Lesson Plan Background, Theories and Activities
Special notes and/or
Extensions

This will show your child that books are fun, entertaining and story time is a time to be together with you. You are your child’s favourite toy. In GSL, we are here to have fun, learn, and work together.”

  • Discuss how parents are to go and get their children from the child care room and they will bring them back here. Let the parents know that the literacy kit brought by the facilitator each week, is for the children to explore. They can take a book or toy back to their spot while having snack. This is a great way for them to be comfortable in the parent/family room.

Homework

Homework is an important part of GSL for both children and their parents.
One of the reasons homework is assigned is so that parents and children continue to practice the skills and strategies that they have learned in the GSL class. Homework is also assigned to develop a positive habit of working together at home on literacy and math activities. Additionally, research shows that in order for learning and remembering how to do a new skill, review must occur within 24 hours after learning this new skill in order to have it put into memory.

How to Motivate Parents to Do Homework

In many cases, even after stressing the importance of completion of homework with the families, they will return class after class not having been able to complete their homework. In some instances, it will have been impossible for them to do the homework because of the rhythm of their families (i.e. Young children, no free time). Homework can be completed at home as well as elsewhere. For example, your parents can sing the “Hello Song” while riding on the bus. They can recite the poem while standing in line at the grocery store. They can retell the story from the book while playing in the sand box. Occasionally, other families will have been unable to do the homework because of emergencies (i.e. sickness, etc.) Other times, families will just “forget” to do it. This may be an indicator that the written homework is too difficult. In this case, you need to remove the stress and encourage them to do the parts of the homework that they can manage.

This repetition (because the song has a rhythm) increases child’s memory for language. We also encourage you to sing the ABC song every class because it also strengthens the child’s memory of letters, and the alphabet which is an indicator of later school success. We sing a goodbye song to indicate the end of the class. This singing creates the routine that signals the families that class is done. Please note that families of certain faiths may not be able to sing so do not force them to do so.