I have been teaching preschool for more than 30 years, and I’ve been through some troubling times– from the AIDS crisis to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake to the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 After these awful occasions, I didn’t constantly know how to best respond to my students’ anxieties. What is developmentally appropriate when children are experiencing incomprehensible things in their community or on television? How could my coteachers and I help children manage trauma when we ourselves are shocked? At that time, we had candid, in person conversations with the children about their worries. We responded with compassion when their concerns surfaced during play. And typically, we just sat with them and hugged them.
The Covid-19 pandemic is an unique crisis because we can not physically comfort our young trainees. All the psychological advantages of nonverbal interaction– the affirmation of eye contact, the reassurance of holding hands, the heat of a lap– are lost. We are separated from our students, and they from each other, unable to discover through communal play.
The school where I teach is a screen-free institution; I personally think kids benefit considerably from a youth devoid of pixels. When Governor Gavin Newsom released the shelter-in-place order in California, we discovered ourselves in a predicament as to how to stay linked with our trainees. After mindful consideration, I chose to try a Zoom conference, and I faced a steep knowing curve. Clearly, I do not work in a corporate office, and video conference calls are not a part of my everyday regimen. I wasn’t even sure if Zoom was appropriate for my young trainees, however it was worth trying.
You know what? It’s not ideal, however it’s not dreadful either. It doesn’t alw