For first-time kindergarten families, whose children have little to no experience with school schedules or remote technology, starting classes in Concord comes with fresh challenges this year.
New kindergarten parents Ian and Emily West of Concord were unsure what to expect when their oldest daughter Violet, who is almost 5, started at Abbot-Downing School Tuesday.
They did what they could to prepare, setting up a home classroom in their living room for her with a child-sized desk and school supplies — including crayons, pencils, paper and iPad — that were provided by the school.
“She has been very curious and excited. I think she is excited to have her own iPad. To her, that feels really special,” Emily West said. “She knows she is going to go into the ‘classroom’ and her teacher will be there, so we just keep talking about what that might look like, to try to get her prepared and ready for that first day.”
The family created a childcare plan that involves Emily taking one day off per week from her job designing curriculum for Southern New Hampshire University to supervise Violet and her sister, age 2. Both sets of grandparents, who live locally, will also be pitching in to help.
Ian West, who works as a middle school science teacher in Pembroke, says that as a teacher and a parent, he sees both sides of an ongoing and complex effort.
“Like all parents, we want her to have that authentic kindergarten experience,” Ian West said. “I think initially it was hard for me to stomach, knowing also that we don’t really have another choice. There is really no other option.”
Like other parents, the Wests experienced technical difficulties Tuesday.
Violet missed a few of the class sessions, one because of schedule confusion and one because they weren’t able to enter a Zoom call, Emily West said. However, the teacher’s responsiveness gave Emily hope that everything will run more smoothly as the week goes on.
“It was nice to come home and hear from Violet that she had a good day and had fun in the lessons she was able to attend and the things she was able to do,” Ian West said. “In spite of technical difficulties and the challenges involved.”
This year was also a new experience for Concord’s elementary school principals, as they figured out how to introduce incoming families to the school routine online.
“This is not what a lot of parents are envisioning for the first time they send their kids to school,” said Katie Scarpati, principal at Mill Brook School. “There is a sense of sadness because it is not what you think about sending your child off. It was important to acknowledge. . . . It’s still special and still memorable.”
Concord’s elementary schools have held school supply pickup days where families collected the crayons and iPads provided by the school. Some kindergartners attended those pickup days with their parents to meet their classroom teachers. Others met their teachers through the screen at a virtual kindergarten parent information night.
Anthony Blinn, principal at Abbot-Downing School said the precocious kindergartners were often the stars of the show at the online information nights.
“One 5-year-old decided to show me the waffles he was eating for dinner,” Blinn said. “It was great for all of us because it made us laugh. I think you could ask any educator – any contact with the kids, you kind of fill that bucket of happiness up a little bit.”
As classes get underway, Concord’s kindergarten instruction will focus on social interaction and relationship-building. Scarpati said new students will be taught the basics of how to interact with others online – social skills for the COVID-19 era.
“Just like if you were in the classroom, ‘how do you build routines, what does that look like on the computer?’” Scarpati said. “‘How do you mute your microphone, and how do you share your idea?’ All that will be rolled out slowly and practiced while building those relationships and connecting.”
Kindergarten classes will use the online platform Seesaw, as well as Zoom for video calls. Teachers will alternate face-to-face video interactions with time spent away from the computer, as children complete activities like letter-tracing.
Blinn said educators are anticipating that young children will be easily distracted during lessons, and there will be a certain amount of flexibility afforded to kindergartners.
“We all have to remember that the 5-year-old on the screen all day, there’s going to be times where parents just have to opt them out of the class,” Blinn said. “They may not be able to hang on to that Zoom lesson. It is going to be a growing process for all of us.”
Michele Vance, principal at Beaver Meadow School, said she is urging her staff to put “relationships before rigor, grace before grades, patience before programs and love before lessons,” a quote that comes from education expert Brad Johnson.
“That really feels appropriate for this moment in time for us,” Vance said. “It is so important for us to support the children socially and emotionally.”
Emily West wasn’t sure if Violet would be able to stay focused and engaged for a full day online, but after day one, she was encouraged.
“She was really excited to go to class,” Emily said. “There were long periods of time between sessions, and she kept asking, ‘Is it time to go to school yet? Is it time to go to school?’ That gives me a little hope that it’s all going to be okay.”