The world quickly shifted in the wake of the pandemic. Preschool and childcare were left stranded. Empty classrooms and empty caregiver hearts. The focus of early childhood education centers on social and emotional skills. These are two areas of development that are difficult to navigate in a world where we are socially distant. However, there are tools available that help caregivers fill the void and bring the classroom back to life in a different way. Early childhood educators are constantly adapting in the classroom, now is the time to shine!
As a general rule, preschool is not the place for technology such as tablets and laptops. Social distance has placed a high importance on connections. One way to make connections is with the aid of technology. Zoom (https://zoom.us/), GoToMeeting, and Teams provide platforms for early childhood educators to reach the young they can not be with. The free version of Zoom is sufficient for the needs of a preschool teacher. This version allows you 40 minutes of face to face time. The attention span of young children is well within this time limit. In 20 minutes, songs can be sung, a book can be read, and an activity can be presented. The best feature of Zoom and GoToMeeting is the gallery view. In this view, lots of children can be seen! The gallery view makes for a lively experience for everyone!
Children are used to the routine of the classroom. Singing familiar songs brings them back to the circle time carpet and draws their attention. Do you start with the same song? Always sing a class favorite? Now is the time to continue these routines. My preschool begins with a Hello song. We meet as a center so we sing for each classroom. “Hello Red Room, Hello Red Room, Hello Red Room. We’re glad you’re here today!” Parents love to sing along too. Send home the lyrics to songs in an email before circle time. Songs with actions keep children engaged and physically moving to make stronger connections. Pull out the old favorites; Wheels on the Bus, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes.
Following the songs, my preschool uses an online book tool to read to the children. Epic (https://www.getepic.com/), Hoopla (https://www.hoopladigital.com/), and Kindle https://www.amazon.com/have proven to be easy to use! They are also easy to follow along for the children. Simply have the story open on your browser ready to share. Zoom makes sharing your screen easy! Press the button and all in attendance now has your screen in speaker view which makes the speaker window large and the remaining windows small. Be sure to close anything you don’t want to share before the session starts. Another way to share stories by using flannel board stories with children in the virtual circle time. This is a little bit more difficult as the view on Zoom does not auto change from gallery view to speaker view. If children stay in gallery view during the flannel board story, the teacher remains small and difficult to see. Children do not always have an adult present to adjust the settings. Even though there are obstacles to using a flannel board story, the children find them comforting and familiar. This familiarity helps to keep them engaged.
Activities can be a chance to get creative. Sharing drawings, powerpoint games, and science experiments are a few examples. Prior to the circle time, reach out to families with instructions for the children. Ask them to bring item such as a teddy bear to circle time. Something children can do at home is draw. Give the children a prompt to create and then share them at circle time. These prompts can coincide with the book you are reading or the other activities you will be doing. My preschool has asked children to draw a germ and given the prompt “If you could plant anything to grow, what would it be?” Children brought their drawings to share at the next circle time. Another feature of Zoom is that the host can mute everyone and then choose who to unmute. This makes sharing easier and more personal. Powerpoint games are simple to create. One example is “What doesn’t belong?” On one side have three pictures; banana, donut, cat. Share your screen so everyone can see your powerpoint slide. Ask the children what doesn’t belong. The next slide is the same pictures with an “X” drawn through the one that doesn’t belong. Science experiments can be share live or recorded for children to watch. In the chat window on Zoom, you can share the instructions so families can do the experiment at home.
Virtual circle times are not perfect, nor do they meet the needs of children 100%. But they do offer children a chance to connect with a familiar routine. The people who vanished suddenly are now visible. It is important to make connections with the children while at the virtual circle time. Ask about something that was going to happen in the child’s life or if they are still wearing their favorite shirt. This personalization helps the children make your virtual image less abstract. My preschool has found these virtual circle times to be meaningful to children, parents, and teachers. Connections are vital to early childhood education. Virtual circle times offer children and teachers an opportunity to keep those connections alive.
“Great teachers focus not on compliance, but on connections and relationships.” PJ Caposey in Education Week Teacher