covid

This year I begin my 18^th year of teaching preschool. And while much has changed in the past 18 years, as the adage goes, the more things change, the more they remain the same!

I took a year off last year to be with my own children as their school did not return to in-person learning until April. I was confident that when I returned to teaching this fall, things would be back to “normal.” Sadly, with the new Delta variant and breakthrough vaccination cases, many of the protocols and safeguards we created last year are still in place this school year. One of those safeguards was not having parents drop off their children in the classroom. Schools implemented this safeguard differently, in our school children are dropped off in front of the school office. Because of this, as teachers, we are only able to briefly communicate with parents and the parents cannot see the classroom daily. This presents a problem.  How do you communicate with and stay connected to parents that you don’t get a chance to see regularly?

I have always been a teacher that enjoys communicating with parents. I like talking to parents at drop-off and pick-up. This practice allowed me to have a meaningful conversation with each parent at least once a week.

This year I will have to be more creative. Emails home will have to be more frequent, more detailed, and filled with more pictures. Instead of checking in with each parent face-to-face, individual emails will be written once a week. Even though the method of communication has to change, the reason for it has not.

 As early childhood educators, we know that we are partners with parents to help their children learn and grow. We also know that the stronger the relationship between the school and the parents, the better the outcome is for the child. So, although many things may look different this year, the relationships and connections we create remain just as important.

Lynn Thedell, Teacher
Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego, CA

As I reflect on this year, I am surprised to have learned that the pandemic provided a blessing in disguise for our Temple Shir Tikva Early Learning Center community. 

 Imagine beginning your first job as a preschool director with the world in lockdown. My dreams of creative classroom communities gave way to safety and sanitizing. Instead of focusing on emergent curriculum, social-emotional learning, moral education, and social democracy, I focused on restrictions, rules, protocols, and procedures.

 I wondered how we would overcome the obstacles presented by Covid. What I found is that the combination of creative teachers, imaginative children, natural materials, and outdoor spaces helped us turn obstacles into opportunities.

 As a Reggio-Inspired program, we refer to the classroom environment, both indoors and outdoors, as the 3^rd teacher, with teachers and parents as the first and second teachers. Thus, the intentional ways in which the teachers prepare the classroom environment promote relationships, communication, collaboration, and exploration through play.

 If Covid had not forced us to “take the inside outside,” as a very wise 4-year-old phrased it, the classrooms might look as they always had, with dress up and sensory tables, with shared materials and food. Maybe we wouldn’t have spent as much time outside and I am convinced that while the curriculum would still have been wonderful, it would not have been as magical.

 The children ventured into our “outdoor classrooms” for everything from art projects to lunch to large architectural work with logs and sticks. They created habitats for animals, and used twigs, leaves and acorns to make “food.”  They hunted for tracks and bear caves. They used the natural materials they collected, and the beauty of our outdoor classrooms, to dive deeply into their curiosities and find wonder in their world. With one class, this led to a deeper study of the Grand Teton Mountain range.

 Nature inspired the children and their learning, and they were able to spend long amounts of time on a topic. Some investigations (like the one about animals that inhabit the Grand Tetons) lasted for several months. 

 The children might remember the months at home, but I think, more than anything else, they will remember coming to school and learning about bison at the Grand Tetons. One day, maybe they will want to go there to experience it for themselves.

Before the school year started, I wondered, would we be able to create rich and meaningful curriculum for/with the children, while also maintaining health and safety guidelines? I very quickly found out that the answer was yes.  We brought the inside outside and the fact that the children shaped their own learning -- that's the true blessing of this year.

Stephanie Lerner
Early Learning Center Director
Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland MA

From Anxiety to Joy: One Director’s COVID Story

I will be honest with you. I spent the months leading up to the reopening of our ECE dreading the entire experience, mourning what I was losing, and leaning into the great anxiety I was feeling. 

I don't have to tell you this, but there was so much to be sad about: no all-school Havdalah, no Shabbat in the sanctuary, no PE with Coach Ben, and no Library with Savta.  I wasn't going to spend time in the classrooms for weekly music or story time. I love to sit on the floor and play with the kids; I love to support the teachers in their rooms - no more.  And, worst of all, no hugs.  

And yet, we stepped forward.  After hours of meetings, days of preparation, and many sleepless nights, the Monday morning of Teacher Training Week arrived.  I found that I was overcome by a sense of calm.  We talked through every painstaking piece of the COVID-19 puzzle, every procedure and protocol; then we made our way to the classrooms to get to work!  We prepped, cleaned, and organized.

Suddenly, the first day of school was here!  While many things looked different, the energy and love were the same.  Despite our enrollment being down 50 percent, we were happy. We found moments of joy, lots of them!  The children remember “before" but they are in the moment of today.  They play, sing, laugh, tell stories, and engage in every learning experience.  They are eager for each day to begin, and they are so happy to be with their friends and teachers in "their school" again.  

I am finding the joy in seeing my teachers each day, even from 6 feet away.  I love greeting the children at the gate each morning, even while in my mask and shield. I have even found joy in administering temperature checks and health screenings. 

