The morning starts with a virtual meeting with your teacher and classmates, then a shorter virtual meeting with a smaller group of students. Next, a few assignments before lunch, then virtual “special” classes: art, music, counseling or physical education, all over Zoom.
A day in the life of remote Kindergarten.
Krista Jett, a Chatham resident, is one of many parents adjusting to the additional challenge of parenting kindergarteners in a pandemic — she’s helping her twin children, students at Chatham Grove Elementary, adjust to remote learning as they adjust to school in the first place. A stay-at-home mom before the coronavirus, Jett had planned to resume working once her children started school — a plan currently put on pause by the demands of remote learning.
Still, she’s grateful her family has that option.
“We are the lucky ones in this scenario, because my husband is able to work from home and his job is fairly flexible, so he can help me out,” Jett said. “We certainly have neighbors who are trying to work full-time jobs in health care while helping their young children go through school online, so we are in as ideal a situation as can be — we’re very much aware of how fortunate we are.”
Her children attended preschool before starting school, so they do miss their friends. But they’re adjusting, Jett said. And some parts of transitioning to kindergarten from home are easier: no getting ready for the school bus at 6:30 in the morning, no packing lunches, no dealing with a bully on the school bus. Her kids can learn letters in sandbox and science on a real nature trail.
But other parts are difficult. Parenting and teaching is difficult — “anyone who’s been a parent knows that your children kind of act out more with you than they would with a school teacher or any other adult” — and not actually walking the halls of the new Chatham Grove after excitedly watching it be built is also disappointing for her kids.
“They’re definitely missing the in-person experience because they really miss their friends — they miss playing on the playground, they miss playing pretend in their dress-up clothes with their whole class of friends, they miss having snack time together,” she said. “And my daughter said, ‘I don’t want to just see my friends on the computer.’”
Keeping students engaged with their school work and friends is definitely a challenge of remote learning, particularly for younger students.
Last week, the Chatham Education Foundation hosted the first of its community partnership and education series over Zoom to help give parents like Jett tips for making the remote transition to starting school easier.
Jaime Detzi, executive director of the foundation, said the idea for a webinar series came at an executive meeting about a month ago, when the team realized the shift to virtual events gave them a great opportunity to share information.
“I think our hope is that this will go well beyond remote learning when it’s gone,” she said of the series. “We’re going to start with COVID-related stuff, and then move on from there as we see fit.”
At the beginning of the meeting, Detzi noted the newness of the situation for parents and teachers alike.
“All of you parents are new to this virtual learning in the kindergarten world,” she said. “Our teachers are very, very new to this too. So they may not have all the answers to questions but know that they’re doing their absolute 100% best.”
Tracy McKee, a kindergarten teacher at Pittsboro Elementary School and one of the webinar’s panelists, emphasized the importance of “picking your battles” with students to help them succeed and build up the endurance to sit on longer video calls. Another panelist, Katie Palmer, kindergarten teacher at Bonlee School, said to encourage your students for whatever they’re able to accomplish.
“The big thing is just being positive,” Palmer said. “I’m really trying to praise my kids and you can do the same thing at home. Just saying, ‘Wow, you are a big kindergartner. Look how well you did.’”
For parents who are able to be with their kids during the school day, teachers on the call encouraged taking them outside to get their eyes off screen, drinking lots of water as they work and making fun crafts. They encouraged creative learning activities — writing with chalk on the sidewalk to practice spelling, or bouncing a ball while saying counting.
Still, teachers realize that the majority of parents are not teachers. Many work full-time, and some don’t speak English well or have reliable internet. A lot of parents worry their children will fall behind.
“First of all, absolutely a valid concern,” said panelist Michelle Brick, a school counselor at Bonlee School. “As teachers, I don’t think it’s inappropriate to say are as worried as you are. But the other thing is to remember is that we’re all here — there’s no necessarily falling behind in the sense that we’re all we’re all on the same level right now. And so as, as educators, we have spent already and will continue to spend time (filling gaps).”
Each of the teachers on the call emphasized their availability to parents with questions.
“I tell parents, don’t hesitate if you have a question,” McKee said. “There’s no such thing as a silly question. If I don’t know the answer. I’m going to ask somebody to try and help me figure it out.”
Currently, most kindergarten classes are starting with less than an hour of synchronous virtual meetings, as to not overwhelm “the littles.” As the weeks progress, teachers expect to add more synchronous time, as well as independent classwork.
With added school time, there is a greater likelihood students will become frustrated with some of their assignments. The panelists encouraged parents to adopt routines the student can follow every day, even creating a physical schedule for their child to look at, like would be in their classroom.
And as the people that know their children best, they encouraged parents to communicate with teachers about challenges their student faces to find possible ways to adjust and prevent future frustration.
“Validate it. Please make sure you validate it,” Brick, the school counselor, added. “This is hard. This isn’t easy. It’s OK to be upset and frustrated. Mommy’s frustrated. You know, let them know that it’s OK. It’s important to listen and it’s important to help them get back to it for sure, but validate the moment.”
With one week of kindergarten for her kids under her belt, Jett is really appreciative of her childrens’ teachers for how they’ve encouraged communication as families make the adjustment to remote learning.
“I have been tremendously impressed not only with their homeroom teacher, but also on the Zoom call from last Friday, how every single teacher was like, ‘Please talk to us,’” Jett said. “The motto of the school is, ‘The Power of We,’ and they’ve really been trying so hard to make that work and to ease the parents’ concerns.”
Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com.