Preparing Our Elementary Kids Return to School
It has been a year since many children in California and nationally have returned to a traditionally classroom since the COVID 19 pandemic. Many smaller elementary schools and school districts have successfully reopened their schools to students while enforcing clearly defined health and safety procedures.
Safe COVID Practices
Summarized below are best practices these schools use to ensure that their students are safe at school:
- The school continues to share with families what the staff has done to ensure safe learning for students. Classroom teachers and the school’s administrative staff provide regular updates.
- Students sit in socially distanced desks in classrooms.
- They wear masks at school.
- Students bring their own food and socially distance from others when eating lunch and snacks.
- They bring their own hand sanitizer or soap for regular handwashing.
- Many schools test students every two weeks to ensure they do not have COVID 19.
- Most students continue attending school online two to three times a week as part of a hybrid learning model to limit the number of students at a school site each day.
How Are Kids Feel About Their Schools
As students return to school, they are:
- Excited to visit with their teacher and classmates in person
- Excel at school because they are so happy to be back in the classroom with other students and their teacher
- Can receive added support more readily due to the many resources available to students at the school
- Express more confidence about their computer literacy skills after logging into the online classroom daily, completing homework online, and learning to make a slide and take pictures of their work that they have emailed to their teacher
- Appreciate the ability to work independently on the computer and in small classroom projects because of the training they received as distance learners
- Are proud of the resiliency skills they have gained while sheltering at home and through distance learning
- Are able to demonstrate various strategies they have learned online on how to reduce stress and anxiety while completing new computer applications.
Home Sheltering Successes
May your children celebrate the many computer literacy skills and self-resiliency skills they have acquired while sheltering in place for nearly a full school year.
Joyce
Copyright © 2021 by GenParenting
Joyce Iwasaki has over thirty years of educational experience working with diverse students in grades from preschool through high school. Joyce’s extensive background includes teaching elementary school, serving on early childhood advisory boards, and advocating for educational initiatives as a legislative aide. During her tenure as a legislative aide, she helped create legislation that allowed incarcerated mothers to keep their newborn babies with them while in prison. Additional legislation was enacted to allow incarcerated pregnant mothers to remain unshackled during labor and delivery. Ms. Iwasaki established and served as the president of an educational scholarship foundation for fifteen years. Her foundation awarded college scholarships to emerging student leaders who provided service to their schools and communities. Joyce is active in performing arts and cultural organizations. She also provides ongoing support to her daughter and family by raising her grandson in her home.