Distance Learning in Early School
The unprecedented turn of events caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in our community has completely altered the way that spring typically looks on our beautiful campus. Distance learning has developed quickly into the best way for our teachers to stay in touch and keep their students learning.
Even before the decision was made to pause in-school lessons, I was meeting with our teachers to begin developing a plan to facilitate distance learning. You will not be surprised to hear that every teacher embraced this challenge and began exploring and sharing their ideas on how to best facilitate this new model.
With every new post, the teachers are working to discover what content will be the most helpful for the students while keeping it fun, engaging, and meaningful along with how best to get the material to them. They are also being mindful of each family’s time and ability to support the lessons and activities. They are aware that many parents are trying to juggle multiple responsibilities throughout the day. With that in mind, the teachers are seeking a balance between active and independent learning. This balance is also helpful when working with early school learners as their ability to focus on a task depends in large part on their age.
In an article in Parents.com, Leslie Harris O’Hanlon states, “Child development experts say that, on average, a 4- or 5-year-old child should be able to stay focused on a task for two to five minutes times the year of their age. So, young kids should be able to focus between 4 and 20 minutes, possibly more, depending on the task.” It is also important to give yourself permission to leave a task undone if it is becoming too arduous.
We want nothing more than to get back together in our classrooms and on our campus so that we can once again share the laughter, our love of learning and care for one another.