I laugh every day at the funny stories the children share, the pride in showing off their new mask, or their insistence upon answering the screening questions themselves. 

One of our 3-year-olds insists he has all the COVID symptoms, while his mom shakes her head no behind him.  One of our 6-year-olds asked, "Are you going to ask these questions every day?"  One of our toddlers told her mom that she was going to see her friend, Miss Leslie, at school the next morning.   How can I not find joy in these moments?

Even though there are COVID scares, endless cleaning, more Zoom meetings than ever before, and all the other craziness, in every way possible, I am finding ways to connect and find joy.  We will celebrate together, even if distanced. Each step of the way, we will find a way.  We will find the joy!  We will bring the magic!  

What worked for us?

•        Zoom classroom tours and engagements before school started
•        Individual “Meet the Teachers” appointments in person before school started
•        Over-communication with the teachers, the parents, the families, the board, the senior staff, the congregation – basically, everyone!
•        Keeping our ECC small to start
•        Giving each cohort two classrooms to use with their own bathroom and playground space
•        Thinking (and talking) through as many scenarios as we could before they arose so we could plan
•        Appreciating our staff with coffee, lunch, a seltzer water, and a thank you
•        Being flexible and patient
•        Keeping an eye out for the joyful moments!

Leslie Scheck, M.A.R.E.
Director of Early Childhood Education
Temple Solel ECC, Temple Solel, Cardiff by the Sea, CA

October 2020

If I Knew Then What I Know Now…

For those of us who are gently stepping back in and dipping our toes into the latest version of craziness, I asked the wise folks among us who have already started down this journey to share their experience.

 So, in no apparent order, this is what I learned.

 What do we need to know?

• Don't do it alone: involve your leadership, staff, families, and colleagues in the process
• Partner with your staff, and be willing to practice, adjust, repeat! 
• Support your staff
• There’s a tremendous amount of “gray space.”
• Be impeccable with your words and communicate.
• Use your licensor and public health rep as great resources
• Children and families need us and we need them
• "I don't know" is ok
• Create a reopening video to demonstrate new procedures
• Put your safety plan on the website
• Create and post firm illness and travel policies
• Communicate honestly with your parents about how much work and thought is involved in this process.

What worked? 

• Small groups, keeping siblings together
• Touchless sign-in and out app
• Outdoor sinks
• Shorten school hours, at least temporarily
• Being outside
• Large laundry baskets to collect toys for sanitizing
• Minimize the number of toys, both inside and outside
• Let them play!
• Creative use of outdoor space

What didn’t work?

• Masks on a two-year-old
• Having the parent assist the child instead of a teacher during arrivals and departures

• Finding additional teachers and/or subs
• Finding funds for fencing and supplies

Dale Sides Cooperman, M.A., Ed. Spec
Director of Early Childhood Education
Congregation Albert Early Childhood Center
Albuquerque, NM

August 2020

Webinar on Online High Holidays for Young Children and Their Families Available

ECE-RJ was pleased to partner with The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) for the webinar: “Bringing High Holidays Home: How to Create Meaningful Online Experiences for Young Children & their Families.

Shira Kline, Ellan Allard, Nancy Bossov, and Jamah Maman shared many ideas and tools to use when leading virtual High Holiday programs for families with young children.

While it was held live on August 13, 2020, ECE-RJ members can re-watch it by Clicking Here. The PowerPoint shared during the webinar can be found by Clicking Here, and the High Holiday Resource Page can be found by Clicking Here.

Suggestions From Teachers Who Have Already Experienced Re-opening

Starting a new school year in the middle of a pandemic is something I never thought I would have to deal with in my lifetime. I have many questions and concerns about returning back to the classroom in September.  I am sure many of you have the same feelings.  Teachers are always looking for ideas and support from other teachers.  There are many early childhood centers that have re-opened this summer. Over the last week, I have been in touch with some of those teachers from the east and west coast.  I asked one question.  What are your top 5 suggestions you would give to teachers who are about to re-open?  I was overwhelmed by how similar each response was.  I compiled a list of suggestions that were frequently repeated.

 Organization and Planning

• Be outside as much as possible.
• Divide and conquer responsibilities.
• Divide your playground into sections using a picket fence, cones, or fabric.
• Invest in carts with wheels to store water bottles, first aid kids, and manipulatives.
• Invest in wagons for the littles ones.
• Individual bins for art and sensory supplies.
• 2-3 bins for dirty manipulatives.
• Less is more!  Allow children to just play!

 Self-Care

• Take care of yourself. “Like putting an oxygen mask on first during a flight.”
• Acknowledge and accept your emotions
• Take a breath and allow yourself, as well as your students, to just play.
• It’s ok to make a mistake.  We are in uncharted territory; mistakes are going to happen.
• Do not expect perfection.
• If you are stressed, your co-teachers, students, and parents will pick up on it.
• Don’t forget why you became a teacher.   

 Thank you to all the teachers who shared their ideas and suggestions! 

Stacey Gabriel
Teacher
Temple Beth Avodah
Newton, MA

August 2020