Thank you Dole Food Company for sponsoring this post to help bring at-home nutrition-based resources to families during this uncertain time.
I had my first class of first graders 15 years ago. During my time as an educator, I was a classroom teacher, an interventionist, and led the support team to help students who needed additional resources, but never a homeschool teacher.
Even with my experience, I never intended to homeschool my own children. In full transparency, I had dreamed that they would have the traditional school experience where I could be a part of the classroom through volunteering and supporting their teachers!
Yet, here I am, rolling up my sleeves and attempting to homeschool my two first-graders alongside millions of other parents.
Every day is an experiment as we try and find what works best for my two very different learners. While we navigate this new situation and follow along with the virtual learning curriculum that school is delivering, we are also trying to get creative away from the screen. We have had a lot of fun finding ways to supplement school from home.
Now that spring is here, we’ve used some of our “homeschool time” to plan and prepare our summer garden. I was excited to find Dole’s FREE at-home resources to help us with this project, which are great in helping to make our garden colorful and also make learning about nutrition fun for the kids.
We have explored many of the resources but I do have a few favorites. We’ve enjoyed using the Snack your Colors throughout the week to track all of the colorful fruits and vegetables that we snack on each day. Who knew an activity like this would be so handy while we are stuck at home? This has actually helped us keep tabs on what we are actually eating!
We’ve labeled our garden starter plants with the colorful Dole Garden Markers. We’ve also learned about fruit cup equivalents to be sure that we are getting the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables in our diet every day. My boys seemed to really connect with this one. You know that look when a light goes on with your kids? Yup, this happened when we did the fruit cup equivalents.
All in all, these resources have been a helpful way to supplement learning while we are all at home. My boys have had fun with these activities. They are excited to see their veggies grow in our summer backyard garden.
Check out this resource page for your FREE DOWNLOADS. In addition, they’ve got a ton of other resources surrounding health & food safety as well as family-friendly recipes! I have enjoyed learning all of Dole’s fruit and vegetable prep hack. As a mom that is trying to simplify life, these tips have come in handy. Thanks Dole! 😉
As always, I love hearing from you! Let me know if you try any of these to supplement learning while at home with your kids. Have any other ideas? Let me know in the comments below.
