The Kids are Home... Now What?

HSA-Cedar Park: Special Edition Wednesday Mail

Making the most of school closure

Dear Parents,

Although we will be sending home work for your children, the days are long when school is canceled. We also wanted to put together some suggested schedules and resources for you to help the days pass more productively. Please reach out if you need any help or additional resources!

A Sample Day with Ideas to Help Fill the Time

*disclaimer: what follows is a pretty packed day with a lot of transitions. The purpose here is not to impose a structure but to offer ideas for how to break up the time. Think of it as a menu of options; pick and choose what works for your children and your family.

8:00 Make breakfast together

9:00 An hour of schoolwork

10:00 DIY Science project

11:00 Exercise! Here are some Indoor suggestions

12:00 Creative lunch-making

1:00 Second session of schoolwork

2:00 Round 2 of physical activity - we all need it...

3:00 Healthy snack & DIY Crafts project

4:00 Write, rehearse, and perform a play or mock commercial, or dress up time.

5:00 Movie or TV break

6:00 Prepare, eat, and clean up dinner; everyone helps.

8:00 Board Games/showers/read aloud before bed

Baking = great STEM learning

Looking for fun at-home STEM enrichment? Try a baking project (or any cooking, really). Use cooking as a way to discuss measurement and fractions. Is a quarter of a cup of oil different than a quarter of a cup of sugar? How many quarter cups are needed for one cup? What would that same measurement be in grams?

After you've done all the measuring, then you can think about the chemistry of cooking. At what temperature does butter melt? Or water boil? You and your child can generate hundreds of questions and answers about math and science by the simple act of making cookies.

Then, once those cookies are made, there are all kinds of story problems! If everyone in the family gets an equal number of cookies, how many cookies does each person get? What about the ethical dimensions of cookie-making? Who should get the most? The person who cooks? Who cleans? Who buys the groceries? Or should everyone get an equal amount?

Simple Sugar Cookie recipe

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Step 3: Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Free lunches and Breakfast

Dear Families,
Our schools may be closed, but our meal services for students are still open for business.

Harmony Public Schools is committed to meeting the food and nutritional requirements of every child in our communities while our campus is in closure for the COVID-19 outbreak.

Starting Monday, March 23rd each weekday from 11 AM to 1 PM, we will offer free lunch and breakfast pickup options for any child -- regardless of enrollment status -- in need of a nutritious meal.

Meals will be served drive-up style and will be available for all car passengers under age 18, regardless of enrollment status.

The meal pickup locations for our campus will be located at:
• Harmony Science Academy-Austin, 930 E Rundberg Lane Austin TX 78753
• Harmony Science Academy-Pflugerville, 1421 W Wells Branch Pkwy STE 200, Pflugerville, TX, 78660
• Harmony School of Innovation-Austin, 2124 E St Elmo Rd Suite A, Austin, TX 78744

These locations open each weekday from 11 a.m. to roughly 1 p.m. During this time, children can pick up a sack lunch for the day, as well as a sack breakfast for the following morning.
We look forward to serving you soon!

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Estimada familias:
Nuestras escuelas pueden estar cerradas, pero nuestros servicios de comidas para estudiantes aún están abiertos para los negocios.

Las Escuelas Públicas de Harmony se comprometen a cumplir con los requisitos alimenticios y nutricionales de cada niño en nuestras comunidades mientras nuestro campus está cerrado por el brote de COVID-19. De lunes a viernes, ofreceremos opciones de recolección de almuerzo y desayuno gratis para cualquier niño, independientemente del estado de inscripción, que necesite una comida nutritiva.

Las comidas se servirán al estilo de conducción y estarán disponibles para todos los pasajeros de automóviles menores de 18 años, independientemente del estado de inscripción.
La ubicación de recogida de comidas para nuestro campus estará ubicada en:
• Harmony Science Academy-Austin, 930 E Rundberg Lane Austin TX 78753
• Harmony Science Academy-Pflugerville, 1421 W Wells Branch Pkwy STE 200, Pflugerville, TX, 78660
• Harmony School of Innovation-Austin, 2124 E St Elmo Rd Suite A, Austin, TX 78744

Estará abierta todos los días de la semana de 11 a.m. a aproximadamente 1 p.m. Durante este tiempo, los niños pueden recoger un almuerzo para el día, así como un desayuno para la mañana siguiente. Esperamos servirte pronto!