INSPIRATION: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” John F. Kennedy

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /l/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /l/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Lion. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the lion. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP: When you resist the urge to do what your child can do alone, that is when you are helping build self-sufficient behavior and confidence. Kids will rise to the challenges you give them!

HEALTHY SNACK: Hummus and vegetable sticks – slice bell peppers and carrots into thin strips, and arrange them like a lion’s mane around a bowl of hummus.  It’s a healthy, easy snack that is fun for make believe, too!

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of lion! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about lion. Ask your child to make the sound /l/ and say lion. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color lion on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!

INSPIRATION: “Peace begins with a smile.” Mother Teresa

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /z/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /z/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Zebra. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the zebra. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP: New words show up every day for your child. Take five minutes to make positive and negative models of new words. For example, if your child is dressing for the winter, show your child “This is a mitten,” versus a glove (“This is NOT a mitten. This is a glove.”).

HEALTHY SNACK:  Pretzel Z’s – give your child some pretzel sticks and ask her/him to make letters using the pretzel sticks.

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of zebra! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about zebra. Ask your child to make the sound /z/ and say zebra. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color zebra on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!

INSPIRATION: “Try to leave the Earth a better place than when you arrived.” Sidney Sheldon

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /h/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /h/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Hippopotamus. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the hippopotamus. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP: Try to provide as many visual alphabetic cues for your child as possible. Spell words in big letters while you are coloring together. Make food into a letter as you eat. When you see a word on a road sign, sound it out for your child and point to the letters so they follow along. The real-world examples will be very effective.

HEALTHY SNACK: Hungry Hippo Mix – Make a basic and healthy trail mix for hungry hippo munching!  Combine a cup each of raisins or any other dried fruit, chocolate or yogurt chips, peanuts, Cheerios, or even popcorn.  Pack the mix into small servings in tupperware or plastic bags for an on-the-go treat.

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of hippopotamus! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about hippopotamus. Ask your child to make the sound /h/ and say hippopotamus. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color hippopotamus on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!

INSPIRATION: “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”  John Dewey

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /w/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /w/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Wildebeest. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the wildebeest. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP:  Don’t sweat it if you don’t get to every single activity or lesson you planned for a day. What’s important is engaging with your child as often as you can, however you can.

HEALTHY SNACK: Crazy Cubes – While your child is learning about water, you can have healthy fun with it.  Chop up whatever berries you have on hand – strawberries, blueberries, even frozen berries in the freezer — and put a few small chunks in each section of an ice cube tray.  Your child can help fill the tray with water (practicing conservation skills by trying not to waste any!) and put the tray in the freezer. The frozen cubes will make a glass of water fun and appealing for them!  Plus, it will help them steer clear from wanting sugary, colored drinks. And don’t forget to drop a few Crazy Cubes in your own drink, Mama, whatever it may be!

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of wildebeest! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about wildebeest. Ask your child to make the sound /w/ and say wildebeest. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color wildebeest on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!

INSPIRATION: “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.” Emily Dickinson

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /e/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /e/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Elephant. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the elephant. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP: Don’t dumb yourself down. The richer the oral word experience is for children, the more excited they will be about learning. Do not shy away from speaking to your child with varied and complex words.

HEALTHY SNACK:  Crispy Green Beans – Elephants are herbivores like the Iguana, and they love to eat together. Trim a package of green beans and toss in oil, salt, pepper, and any other seasoning you like.  Bake on a baking sheet at 425 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Sit down and eat with your child like an elephant family does!

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of elephant! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about elephant. Ask your child to make the sound /e/ and say elephant. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color elephant on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!

INSPIRATION: “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /r/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /r/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Rhinoceros. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the rhinoceros. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP:  Alphabetical decoding is the process of retrieving a pronunciation through the relationship between visual letters and phonemes (letter-sound correspondence). You can help your child in this process by pointing at the words as you read them. This action will help demonstrate that words and their related sounds flow left to right on the page.

