A Look Inside
Dunning Kindergarten Room 5: Ms. Star & Mrs. Wolkon
Adjustment
I hope that each of you and your extended families are healthy and well during this time. It has been an adjustment, to say the least, these past few weeks and if no body has told you yet today....let me be the first....."Good job! You are amazing! Thank you! You deserve a medal!"
As parents, you are maintaining a household, managing responsibilities, and doing your best to make sure your kids are healthy and happy. On a good day those jobs are difficult. During these days those jobs can seem overwhelming. Your community is here for you. Please reach out if there is anything you need. Be it an answer to a question you are afraid to ask, supplies for activities, food. Anything. My email address is efigueroa@framingham.k12.ma.us and if you prefer to talk over the phone, we can set up a time that works for you.
I have full faith that as parents, you know your children best and have helped them cope with a multitude of routine disrupting situations. As your child's teacher, I wanted to share some resources to help you process this time of crisis with your children. During these times of crisis, children can often experience the stress in different ways. Most of their routine has changed (literally overnight). For young children (all children, I would argue!) that disruption is a big deal. Bigger than you may think. I will not bore you with the tales of "dirty looks" I get from students if I do our Morning Meeting activities out of order...but it is a thing, trust me! Although a child may seem to be dealing with this new reality just fine, please do continue to check in with them/monitor them regarding this situation as young children often take several days (if not weeks) to process these types of changes. Children are extremely perceptive and although you may have taken steps to limit their exposure to upsetting information, they hear it on the news, or on our phone conversations, and they see it on our faces despite our best efforts to mask our feelings.
Here is some information from the district about this topic:
Included in that link is this resource that outlines age specific reactions to stressful circumstances and what parents/caregivers can do to help:
There are a multitude of resources found on the web that are specifically designed for kids. I would also suggest checking out the PBS kids T.V. programming especially Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (especially, "Daniel's Very Different Day" episode) as the goal of the show is to help young learners make sense of their feelings.
Who Made that Color Coded Schedule, Anyway!
We are living through a global pandemic and things may not go as planned. Any teacher will tell you, that while we pour ourselves into our plans, they often never go as written...because...life has a way of coloring outside of the lines---and that is okay.
Here are three things you can do to have a great day with your Kindergarten student:
- Make mealtimes and quiet times consistent each weekday
- Read aloud to your child every day (magazines, children's books, recipes, instruction manuals...hey you never know...you may be raising the next Mattel toy engineer!)
- Teach your child to do something you know (tie shoe laces, make black beans, fix a car, sew, sing a song, fold/sort laundry, dance to your favorite tunes, count coins, dust, play guitar, sweep, do a layup, ride a bike, braid hair, the list is endless!)
Here is an article from Edutopia, a George Lucas Foundation publication (yep, the Star Wars George Lucas) highlighting how homeschooling can be an opportunity for learning without following a strict schedule.
Virtual Classroom and Office Hours
The district is also asking that teachers hold "office hours" if students or parents have any questions or concerns. You all have been so great at emailing me your questions and making your needs known and I will continue to respond to your emails as I have. If you feel you would rather have a phone or video conference please email me and we can set up a time. Next week, I will send out information about my "virtual office hours" (the district is asking us to set a specific time), but know that if you have a question or concern outside of that time, it is okay to ask! I will respond as I have in the past.