Leah Soldner
Mar 24, 20214 min
“Can I submit my presentation on Ancient Eygpt by Power Point?” – Grade 4
“Ms. E, I can’t hear you. I don’t know where the sound part is.” – Kindergarten
“Here’s my book report. I added some mock titles & credits if you want to use them, but you probably don’t.” – Grade 5
“Guys! It’s .like, raining SO much out here right now. I wish you guys could come here but..well I guess you’re busy” – Grade 1
“Goodnight Mr. T, I finished ALL my assignments today. Bye!” – Kindergarten
“I miss you.” – Preschool
Imagine listening to the audio recordings of tiny voices each day. You know them. You’ve played with, talked to, taught and guided in person. Some of them for years. And for so long the quality of your communication has been wedged by lenses.
As a school, and as teachers, we can imagine it.
Imagine trying to coordinate how your child’s caregiver will connect him to Zoom and ensure he completes the hands on activities assigned to him in class, all while maintaining a full-time job and watching your young one become more restless over the prolonged disconnect from the companionship of his classmates.
As a parent (AND or a teacher) we take our hats off to you.
With the current health crisis prompting tightening social distance protocols, our community has been urged to stay at home as much as possible and avoid large groups of people. DK Schoolhouse has taken these precautionary measures to heart and required the bulk of its teaching staff to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel.
While these precautionary measures are both necessary and useful, it doesn't keep your child, young or old, from becoming restless when having to stay indoors.
Of course there's the option to pass over the tablet/phone/laptop and let your child dive into the online world. But...what if we could do a bit more?
“Worry Less, smile more”
Is something we tell ourselves, our students, and something we’re telling you now. We can’t change the circumstances but we can change our reaction to them. Find the good, see the good, do the good. In a world of distance, find a way to connect with your fellow human, and watch your child emulate the same positive actions.
Even as you navigate through this chaos, it is important to establish a stay-at-home routine that will help everyone remain calm, clean and safe. It is also important to continue practicing healthy habits even if you’re not going outside. Besides washing your hands and avoiding direct contact, make sure you and your child are getting enough sleep and maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
Here are some great apps to use for scheduling a productive home-study week for you and your child.
For the overwhelmed parent, this one is perfect. Our Home helps manage tasks and events like shared files, lists and calendar events. With it's easy interface, Our Home helps you stay organized with less effort.
Children learn best by doing, and for the older ones, the Busy Kid app is a perfect way to help them develop a strong work ethic and important money management skills, allowing you to set your child up with a household 'job' and allotted income.
Just in case you parent, or know of a teenager, this app is designated for learning frugality, budgeting and safe spending.
You know the one. When you’re running late, the internet’s frozen, it’s raining outside and your Litte One is bouncing off the walls. That’s when you grab the toolkit. Our top favorites are:
Activity Books
TIP: Print the following activity, coloring and worksheet pages, grab a marker and place in an empty plastic folder with individual sleeves. These are terrific ways to keep your child occupied. Organize them by type, and help your child maintain a sense of responsibility by wiping off the plastic with a white board marker at the end of use. No one likes scrubbing day-old dry erase marker!
Puzzles, scavenger hunts, sorting and matching games.
(For older children) wood working kit
Sewing kit at spare fabric
Yes it’s been a crazy school year. Yes your child has clocked more hours in a virtual classroom at home than they have since beginning their school journey. Is it difficult? Yes. Can you find something good in all the chaos? You can, you will and so will your Little Ones as they do what children do best: observe and repeat.
Scrapbooking. Make this a REAL-LIFE scrapbook of memories. Keep it easy and select one item for each month (Even an old receipt will do) and scrapbook (hygienically, of course) your way through the months that have passed since February 2020.
Journaling. If your child is young, you can have them draw/ label a simple picture each day, and progress to writing short sentences paragraphs and before you know it, pages! Online journaling helps your older children hone their typing skills and is a good way for them to keep up with technology. Just make sure to monitor your child’s online usage. Check out our recent blog post on the subject.
Oh the places you’ll go! If you want your child to enjoy reading, enjoy it with them. Even if it means reading the same book over and over at bedtime or retelling the same story you’ve been asked to tell “Just one more time.”
By placing an emphasis on our students learning to listen to stories and look at books from a young age, they become remarkably literate and competent in their written and spoken vocabulary.
You can find some of our audio books by hopping over to our YouTube Channel “Storytime”.
TIP OF THE DAY: Make your own audio book! Take turns recording different parts of a story. Draft out the plot together as a family, helping your child learn to correctly place a beginning, middle and end. You can find some fantastic writing prompts here.
At the end of the day, while hopeful that the current situation will improve, we miss your children. There may be glitches in the system, a power outage. We know you’re familiar with the frustration of trying to connect two or more children up to classes while making sure they’re interaction didn’t disturb the other. We miss them and wish we could provide the in-person service we’ve been waiting to do.
If you have questions, need help or support, don't hesitate to write in and let us know.
See you soon!