It is almost two years since COVID-19 made us dramatically evaluate our normal academic practices and go online.
In the best-case scenarios, the teaching was halted for a couple of weeks to reboot. In extreme cases, lectures and tutorials had to be moved online within a few hours of scheduled classes. For a while, Twitter had been bursting with war stories from the frontlines. A quick search of #learningandteaching provides us with a glimpse of late nights, blurry eyes, and tired eardrums.
Higher education can take away some positive lessons from the pandemic. Credit:Wayne Taylor
As an educational designer, operating in third space (with both academic and professional credentials), this has been an incredible change to witness from the inside. Week after week, my colleagues and I worked closely with academics on aspects of learning design that we never thought would be possible on such scale within such a short time.
There has been an incredible kindness amongst the learning and teaching community. People have opened their subject/course designs and shared their hopes and uncertainties for their teaching practice. Tips about teaching Zoom/ Microsoft Teams/ other video-based platform classes were regularly provided on social media. Free webinars and support trainings were offered globally. Stories from teaching sessions were shared, both successful and failed ones.
The most beautiful aspect was the sharing of a very vulnerable face of academics. In the tough competitive world, this side is often encouraged to be kept hidden. However, perhaps the susceptibility of life itself allowed us to show our exhausted, smiling, hangry, lost, and honest face.
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Kids threw up on laptops; partners brought food and drinks, and might have occasionally done chicken dance in the background; a few people broke down during Zoom classrooms because they lost loved ones, attracting empathy and stirring emotions; some people were seen in their jammies; discussion about death and illness was de-tabooed; pets routinely made an appearance, sometimes as a cameo, other times as the lead participant; blatant racism was called out; internalised racism was reflected on; and empathy and sympathy was offered. COVID-19 also exposed injustices and inequalities within and at times, due to our educational systems.
There were those amongst us who wanted to keep talking about their high productivity. These individuals were universally considered as spawn of evil and shall not be discussed here.
A shout out to all the incredible educational technologists, curriculum designers, e-teaching advisers, pedagogy consultants and other third-space academics who literally held the hands of teaching staff and led them through a rather blind tunnel.
Admittedly one to always be involved in her community, Lisa Cruz has begun a Little Free Library in her front yard.
This love of books springs from her childhood, where her parents weren’t as involved as she is today in her own kids’ lives. Rather, she says she lived with an abusive stepfather for 10 years; she and a sibling, then teenagers, were sent to foster care.
“So, my childhood wasn’t full of books,” Cruz said. “If there had been little free libraries, I would have loved it because nobody took me to the library.
It was time spent with her paternal grandmother that encouraged Cruz to love books when she was very young.
“Reading somebody’s story helps you understand yours better,” Cruz said. “When you’re a child and you read a book, it’s like going into another world. It’s not escapism… it’s a distraction from pain.”
Now Cruz, through the Little Free Library, gets to relate to other people among the community through the Lending Library.
One mother approached her through the Lending Library community about what books she should give her new foster child.
Cruz, who knows what it’s like to own only “a trash bag full of clothes,” said, “When she comes, you take her somewhere… let her pick out the books she wants. They don’t have choices in their lives for very many things. Let her control what she can.”
For the love of family
This love of books and community has served Cruz well as she homeschools her kids…. which she said will change you and your kids’ lives.
“Because not only do the kids slow down, but you do to,” she said.
The Census Bureau recently reported that the number of households homeschooling their school-aged children nearly doubled between the spring and fall of 2020, growing from 5.5 to 11.1 percent. That, in large part, was due to COVID-19, according to the Institute for Family Studies. But many families are choosing to maintain homeschooling, the report said.
For Cruz, the decision to homeschool her kids sprang from wanting to be involved in her kids’ lives.
“The main thing is I can control the influences in their lives. And that’s huge because I think the majority of problems parents are dealing with, especially with teenagers, is the negative influence of certain kids,” Cruz explained.
Homeschooling helps take out the peer pressure and comparisons many students face at school. And when Cruz and her family made the move to Shelbyville from the Los Angeles, California area, the adventure just began.
“I knew when I had kids, I was going to do it all up―the holidays, books, toys, Mommy and Me―the things I didn’t have.”
