fascinating "how-to" programs and, best of all — non-violent educational programs for your children.

During these times of uncertainty KLRN is adapting and creating new educational resources in an easy to follow format. We aim to provide the educational content and resources that support every family in our community.

During these daily blog posts, you will find that we will feature two PBS Kids programs and provide accompanying educational activities that will help extend the learning into your home. In addition to that we have added a new 4 PM time slot that aims at providing some content for older school age students. You will find resources tied to each of these programs aired daily with lessons from our PBS LearningMedia site.

We hope that this will provide your family a way to enjoy the PBS shows you love and extend the learning into your home.

All the best,
KLRN’s Education Team

Curious George

Monday, April 6 at 8 AM

George, Steve and Betsy lose a pin that holds the Doorman's train set together; and George ventures into a new neighborhood grocery store.

Fun activities

Books about Fruits and Vegetables:

  • Eating the Alphabet: Fruits &…by Lois Ehlert
  • How Are You Peeling?, by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Infants/ Toddlers: Read books on fruit and vegetables, point out their favorite foods and talk about how they taste. Talk about the color and size of the food. Infants like hearing our voice and they develop their language skill by hearing your voice. For FREE Sesame Street e books check out this Sesame Street Caring site.

Preschool Activity: Colorful Celery Experiment- Place a celery stalk in a clear container. Fill it up three quarters full with brightly colored water, (just add some food coloring). Look at what happens over the next few days. You should see the celery drinking the water. Try the experiment with other plants-maybe one with a white flower. Plants draw the water up their stem and send it on to their leaves and petals. Carefully cut the stem. Can you see the colored water inside?

Activity for Everyone: for more videos, printables and resources in Spanish go to the Curious George website.

Sesame Street

Monday, April 6 at 10 AM

Autism Acceptance Day Special: When Rudy tries to use Julia's special toy, Fluffster, as part of a game he's playing with Elmo and Abby Cadabby, Julia gets very upset. Alan explains that Fluffster helps Julia feel calm, so it's not a toy she likes to share. Rudy apologizes, and the friends find a different way to play together.

Fun activities

Make a sensory bottle: Fill an old plastic bottle with a mix of water, glitter and a few drops of food coloring to create an eye-catching toy for your child. Drop in a few buttons or marbles and then seal the lid tightly using a hot glue gun. This activity is a really simple way to help your kid learn to engage and stay focused.

Paper Towel Tube Noise Makers: Have children color and decorate the cardboard tubes any way they want. They can use stickers, beads, feathers, any craft materials. Attach wax paper to one side of the tube using rubber bands or glue. Fill the container with 2 tablespoons of dried beans or rice. Secure the other side with wax paper. Some questions to ask as you shake the noisemaker - What are your favorite colors? What sound do you hear?

Create a Sensory Collage: Children with Autism can often find distinct textures and sensations overwhelming. Ease your child into more messy activities by making a tactile collage with a small selection of new materials such as aluminum foil, fabric, bubble wrap, sand paper and magazine clippings. Over time your preschooler may enjoy being introduced to a wider range of textures.

Play Pretend: Delayed, unusual, or absent pretend play skills are especially common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a study by McMaster University. Working on these skills during playtime can expand a child's ability to interact with others. Specifically, try some of these fun games:

  • Pretend to be dinosaurs, roaring at each other and looking for food
  • Use blocks to make buildings, and drive toy cars around the "city" you made.
  • Make an animal hospital for stuffed animals and help fix them up when they get hurt. Use toy food and a play kitchen to cook and serve a meal.
  • Play school, with one person assigned to be the teacher and everyone else pretending to be students. If you can choose a pretend play routine that matches the child's special interest, it can help to retain his or her attention. You can also reward participation with stickers, candy, small toys, or another little treat.

Finger Painting: It makes your little one feel different textures by touch and will help lower sensory issues. Place tiny blobs of paint of various colors on paper. Then ask your child to mix those paints using her fingers. Create words, numbers, shapes and various other patterns in the paint and keep a white paper on the top to create a stamp of finger painting.

Meet Julia from Sesame Street by watching this short video: Sesame Street and Autism: We’re Amazing, 1, 2, 3!

More Sesame Street Resources:

NOVA: The Planets: Jupiter

Monday, April 6 at 4 PM

Jupiter's massive gravitational force made it a wrecking ball when it barreled through the early solar system. But it also shaped life on Earth, delivering comets laden with water - and perhaps even the fateful asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Grades K-6

Our Solar System: The Planets

Students learn about the planets in our Solar System. This video follows the history of the exploration of the planets from the use of telescopes to robotic spacecraft.

Grades 6-12

Are We Alone? Genius by Stephen Hawking

In this lesson, students will watch the Genius episode "Are We Alone?" and discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Students will identify evidence to clarify and support their ideas from the episode and from a selection of additional LearningMedia resources, sharing their arguments with small collaborative groups and with the entire class. Engagement in these practices follows what scientists and engineers do as they go about their work.

We hope you enjoyed some of these activities. If you follow KLRN on your facebook account please be sure to share your activities and use the #KLRNeducates and #KLRNLearnatHome tags.

Tune in tomorrow for more learning fun with your favorite PBS Kids programs.

Keep an eye out for upcoming events on KLRN’s event page such as:

  • How to Use Learning Media at Home for Teachers & Parents
  • Healthy Kids Activity Ideas to Incorporate at Home
  • NEW Play & Learn at Home Virtual Group funded by United Way of San Antonio

Parent Resources:

  • New Sesame Street site with Autism resources in English and Spanish. Resources highlight that all children are amazing in their own ways. And, at a time when many families are experiencing unprecedented uncertainty, the resources provide coping strategies for parents of children with autism, supporting them as they adjust to a “for-now” normal while still addressing their children’s unique need.
  • United Way of San Antonio various resources
  • Temporary emergency childcare assistance (up to 3 weeks) will be provided for licensed and registered childcare center or licensed/registered home care - info here
  • Mental Health & Substance Use Resources from Texas Health and Human Services

Recursos en Espanol: