Keeping Connections
“Zooming” has taken on a new meaning in preschool. Once upon a time it meant a child was pretending to be an airplane in class, and a teacher would remind them to use “walking feet.” Now it means teachers have to say, “Please don’t unmute yourself, I can’t hear who’s talking.” Other times the teacher says, “Whoever is drawing the screen, please stop!”
We’ve been Zooming every day. Sometimes with the entire group, sometimes with just the Pre-K’s or 3 day children for 30 minutes, then another half hour with the entire group. Before we started, I couldn’t imagine what we would do online. I joked, what are we going to do, shake our sillies out? It turns out, that’s exactly what we do!
Our staff “attended” two webinars re: virtual learning in preschool. Both sessions emphasized that “connections” were the most important goal.
When I was thinking about it, I realized that our goals are connections, communication, continuity, and creativity. Unintentional alliteration!
Academics are not that important now. What is important is providing children with routines, and for them to know that even though their world has been turned upside down, there are still people who care about them, and that there are ways to connect with friends and loved ones.
Our sessions have evolved since we started. We start our sessions with the same song we sang to start our day. Parents said their children really wants to talk with their friends, we so now we make sure that everyone gets a chance to “share” something. It could be what they did recently, a favorite toy, or an animal they’ve recently seen. They need to be heard.
We’d read the book “The Diary of a Worm.” by Doreen Cronin. I looked up resources, shared them with parents, and we talked about how worms live, that they’re invertebrates, and how to make “wormeries.”
In the book, Worm’s best friend is Spider. The follow up book is “Diary of a Spider.” How are worms and spiders the same? How are they different? They’re both invertebrates. Can you feel your spine? Invertebrates don’t have bones, they have have an exoskeleton. Then I showed them my hermit crab. It’s also and invertebrate, but it’s also an arthropod, just like a spider!
‘The itsy bitsy arthropod climbed up the water spout….”
I caught a frog in my pond, so we talked about amphibians. Several children found salamanders and frogs and sent pictures.
We’ve talked about birds and animals that make nests.
One of things that surprised me is how interested the children are in drawing now! When we read “Whose Nest?” and I asked the children to draw a nest that they liked, or the could make one up. The answers were amazing! I complimented them on their efforts, their ideas, and their willingness to tell us about their art.
When we read Mo Willems’ Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, I put together a “study” for parents to use at home if they chose, which included a combination of fiction and non-fiction elements.
We continue to have Music Together with our music teacher, who now joins us everyday. Every week we have “Rockin’ Wednesday with Jeff.” Jeff Linden, a former RHCNS student (and my son) sings different songs and introduces different artists. In addition to their favorite “What do you do with a lazy pirate?” (a song he’s done every year in our summer sessions) he has introduced artists such as The Beatles’ (“All Together Now”) and Woody Guthrie (“12345678,” and “I’ll Take You for a Ride in my Car.”)
We’ve practiced mindfulness and different ways of breathing “when you’re sad, angry, or frustrated.”
We’ve played with covering the upper and lower parts of our faces and seeing if others can guess how we’re feeling by looking at half of our face. We focused on covering our faces from our noses down, and looking at another person’s eyes. How are they feeling? We each had a scarf or bandana that we played with. It could be a blanket for a baby, mat to sit on or we could wear it.
We dance, do finger plays and read books. We discuss what we’ve read.
Does it work? Some days I’m not so sure. Then parents send me videos of their children dancing and singing as they watch us. I get pictures of them holding worms, salamanders, and lizards. I think on most days it does.
Some children just can’t join us. For some, it makes them too sad. Others say they don’t want to. Many eat snack as they join in. It’s all ok.
When we do letter or math activities, I keep it short. Very short.
We discovered an amazing way for the younger group to interact by taking a child’s lead. We “cook” together with play food, (or real fruit, etc.) The children ask others if they want something to eat or drink. They “prepare” it and “pass” it through the screen. We’ve had SO much fun.
Is online preschool a good substitute for regular school? Absolutely not. But when we don’t have a choice and leaving the house is not an option, it helps.
Our goal is to connect. To realize that we can still be together even though we’re apart. I want to spark their curiosity and let them run with their interests. I want them to know that we care.