From Fingerprints To Masterpieces

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Early Childhood and the Pandemic. A Year in Reflection

Here we sit a year into the COVID-19 Pandemic. While many of us are familiar with how it has affected our lives and lives of our family, do we know what it has really done to children and those who teach them?

Early Childhood Educators were asked in Minnesota and other areas to remain open, to help the workforce with child care. The stability we provided children in these unstable times was more important than allowing a parent to go to work.

We provided a safe environment for children to be children, and parents to feel confident their child was in good care. We provided the necessary routine and consistency needed for emotional health and development and we provided places of joy.

I wanted to look at what I was seeing in children and I asked a few others in the field of Early Childhood to share their thoughts. I was graciously given interviews by:

Heather Andrew PreK teacher in Oklahoma Public Schools

Nicole Brank, Center Manager, Love To Grow On Child Development Center

Tom Hobson, Teacher Tom

Rae Pica, Early Childhood Consultant & Author

One question I asked was:

What is the biggest difference you have noticed in the children you work with from the beginning of the pandemic to where we are in February 2021?

At the beginning of the pandemic, the young children in my life missed their friends. I believe they still miss their friends, but they have adapted, as children so easily do, to a world with fewer face-to-face interactions. Parents are telling, however, that their children are more irritable than prior to the pandemic. Many tell me their kids have become "addicted" to screens. – Tom Hobson

Children seem to be needing intentional time and touch. However, I’ve noticed their way of communicating is funneled through their physicality. -Heather Andrew

The biggest difference I have noticed is that the older kids are really excited to see other children. I also notice the infants have a harder time when other teachers step into the room because of facemasks and having more stranger danger. -Nicole Brank

My second question was:

What do you miss about pre-pandemic education, “normal”.

I imagine in most cases there was a great deal less screen time!! – Rae Pica

So many things. Navigating their need for large movements with little space due to desks being put in the room for social distancing.

Masks make it hard for my children to read my face when they so desperately need all forms of communication. Communicating that I love them deeply when we feel so emotionally distant.I also feel like the rules take away from them being fully independent in the classroom. I’ve had to be extremely creative in creating a space of independence. - Heather Andrew

Teacher Tom responded with, I recently wrote a blog post about this:

I miss the feeling of little fingers exploring my knee cap through the holes in my jeans as I read from a story book.

I miss the blast of overheated breath against my cheek as they excitedly whisper their news in my ear.

I miss the warmth of tears spreading through the fabric of my shirt and onto my shoulder as I hold them after a fall.

I miss the dampness that soaks through the seat of my pants when I sit on wet ground in order to be eye-to-eye with them.

I miss being genuinely eye-to-eye……

I miss being in the presence of so much love.

I miss spending my days learning from free people who grieve quickly, then come to accept their world as it is today, right now, engaging it without wasting a moment on what is missing.

See full post here http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/what-i-miss.html

To wrap up all their thoughts and mine, we realize the slowdown and changes brought on by the pandemic also brought good things for our children I would like to close with these thoughts.

Spending more time with mom and dad has been by far the biggest benefit for many kids. For children who struggled with school (too hectic, pressured, busy) this time has been a boon. I'm thinking specifically of children with autism and sensory challenges. -Tom Hobson

They still have a natural desire to wonder, and discover their world. I’m surprised by this but it just affirms why I do what I do. -Heather Andrews

Unless children are in situations where they’re forced to be in “Zoom school” from 7:30 am to 2 pm (just one of the horrible stories I’ve heard), most children have had more time to play and be children. It is my great hope that parents will witness the joy of that and feel less pressure to give them a head start in academics. That children will get to be children! Rae Pica

I think the positive is that children got to have more family time with parents and siblings (if they had any) - Nicole Brank

The pandemic brought Early Childhood Educators into a more visible position, than that of child care. Our ability to keep children safe and happy so parents could work without fear of their child’s well-being stood out. So has the importance of play in childhood, begun to become more visible. It is my hope that we as a country will realize children learn best when allowed a childhood of freedom in play and less emphasis on sedentary education practices that do not benefit the ability to learn. Adults are experiencing Zoom Fatigue, but we have been putting children through School Fatigue for decades.

Links you might like to check out:

For Rae Pica

Website: www.raepica.com

Free e-library for early childhood professionals, currently with 17 e-books: https://www.raepica.com/free-resource-elibrary/.

For Teacher Tom:

Blog: teachertomsblog.blogspot.com

Website: Teachertomsworld.com

Books: https://www.teachertomsworld.com/books

E-courses: https://www.teachertomsworld.com/e-courses

For Nicole Brank

Love To Grow On Child Development Center www.lovetogrowon.com

Friday, December 4, 2020

Respecting the Child’s,Wonder and Joy in Learning

Children who are invested in their learning are also more interested in what s being taught. That is why play is such a strong force in learning. If you are having fun, feel what you are doing is valued and learning through cause and affect the lessons become internalized and more impactful. Sitting at a desk or table doing a worksheet is busy work but it is not true education.

Producing a product is not as powerful as the process of creating the finished piece.

