Kindergarten Update
8/11/20
Kindergarten Zoom Q & A with Teachers
Hello Kindergarten Families:
I have received many questions and concerns via email and phone calls and have also seen many posts from our kindergarten families expressing their anxiety on social media. Our hope is to provide some clarity around your questions and concerns that have been shared.
Please see the details below provided by our kindergarten team.
1. Although the schedule designates synchronous learning multiple times throughout the day, we will log in during those times, but may not stay online for the full duration. During these "live" lessons students will have plenty of movement, fun and socialization.
2. There were many questions regarding attendance and if students have to be on each of the live sessions to be "here" for the day. We will record zoom sessions to allow your family the opportunity to do the lesson at a time that works best for you. Attendance is more about engagement in the learning rather than screen time.
3. We have had more time to prepare for virtual learning this year, and therefore, we are able to provide more hands on learning materials through the supply bags that we are sending home. Our hope is that you can help support your child with this hands on learning and that this will help to reduce screen time.
4. Our focus is on social and emotional learning. Just like during a typical school year, we have to help our students to build their academic stamina and we need to focus on relationships, expectations, and routines during the first month or so of school. We have to teach our students how to "do school" even in the virtual setting.
5. We are limiting work that needs to be "turned in"- again we are providing more work that you can do with your child and less of a focus on spending large amounts of time on a variety of apps.
6. We will set the zoom calls up so that you only have one link to attend to for "logging in". If your child is not on the call the teacher can invite your child and their iPad will ring as a reminder to join if you are able.
7. Kindergarten has a large focus on social skills and teaching kids how to interact with one another appropriately. Because of this, our teachers would like to propose hosting small group meetings at our Outdoor Learning Center. during the first month or so. This would allow our students to interact with the teacher face to face as well as each other in a safe setting. All health and safety precautions must be followed for these small gatherings of students.
8. We will go slow this first quarter to get kids started on their kindergarten learning. We don't want to overwhelm students or families during the online experience.
9. Our teachers are available to help you. They are very much a team and are working to support all of our kindergarten students and families. If you have additional questions or concerns you can reach out to them for additional support.
10. We want this to be a successful school year and recognize that there are still many questions that weren't answered in this email. Because of this, we would like to offer a Zoom Kindergarten Q & A for families with the team of K teachers. Please consider joining us on August 19th from 6:00-7:00 pm for our Kindergarten Zoom.
We will begin the zoom with an introduction and welcome to our teachers, and they will give a brief overview of what each of the components of the schedule may look like. We will then answer any questions that time allows. Please submit your questions in advance on this google document.
To Join our Kindergarten Zoom:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://kirkwoodschools.zoom.us/j/94298493346
Meeting ID: 942 9849 3346
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We are looking forward to meeting our kindergarten students and families. Our kindergarten teachers are:
cindy.star@kirkwoodschools.org
carrie.intagliata@kirkwoodschools.org
maria.tutsky@kirkwoodschools.org
Thanks and have a good day!
Take Care-
Angeline