Distance learning for K and younger
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Anonymous
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Can folks share what their schools are doing in terms of distance learning for grades K and younger, particularly things that are working well? We're not happy with the current set up at our school and want to provide some constructive feedback based on what other schools might be doing.
TIA |
Anonymous
| I feel first grade it works okay, but will follow this thread for ideas. By third I think it works super well and my kid loves it. |
Anonymous
| Too young to be on screens. Sad. |
Anonymous
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My youngest is in Pre-K
They send a schedule every day: 1. YouTube of morning song 2. 2-3 suggested activities 3. YouTube of teacher reading story 4. audio files of songs they sing a lot 5. Zoom meeting a few times a week 6. Some worksheets to print out and do |
Anonymous
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I'm really tired of this distance learning nonsense for the younger than kindergarten kids. When we're being honest, it's just a way for the school to justify shifting the financial burden of this pandemic to the parents instead of insurance or school reserves.
Do I need the school gym teacher to send me Cosmic yoga clips for my kids to watch? No. Yes, my children love their teachers and miss them and their friends terribly. But we all see through these You Tube story times. This may not be sustainable as unemployment numbers rise across all industries. |
Anonymous
| My kindergartener is doing distance learning with a private international school (we are based overseas) and I think they’ve been doing a great job. Yes, it’s more screens than I would like under normal circumstances, but given the situation, what can you do? Her primary teacher provides a video each morning where she talks to the class and goes through their typical morning meeting routine and then discusses the overall schedule for the day. Then for each day there are 5-6 segments with a mix of art/math/physical activity/reading/Writing/foreign language study etc. Each segment has a short video introduction/lesson by the appropriate teacher, followed by a mix of related written/drawing/app based interactive assignments for them to complete at home. Some fun songs and stories are also included each day.?We post each completed project/assignment for feedback from the teacher or occasionally to share with the whole class. Additionally there are 3 zoom meetings per week- one individually for us/our child and her teachers, one in a small peer group, and one with the whole class. it does require a lot of parent oversight and involvement which is a little tough since spouse and I are both still working from home, but not sure how you get around that at this age. |
Anonymous
| Our school has tried a few things over the last couple of weeks. What is working best is short live zoom classes followed by offline time to work on the things that they've discussed in the classes. At the moment, there are about 5 classes a day on zoom, time online ranges from class to class with some being longer (where teacher is reading a story or doing a science experiment or teaching a new letter or whatever) and some shorter. I've found that DD engages much better when it is live, and when they sent video clips - even though they were of the same teacher - she was much less interested. She also really enjoys seeing all her friends in the live classes too. |
Anonymous
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I have two kids in the same class at the same school, which is continuing virtual learning. Their class includes ages 3-6.
Teachers are doing daily Zoom meeting at 9am for the whole class, and posting new videos with lessons, songs, and stories daily. Written materials are also shared daily for those with access to a printer. The teachers encourage parents to take pictures of the kids' work and send them, but there's no pressure. For the kindergarteners and some of the further-along four year olds, they make computer programs available. RAZ for reading, MobyMax for math, and Education.com games for both. In the afternoon, individual time slots are available for 1-on-1 Zoom sessions with a teacher for working on reading, pre-reading, or math. 1-on-1 Hebrew language time slots are also in the works. My kids are 4 and 6. They are really enjoying it and it really helps them keep a connection to their classmates and teachers. |
Anonymous
Exactly. Total scam. Our school is doing online meetings from 10-11 two days a week. For PreK, total crap! |
Anonymous
Exactly my feelings too. I don't need/want my kid to sit in front of the computer watching endless video clips and youtube links like a zombie, so I don't open the links anymore. |
Anonymous
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What exactly are you looking for? There is nothing they can do about this pandemic. There is no way to replicate a classroom setting. PreK is mostly about SEL. That isn’t something easily taught during shelter in place.
What we are paying for right now is money that you would be spending anyway—and it is to ensure you actually have a school to go back to. Donations will be down. Annual funds will be down. Investments will be down. If you want your school to survive, recognize this is a once in a lifetime devastating experience across the board. Give latitude to the educators who are doing their best in a terrible situation. I swear, on two weeks, everyone will know someone who is dying, and then—MAYBE—DCUM will quit this incessant bitching. |
Anonymous
| Read with them, get some basic Kumon, BrainQuest or other workbooks. Work on math facts and basics. The big thing is reading, writing skills and math. |
Anonymous
| Beware: Security, Privacy, Isolation, among other concerns. https://www.consumerreports.org/video-conferencing-services/zoom-teleconferencing-privacy-concerns/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_FB |
Anonymous
| We have one in K and one in PK-3, both at the same private. Distance learning so far has involved short videos from the teachers and specials teachers, as well as parent-guided activities (for both) and short assignments (for K). The activities are thoughtful but often involve items and ingredients that simply are not available (e.g., several cups of flour for play dough, specific color paint, etc.). There will be one-on-one Zoom sessions with teachers, but no class-wide Zoom and no teacher-led instruction. This requires a TON of parent time for any real learning and is quickly become burdensome. |
Anonymous
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I attended a class led Zoom at my child's school and it was total mayhem. The teacher was not able to control the talking in the same way he would in the classroom, so it just ended up being a lot of yelling and distractions from all directions. We have not had one since. younger students just are not ready for the same setup that older students might take to more readily.
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