[NFBNJ] Distance Education Learning Resources

[joe ruffalo]

Greetings to all!
Received from Carol Castellano, Founder, Parents of Blind Children-NJ.
Please share with other.
Warmly,
Joe

----


From: Carol Castellano
Carol Castellano
Founder, Parents of Blind Children-NJ
Secretary, National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.blindchildren.org
www.nopbc.org



Distance Education Resources
https://www.nfb.org/resources/distance-education-resources



The National Federation of the Blind is committed to ensuring quality 
education for blind students, and to providing activities and lessons that 
are fun and educational for blind children and their families. When virtual 
education is necessary or encouraged, we want blind students to be able to 
continue learning alongside their sighted peers.

BEE Activities of the Week
In this section, we will feature activities from the BEE, our e-newsletter 
that outlines strategies and hands-on activities for parents and children to 
perform together to foster Braille skills, as well as early movement and 
travel. Check back every week for new activities.

Braille Duck Pond
  a.. Education Goal: Practice Braille.
  b.. Materials: Rubber ducks (or some other type of animal; no one says 
they all have to be ducks), labels of some type with Braille including 
letters, numbers, and short words.
  c.. How to Play
    a.. Attach the labels to the bottoms of the ducks or other animals. You 
can use paper that has a sticky backing, or cut apart note cards and attach 
them with tape.
    b.. Put the animals in a wading pool, though we suggest no water in the 
pool since water and labels do not mix well. Or place them in a box or in a 
pile on the floor or table.
    c.. Have your child pick a duck or animal. If they can read the letter, 
give them some type of small prize.
    d.. If the child picks more than one animal and the animals have numbers 
on them, see if they can add the numbers together and get the correct total, 
then give the child a small prize. The same goes if the child can read the 
numbers—give them a small prize.
    e.. Have older children read the letter and tell you a word that starts 
with that letter or the Braille contraction represented by that letter. The 
playing possibilities are endless!
Let’s Play a Game!
  a.. Education Goal: Practice Braille.
  b.. How to Play
    a.. It's a good time to stay inside and play board games. Both board 
games and card games are a great way to build Braille literacy. It's fun to 
use Braille to read the names of places on a board, numbers on cards, or 
instructions to a game.
    b.. Bingo for example, has many words, letters, and phrases that need to 
be read and marked. It provides excellent Braille practice and makes 
practicing Braille fun, especially when working as a team or against an 
opponent.
    c.. You can also practice Braille reading speed if you are playing a 
game that needs to move more quickly. With card games such as UNO, the 
numbers and differing directions can be an added challenge.
    d.. Another excellent literacy-building game is a word search. You can 
Braille word search puzzles for your child. It's a good way to practice 
letters, spelling, and circling with a pen, crayon, or pencil. It also helps 
the child learn concepts like horizontal, diagonal, and vertical.
    e.. If you don't feel like playing a game, use a Braille Scrabble board 
and challenge your child to spell words. This is another source of Braille 
letter practice.
Let’s Dance!
  a.. Education Goal: Practice concepts such as moving left and right and 
following directions, and improve gross motor skills.
  b.. How to Play
    a.. Many fun dancing songs such as “The Hokey Pokey,” “The Bunny Hop,” 
or “It’s a Very Simple Dance to Do” involve following directions including 
left and right. These are very important directions in travel. The dances 
also reinforce concepts such as in and out, forward and backward, and 
working on gross motor skills such as jumping, hopping, and spinning. 
Practice some of these dances with your child and then try making up your 
own dance together.
Review previous BEE activities for more fun and learning.

Interactive Lesson of the Week
Each Thursday at 11:00 a.m. ET we will be offering a lesson for blind 
children and their families via Zoom. The goal is for these lessons to use 
things families will already have at home.

Thursday, April 23, 11:00 a.m. ET: Celebrating National Picnic Day
Thursday, April 23, 2020 is National Picnic Day and it couldn’t come at a 
better time. Picnics provide a wonderful opportunity to develop and practice 
blindness skills in a fun way. In addition to our regular NFB distance 
learning resources, we will be highlighting YouTube videos all week to help 
you prepare for our picnic on Thursday. From practicing our spreading skills 
to pouring our favorite drinks into on-the-go water bottles and making 
snacks that help us practice our Braille, we will be learning all along the 
way. On the big day, we will talk about what we have prepared, pack our 
picnic baskets, and head to our favorite indoor or outdoor picnic spots with 
our long white canes. Once there, we will chat about whatever we want; it’s 
our picnic!

To join:

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoomus/j/5201723847
Meeting ID: 520 172 3847

One tap mobile:

  a.. +16468769923,,5201723847# US (New York)
  b.. +13126266799,,5201723847# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location:

  a.. +1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
  b.. +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
  c.. +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
  d.. +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
  e.. +1 253 215 8782 US
  f.. +1 301 715 8592 US
  g.. +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 520 172 3847

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/arYSzOni6

Past Interactive Lessons
Enjoy past interactive lessons that we conducted via Zoom.

  a.. Buzzing Bees (YouTube)
  b.. Making Scented Playdough (YouTube)
  c.. Making Apple Smiles (YouTube)
  d.. How to Create Braille Tracking Sheets with Things You Have in Your 
Home (YouTube)
Braille Story Time
We want blind children to have the opportunity to see fluid Braille readers 
in action. Here are some videos of blind people reading stories in Braille. 
Each story has an activity that you and your child can do to take the 
learning to the next level.

  a.. Curious George Goes Camping Read Aloud (YouTube)
  b.. Dear Deer Read Aloud (YouTube)
  c.. Make Way for Ducklings Read Aloud (YouTube)
  d.. Where Does the Garbage Go Read Aloud (YouTube)
  e.. A Picture Book of Rosa Parks Read Aloud (YouTube)
How-To Activities
Here are some resources to help engage your children in activities around 
the house and teach nonvisual concepts.

  a.. Spreading and Pouring as a Blind Person (YouTube)
  b.. How to Fold and Roll Clothes (YouTube)
  c.. Using Braille Screen Input on your iPhone or iPad (YouTube)
  d.. Basic Indoor Cane Travel Techniques (YouTube)
Carol Castellano
Founder, Parents of Blind Children-NJ
Secretary, National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.blindchildren.org
www.nopbc.org


     Virus-free. www.avg.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnj_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200502/e3affd45/attachment.html>