Usually families thank teachers for the year, but year 2020 has been such that it surely goes both ways. Therefore, this Christmas it might be a good idea to give a ‘virtual hug’ to all families as a thank you for contribution as distance learning has been a mandatory trend all over the world.

Normally ‘thank you’ speeches and children’s lovable performances are presented at Christmas shows and such, but this year most parties are cancelled due to COVID-19. Therefore, here are some ideas how to let families know they are appreciated and how to share insight of the children’s learning journeys!

• Digital portfolio: Compile each child’s developmental milestones in a digital portfolio and share it with the family. It surely melts hearts to see how much their little one has learned during the past term!

• Dance or song: If possible, film a dance performance or record a song with the children and share it to all families digitally!

Social contacts are important to children. Children learn various skills when playing or interacting with other people and above all it is FUN to be with friends!

Maintaining social contacts and meeting friends is difficult during COVID-19 and distance learning. It is anyway important that children feel that they have friends and that they are liked – even when they cannot see their friends in person that often.

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Here are 10 tips how to maintain social contacts during restrictions and distance learning:

Distance learning doesn’t mean sitting in front of the computer all day. Read how the State of Illinois recommends teachers to plan activities for children aged 3-5 and what is the recommended screen time.

Activities for children need to be shared via online means. Short daily online gatherings are recommended to maintain the connection with the children, but learning activities themselves can be done offline with the family and with resources that can easily be found from home.

The following recommendations and guidelines for remote learning are presented by Illinois State board of Education as suggested minimum and maximum times of engagement by each student in remote learning activities.

Age and Minimum - Maximum times of screen time:

3-4 year olds: 20 - 60 minutes / day (3-5 minutes of Sustained Attention)

5 year olds: 30 - 90 minutes / day (3-5 minutes of Sustained Attention)

Teachers are also encouraged to give children additional, but optional home work, engagement opportunities, and enrichment opportunities (e.g. independent research projects). They emphasize that the home work should be optional.

Additional engagement is especially important for little learners, where it is not developmentally appropriate to expect a child to pay attention to tasks for a long period of time. Instead, children and families should be supported by having access to varied additional tasks and activities.

See how you can immediately share tasks and manage remote teaching with Kindiedays!

Furthermore, children and families are encouraged to support academic skills and social-emotional health through activities that extend beyond assigned remote learning work.

30+ Suggestions for Additional Activities in different categories by the Illinois State Board of Education:

Mind

• Read, e.g. independent reading
• Listen to someone else read, audiobooks
• Puzzles, Word Searches
• Write/tell a story
• Count money
• Draw a map of your neighborhood
• Build with blocks or Legos
• Listen to a podcast
• Watch a documentary

Body

• Take a walk
• Dance
• Exercise
• Fine/gross motor activities
• Stretch or do yoga
• Play a sport

Since coronavirus appeared, many schools had to close their doors. Teachers had to quickly find new ways to teach children remotely. But it was far from perfect.

"We learned from parents that while they were grateful we continued teaching throughout the spring, they were frustrated with all of the questions their children had, and wanted and needed that teacher to be there with them through that entire journey," Hunter says.

Now, while digital learning has been rethought, the challenge is providing the same level of attention and teaching to all whether in-class on in distance.

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Communication between families and teachers have become extremely important during this time period, says Hunter. He gives an example: Earlier parents were asking questions like “What time do I need to drop him off tomorrow?” or “What time shall I pick him up?” – parents needed to know about the start and the end of the day.

Now, parents and teachers have to communicate about the course of the entire day – Teachers and families need be on the same page around what time will the Zoom session start where the synchronous learning is going to take place, when will their child then be charged with doing their work independently, and when will breaks and play be allowed.

Bringing routines into the learning is important. That’s one of the biggest things parents have applauded is the teachers’ ability to set routines and help their children understand those routines and abide by them.

In-class teaching vs Distance learning

The biggest opportunity to teach both in-class and distance, is our ability to maximize technology in order to meet the needs of all students. This is where (while it's unfortunate that we are facing COVID-19) a crisis has led to some great opportunities.

There are digital tools that have existed for some time, but only now their full potential comes alive and fully into use.  

As preschools and kindergartens are faced with the challenge of providing learning opportunities at a distance, families are called on to be more involved than ever before, particularly for little learners and children with learning challenges and disabilities.

The tips have been adapted from Dr. Linda Carlings article, that you can find from here. Dr. Linda Carling is an Associate Research Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. She specializes in learning engagement and design and is a parent of a child with a disability.

Here are the 10 tips to help children maintain focus and stay engaged during this time of distance learning:

1. How much time should children spend online for learning?

There are some screen time considerations for children based on their age. As a teacher, you should provide some guideline for what is expected. For young children, interaction and play is the most valuable way of learning.

2. What type of activities the children enjoy?

For example, do the children work better with synchronous activities where they respond to a live instructor, or in person sitting one-on-one with their parent, grandparent etc? What learning platforms seems to engage children more than others? The answers to these questions can be valuable for you and to your child’s family to help plan for learning experiences that work best.

Download Child's Individual Curriculum template to learn more about the child's interests and needs.

3. Do children have possibilities to move throughout the day?

Children need to move their bodies frequently throughout the day. Reserve some time for exercise before you plan to start, and children are expected to focus on a distance learning task. Some children can focus on tasks better when standing, holding something in their hands or while sitting on a gym ball.