Let me give you two scenarios:

Scenario 1:
Tommy (33 months) and Tilda (4 yrs), are playing in the combined family room and kitchen. Mom takes out the mixer, opens the cupboard and pulls out a box cake mix. The noise of the mixer being set up catches the children’s attention. They both leave their toys and walk over to see what mom is doing? Tilda pulls out a stool and climbs up to perch on it. Tommy gives it a try, he moves the stool away from the counter and starts to climb it. He does not make it the first time. Mom watches out of the corner of her eye but keeps gathering items needed to make a cake.
Tommy tries again and gets his balance on the rung of a the stool. Tilda reaches out her hand to Tommy, he grasps it and uses it to balance as he settles himself on the stool. Once seated Tommy grabs for the beaters. He gets one and holds it in his clenched fist, his fingers play with he curved beater. “Tilda, can you hand me the beater on the counter?” Mom asks.
Tilda hands her the beater sitting on the counter using the end that attaches to the mixer. Tommy watches. “Tommy, can you give me the other beater.” He looks at his beater and passes it over, a smile on his face. Mom walks to the sink and says, “I will wash this up, so it is clean to mix our cake with.” Once done she inserts it into the mixer.
Turning the box over she points to the directions. “What do you see?”
Tilda responds, “Eggs and cups. Oh and a 3, 5 and 0!”
Tommy, “Eggs!” Clapping and smiling.
The cake box is set in front of Tommy. “Can you open the box and give the package inside to Tilda?”
Tommy rips the box open, pulls out the mix and hands it to Tilda. Mom hands her a scissors. Tilda please cut open the cake mix and dump it into this mixing bowl.

Tilda cuts the bag open and quickly dumps the mix into the bowl. Some spills on the counter. “Tilda can you grab the dish rag and clean up that spill before we mix the cake, we want to keep counters clean when we cook so we keep all of our foods clean.”
Mom moves the eggs close to the kids. Let’s count. We need 1, 2, 3 eggs. She takes one out. “Can you each get one? Her hand hovers over the bowl, “Do I just put it in?” She wonders out loud.
“No!” Giggles Tommy.
Mom takes a bowl and cracks her egg into the bowl while talking through the steps; “Gently tap the egg on the side, open it up with your thumbs at the crack and pour into this bowl. Now look to see if any shells fell in. Now we can put it in the mixing bowl, she says adding the egg to the mix. She passes the small bowl to Tilda. A hard tap is followed by Tilda separating the egg shell and pouring her egg in. She notices a piece of shell and mom fishes it out then Tilda adds her egg to the mix. Tommy, getting impatient for his turn squeezes his egg cracking it. Mom reaches over, helps him add his egg to the bowl and fishes out small pieces of shell, while sending both kids to wash their hands really good with soap. When Tommy returns she lets him dump his egg in with the others.
Mom now reads the other ingredients and helps each child pour out the right amounts and add it to the cake mix. She turns on the mixer and sends Tommy to get a spatula and Tilda to get a cake pan.
The batter is put in the pan and the oven set at 350 degrees with mom explaining that is the 3, 5, 0 that Tilda pointed out. As the oven warms mom has the children clean up the counter, help rinse the utensils and put them in the dishwasher.

Scenario 2:
The classroom of 20 preschoolers is in full swing, everyone engaged and happy.

Suddenly the teacher announces clean up time. There are grunts, some block towers knocked over and many children not responding.

“I said CLEAN UP Time.” Repeats the teacher rather firmly and a bit louder. Some children respond, others disrupt friends, thinking they are helping the teacher and others continue to do what they were doing before they were interrupted by an even louder order to clean up.

Once the room is cleaned 20 students are sent to wash their hands before gathering around the teacher. Items are laid on the table with cute, picture recipe cards for the children to read the directions. The teacher then opens the box and pours the cake mix in a bowl. She has the kids tell her the next step and ingredient to add then measures it out and pours it in the bowl. She mixes the batter while the students count the number of stirs. She then passes the bowl to her assistant teacher to take to the kitchen and bake.

The students go to their seats and color a set of picture recipe cards like the one at the table. Then tell the teacher how to make the cake. The lesson finishes with a cute story about a dog baking a cake.

Both of these have potential for learning, but which makes the strongest impact?

Which one empowers the children?

Which one values the child?

Which one will probably be remembered years later?

This year as you do your holiday baking, wrap gifts, read stories or just have empty boxes available, be sure to watch the learning taking place. It is there in the wonder and discovery that happens naturally in the season.

Kid friendly recipes

https://tasty.co/article/melissaharrison/cooking-with-kids

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Grateful in 2020? Why Not?

Let’s face it when we rang 2020 in on December 31, 2019 none of us expected what we got.

No one cheers in a year knowing a pandemic is around the corner.

That natural disasters will destroy towns, cities and countries; or that social unrest will lead to the violence and riots we have seen.

Who would have predicted that masks would become the height of fashion and necessary wear in public. I am pretty sure none of us would have stayed up late and partied in a new year we thought would be what we have experienced.

One Thing I Am Sure of is We Each have Something or Someone to be Grateful For.

Sometimes you have to really look at a situation and dig for the good.

I had no idea in April, when we went downstairs to do the laundry, that stepping into a foot and a half of raw sewage would actually become a blessing.

Nor the week before having my hours cut would be an amazing gift, allowing me time to clean the mess we had just discovered.

All I knew is I felt dirty, defeated and paralyzed.

Two days later the out of state landlord who had not seen his property in over 20 years would announce he was not fixing, what was becoming an annual, and increasingly worse problem, but that he was selling and we needed to relocate.

Try taking that all in on a tight budget, in a pandemic and in a house that smelled worse than an outhouse.

But now 7 months later, we have less stuff, to clutter our hearts and lives. We live on a tighter budget, in a very small space. But we have all we need, a clean safe home, a place to do laundry, a tub we can safely take a bath in and each other and all three of our cats.

Yes, that disaster in the basement was a blessing in disguise.