Learning About Communities with Kids Academy Online Tools
June 5, 2024
Teaching children about community should begin from a very young age. For toddlers and preschoolers, their knowledge about the world around them is very limited, often to their family, teachers, and the people they see on a regular basis. As they reach kindergarten, kids must broaden their worldview to learn about the wider community. In doing so, they do much more than merely gain knowledge; they nurture their social and emotional learning by feeling a sense of belonging and purpose.
The best way to teach kindergarteners about their community is to experience it firsthand by visiting the fire station or by taking advantage of local programs that offer tours or talks with community leaders like police officers. However, these opportunities are few and far between. Instead, parents and teachers need other tools to reinforce this concept, which is where Kids Academy comes in.
Both our Classroom and Talented and Gifted Online tools are well-equipped to teach your child about communities in the most fun way possible! Let’s take a closer look at how to use both to teach this important topic.
Using Kids Academy Classroom for Guided Learning
Kids Academy Classroom is an innovative online tool that was designed to host engaging, interactive learning experiences for young learners. Instructors or parents select lesson sequences from our ready-made lesson library and post them to an online classroom that children access on their own device. To begin a lesson about communities, follow these steps:
1. Search the lessons library at kidsacademy.mobi to find this lesson: “What is a Community?
Kids Academy has a huge selection of pre-made lessons that can be added directly to your Classroom without having to change a thing! To do this, click the “Assign to Classroom” button to view all the activities included within the lesson.
2. Decide which activities to include or use them all!
All pre-made lessons can be customized to utilize only some or all of the included activities, but first, let’s preview everything included in the “What is a Community?” lesson.
Activity 1: What is a Community Video
This video serves as an introduction to the concept of communities by providing an explanation as well as by walking kids through a worksheet that will be completed later in the lesson.
Activity 2: The Wheels on the Bus Song
This is the well-known song that children love and can help to activate prior knowledge to make the connection between a school bus and the service they provide students in the community. They can sing along while they watch!
Activity 3: What Do You See in the Community Worksheet
Next, learners will complete the worksheet they viewed in the introductory video to the lesson. They will complete it on their devices in the online Classroom by circling any images they recognize as people, places, or objects that exist within their community. Once they finish, they will receive instant feedback so they will know how they did.
Children will reinforce their learning by again searching for images that represent people, places, or things in their communities. This time they’ll use the pictures to guide them through the maze to solve the puzzle, avoiding other images like a rocket ship and a mummy along the way.
Activity 5: Develop a Sense of Community Quiz
Finally, kids will showcase their new knowledge by completing a quiz to assess mastery of the concept so far. While completing, learners review common people, places, and buildings that are found in the community setting.
3. Customize Lessons
It’s easy to tweak lessons to remove or add activities, or to even make a custom lesson using the lesson library! Users can feel free to use the pre-made lesson as-is or customize it to meet individual learner’s needs. To modify the pre-made lesson, simply press the “x” icon located in the top right portion of each activity to remove that assignment. To add something else, press the white plus sign following the last activity to access the lesson library to add any activity you would like to use. To make a completely customized lesson, use the library to compile activities into your own lesson sequence in any order that you would like!
4. Share With Students
When you’re ready for kids to begin, press the “Start Classroom” button. Children can access the Classroom via a direct link provided to them or by using the code displayed on your screen after heading to http://www.kidsacademy.com/go.
5. Monitor Progress
Classroom allows users to view student progress through reports that inform instructors of each child’s completion and scores for worksheets and quizzes. This is a great way for teachers and parents to check learning and provide more support where necessary.
Talented and Gifted Online for Independent Practice
In addition to our Classroom tool, Kids Academy also offers the option of Talented and Gifted Online, which is a web-based version of our TG app, which is designed with independent practice in mind. TG Online is a comprehensive all-in-one learning program that is tailored to children in preschool through the third grade. It covers all the major core subject areas with extracurricular bonus subjects like the arts and chess. It offers a wide variety of activities that include videos, learning games, worksheets, and more!
Whereas Classroom is meant for guided instruction, TG Online allows kids to navigate lessons and activities independently, without the need of a teacher or parent. Learners work through the program intuitively as it progresses them through a learning path. This fosters their independence and works well for those who prefer to work on their own, or at their own pace.
Join the Talented & Gifted Online learning platform now and get 1 MONTH FOR FREE!
Challenge your kindergartener to learn more about communities and how important they are to a well-functioning society. Unlock your child’s fullest potential by trying Kids Academy Classroom and Talented and Gifted Online today!
