We have plenty of fun work to do today! We are going to count in fives, do a few different mental maths activities, solve a story sum, work on our handwriting, make word family balloons, write a list, and learn emergency numbers. There is also a speaking activity if Afrikaans is your additional language. Here we go!

If you’re new here, the resources used for counting in multiples, sounds learnt (to be cut into sound cards to build words), phonics lists and reading sight words (to be cut out in order to flash the words) can be downloaded here. There are also some practice assessments available on the page.

A note to parents: Allow your child to copy down by him-/herself as much as possible. Besides keeping them busy for longer, this allows them the opportunity to learn to copy correctly – a skill that they would ordinarily spend a lot of time perfecting in the classroom. Also, many of the tasks are a bit challenging. Instead of giving the answers, give clues or guide your child through the steps to discover the answer themselves. They will surprise you with just how clever they are!

Counting in fives and mental maths:

Before, between and after:

More mental maths:

Story sum:

Handwriting: Because handwriting is assessed it is very important that special attention be given to the formation of letters. Make sure that letters start in the correct place, try to touch the bottom line and do not lift your hand whilst you write.

Phonics: Learn the -ig words. Sound them out, build them with your sound cards and, when you’re ready, ask Mom or Dad to test how well you know them.

Phonics – Word family balloons:

Reading: Read all the words that have been ticked. Ask mom or dad to flash them to you. Try to say them quickly and get them all right. Pay special attention to the new words.

Read the story. Sound out words that you don’t know. If you get stuck on some of the words in the lists above, it means that you have to practice them some more. Think about what happens in the story and see if you understand it.

Write a list:

Emergency numbers: Keep learning these important numbers. Make up little poems to help you learn them. These are some of what my learners use:

Help, help! Call the police!

1-0-1-1-1, so they can come!

Emergency, emergency! Call the ambulance!

1-0-1-7-7, to the rescue then!

Afrikaans First Additional Language – Vocabulary: Repeat the video as many times as you need. Challenge yourself to see if you can say some of the words and sentences without the help of the video and see how many you already know.

The book I used for the Afrikaans vocabulary is the following:

You did an amazing job today. Well done!

Now go have some fun!

Lisa