From city to farm
Cruz and her husband, a retired Los Angeles police officer, have five children, ranging from 16 (the twins) to 32 years old.
They also have seven dogs and a multitude of sheep, turkeys, cows, and rabbits on their 29-acre homestead in Shelbyville.
Cruz said California was a great place to live in the 80s and 90s. But after the Reagan era, she said things turned for the worse. Her LAPD husband witnessed firsthand more crime in the city, while businesses became regulated and housing expensive.
When her husband retired in 2017, they made their plans to get out of the state and buy a farm.
“There are so many people in those states who are stuck there who don’t want to bring the same sort of things to this state. They want to escape it,” Cruz said.
The family decided on the Volunteer State, bought their 1900s farm home virtually, and packed everything up. Using an old RV and two trucks, they made it to Tennessee in five days that July of 2019.
“We really pushed,” said Cruz.
Now settled into their homestead, Cruz has her home already decorated for Christmas while her two teens finish schooling for the semester.
Homeschool life
Homeschooling is an intimidating undertaking, Cruz said. But it’s doable.
“When you think about it, you as a parent are a teacher. You teach them to talk, walk, to have manners, affection, right from wrong.” You are a teacher. And it’s a God-given right to teach your kids, Cruz said.
“I’ve always tried to be involved in my kids’ schooling. And whatever community I was in, I tried to be involved.”
Her three older kids were in public school back in California and she was involved then. But Cruz soon realized she didn’t know what her kids were being taught. And when a student brought a gun to school, that was it.
“It is overwhelming and it’s not something I ever thought I needed to do because I was just trusting the school system to do what they needed to do for the kids.”
Cruz went online, talked with other moms, and studied.
“I just did it,” Cruz said. They do follow an umbrella school, which provides what the state requires as well as what requirements need to be met for college or trade schools.
Living on a farm helps, too, as “There’s more than one way to learn.” And with online resources available like never before, Cruz finds material for her kids beyond a textbook.
They also find the time to go out to church or the recreation center with friends so they can have continuing involvement in the community.
And for her kids, Cruz says she teaches them accountability for their own futures.
“I tell them ‘It’s up to you’…You find your niche…And we kind of wing it,” Cruz joked.
Where her kids were usually withdrawn after attending a regular public school day, they are now closer, and find more time to relax and de-stress from the “go-go-go.”
Now, Cruz says, “We’ve had a much better relationships.”
Online classes have been painful for every student around the globe, but it has been even more problematic for kindergarteners and, of course, their families and teachers.
A five-year-old sitting in front of her computer screen during class time and crying in frustration has been a daily scenario in most households and children who are enjoying the online classes and also at a loss, since they have very little to no practical knowledge at all.
The most important thing is to know if the children are in clarity or chaos.
Hassle for teachers:
It is definitely not possible for teachers to teach and give 100{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} knowledge during online classes. Conveying a lot of things during online classes is hard and often not possible.
Teachers and their kindergartners can watch teaching videos and discuss, but that needs focus and young students often do not care about focus.
However, kindergarten teachers can help students develop literacy skills as well as things that can only be learned once in a lifetime, such as vocabulary and background knowledge during online classes.
Kindergartners usually need a lot of movement and exploration, and these are the things that you can’t really do remotely, especially having to sit and stare at the screen.
The good thing is, young teachers use various methods to help their younger students get to know each other through distance learning.
This year and in the future when children are unable to attend schools due to the pandemic, it is important for kindergarten teachers to view their students as parents and give them their respective time to understand things.
A kindergarten teacher, Monisha Arora, says, “when such young students are made to study and understand things online, it poses greater difficulty for teachers to make them understand.”
She believes that technical issues can hamper concentration and interest in children. Students need to invest a lot of interest in understanding in online classes. Hence, teachers have to put in extra effort.
Children psychology during online kindergarten classes:
The biggest problem about missing kindergarten in person is the least emotional growth. It is impossible for them to learn to work in a group, make friends or be socially acceptable.
Children’s psychologist, Kiran Yadav says that everyone has been affected by the current pandemic but it is affecting kids even more. They are missing the playful environment which is very important for their growth.
