If this were a normal summer, Katy Phinney and her colleagues would be organizing their Pre-K classrooms for the new school year, choosing classroom themes and wall décor. Instead, Phinney is worried about what Pre-K will look like if and when students return to classrooms. “My biggest concern is teachers needing to balance the importance of safety procedures with creating a welcoming and loving environment for our students,” says Phinney, the Pre-K program director in Richardson Independent School District in Texas.
Early childhood classrooms are going to look different this year, even if school buildings are open – no desk clusters with kids sharing materials, no cozy circles on the rug, no holding hands on the way to the bathroom. CDC guidelines recommend social distancing, keeping students in one classroom throughout the day, and masks for adults. (In many schools, young children will be encouraged but not required to wear masks.)
These measures are necessary to protect everyone’s physical health, but what will be the effects on young children’s social and emotional health? Pre-K and kindergarten are pivotal points in a child’s education, in part because they set the tone for long-term feelings about school. “How are we going to not make this a traumatic experience for our littlest learners?” Phinney wonders.
Physically but not emotionally distant
Trusting, nurturing relationships are the foundation of a smooth transition to school, and they are more important now than ever. “You want to encourage children to be physically distant but not emotionally distant,” says Angela Searcy, a child development instructor at the Erikson Institute and owner of Simple Solutions Educational Services, which provides consultation to early childhood educators.
That will take some creative thinking. For example, circle time and morning meeting will be challenging. Teachers can encourage distancing by asking kids to picture themselves in a giant bubble that will help them monitor whether they’re staying 6 feet apart.
Facial expressions are an important way of communicating and building relationships, so some early childhood educators plan to wear face shields or masks with clear windows around the mouth, “so the kids can see our smiles!,” says Phinney. Searcy suggests teachers take pictures of themselves and students making different facial expressions and then put the photos on keyrings or lanyards so everyone can point to the picture that expresses the emotions they’re feeling.
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