HEALTHY SNACK: “Rhino Skin” Fruit Leathers — Fruit leathers are easily found in health food stores, but be sure that they don’t contain added sugars!  However, you can also make fruit leathers at home with very little effort. Take three cups of chopped, washed, stemmed fruit of your choosing (strawberry is always delicious, as is apple or blueberry) and blend vigorously in a blender with a teaspoon of honey.  Line a baking tray with parchment paper and pour the blended fruit onto the pan. Using a spatula, spread the fruit into a thin layer that covers the pan. Bake at 200 degrees for 2-4 hours, until the fruit is leathery and tacky to the touch. When done, slice the leather into any shape you like — squares, long strips, etc — and store on parchment paper in the fridge.

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of rhinoceros! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about rhinoceros. Ask your child to make the sound /r/ and say rhinoceros. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color rhinoceros on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!

INSPIRATION: “Education is the movement from darkness to light.” Allan Bloom

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /v/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /v/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Vulture. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the vulture. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP: Comprehension is one of the goals in teaching literacy. It takes a while to develop, but you can aid your child by using multiple strategies to teach letters and reading. Playing a letter matching game with our print-out flashcards is one way to bring a new learning strategy to your child’s development.

HEALTHY SNACK: Compost Cookies — Cookies are always a treat, but you can make them healthier by including “reused” ingredients.  Start with a basic oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. Ask your kids to look around the house and find some things that would go well in the cookies.  Dried fruit, peanuts, chocolate chips, cocoa nibs, and even pretzels make good fillings. Cut down on fats by using applesauce, yogurt, and neutral oils in place of butter.  Cut down on the sugar called for in the recipe as well (it’s usually more than enough).

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of vulture! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about vulture. Ask your child to make the sound /v/ and say vulture. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color vulture on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!

INSPIRATION:  “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”  Albert Einstein

DAILY PLAN: Get ready to teach. Read the daily clue. Review the yoga pose and the letters for today. Let your child pick an activity or project to do together. Look at the activities and projects ahead of time. Gather any materials you will need. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate all successes, no matter how big or small. Remember to read the Africa eBook before bed. You don’t have to do everything listed below. Just remember it’s 30 minutes a day to reading readiness!

• Ready. Set. Read – Together, read the daily clue with your child. Draw the letters in the air. Get warmed up and ready to learn with the animal inspired yoga pose. It’s great to say the letter sound /x/ while you’re doing the pose. Have your child repeat the sound /x/.
• Activities and Projects – Spend quality, family fun time together on the adventure of a lifetime without leaving your home. You and your child have step-by-step instructions with pictures to offline, custom designed activities and projects that spark creativity! You and your child will have fun together while learning about the animals and the world we share with them.
• Digital Safari + Passport – Find the animal of the day in the Digital Safari. This independent online learning time teaches your child phonemic awareness and science. Encourage your child to learn and have fun exploring Africa. Help your child to find Level 3: Hyrax. Make sure your child taps/clicks on the picture of the hyrax. After your child completes the Digital Safari, it’s time to earn Fun Minutes with the Digital Passport! Your child chooses the animal of the day. And when your little one is done, they earn Fun Minutes. The Digital Safari and Passport helps your child develop self confidence needed to read!

TEACHING TIP: You can gently test your child’s new knowledge with phoneme manipulation. Challenge your child to access prior knowledge by starting to say a word, then waiting for them to fill in the rest. For example, point to an iguana and say, “What is this? I-i-i…” (gently sounding out the word).

HEALTHY SNACK: “Secret Butter” – Avocados are lovingly known as “nature’s butter.”  Slice a ripe avocado, smash it on some whole-wheat toast or crackers, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.  Call the avocado “secret butter,” and your child will think of it as a special treat!

*Please do not give your child the Healthy Snack suggestion if he/she is allergic to any of the ingredients.

SUGGESTION: Together, make a video with your child to record the discovery of hyrax! Record your Q&A Session, drawing letters in the air or while you talk with your child about hyrax. Ask your child to make the sound /x/ and say hyrax. You can use the videos to create a portfolio of progress to track your child’s progress. Print the Scoreboard in the Digital Library. Color hyrax on the Scoreboard. Celebrate!