She also believes that staying at home can badly affect their mental and physical growth equally. They become less interactive, lack of concentration, become frustrated, deal with social anxiety, low self-esteem and nervousness.
Approaches that can make online kindergarten teaching better:
But it is said that necessity is truly the mother of invention. Faced with the imperative of teaching kindergartners online, the teachers have learned, adapted, innovated and transformed the e-learning experience for KG students.
The new paradigm has now moved from chaos to clarity through various measures and reforms.
Dhwani Jaipuria, Director, SRJ Edu Services, says that kindergarten education is aimed at initiating life skills in children, such as linguistics, logistics/mathematical, spatial, bodily, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalists, and teachers, students and parents should do that even during online classes.
She also says that active learning, student engagement, proper comprehension, peer bonding, a good learning environment and making e-learning at home interesting can solve all issues faced by such young students during online classes.
Parent’s take on online kindergarten class:
Having a parent or guardian to assist kindergarten children with online learning makes a big difference.
Children with such support are more likely to do well with remote instruction, while those without it are more likely to struggle.
Visual distance learning is a way to help families teach their children at home. Students learning at home need projects, large displays and a good sound system to record teachers’ voices and peers in the classroom.
Ankita Balkrishna Sharma, who is a mother of a kindergartner, believes it is important to keep the child engaged during the whole session.
She says the teachers help with making classes more interesting for our child and we do not encounter any difficulties when it comes to maintaining focus during classes because we as parents are equally involved and keep a check every now and then.
What schools can offer:
Schools are tasked with figuring out how to maintain a sense of normality for students and teachers are the first line of defence when it comes to implementing it.
The lessons children learn should guide them when it comes to the future of schools and work to ensure that students learn.
Today, preschool teachers have covered a lot of ground in streaming online kindergarten teaching.
The main aim has been to keep the children curious to explore fresh ideas and learn new concepts through oral lessons, activities and role-playing.
A special emphasis is also being laid on their health and physical fitness. Baby yoga sessions and workout workshops are becoming a big hit among the little ones.
Do It Yourself (DIY) online activities nurture life skills in them and help to develop their fine and gross motor skills.
Virtual groups and games have led to the resumption of peer bonding.
It is true that only kindergarten education can never be a substitute for in-person teaching, but it has acquired a lot more finesse and clarity to optimize children’s learning outcomes in today’s exceptional times.
– Vaishnavi Parashar
READ 43{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} teachers unhappy with online mode of teaching in pandemic: Survey
The shopping event of the year is upon us. With shipping delays wreaking havoc over the holiday season, it’s best to buy now. The best STEM toys encourage the kids in your life to develop their interests, skills, and creativity. But why would we want to limit ourselves to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics? Let’s say “STEAM toys” and include the arts too. We’ve curated the best Black Friday STEM toy deals. We plan to update this story regularly as more bargains emerge.
Updated November 27: We’ve added a few more deals, like Kinetic Sand and Snap Circuits.
WIRED’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday Coverage
We test products year-round and handpicked these deals.Products marked (Sold Out) are sold out or no longer discounted as of publishing. We’ll update this guide throughout Black Friday weekend.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.
Toy Deals
Lego Classic Bricks and Plates
Photograph: Walmart
This might be out of stock depending on your location. When your kids are old enough (Lego suggests 4 years and up), there are few toys that offer such unbridled creativity. This Classic set includes 1,500 pieces in all with four base plates and a range of colored bricks that can be built into anything your little ones can imagine.
This selection of cute animal figurines comes with special non-toxic washable markers, so your kids can develop their art skills by drawing designs on them. When they get bored with the current look, they can simply wash the colors off in the sink and start again. My daughter loves these and spends hours scribbling new designs and playing with them.
Colored sand that can be molded into different shapes is fun for kids aged three years and up, and both of my kids enjoyed playing with it. This set includes a range of plastic tools to help them sculpt the sand into interesting patterns and structures. The only thing that might give you pause? The sand tends to get everywhere.
Both my kids played with this sturdy table that has room inside to store the large bricks. This is a great toy for toddlers who aren’t ready for anything too small or fiddly yet, and it will encourage their inner architect. The legs lock into place for play and can be folded away when they’re done.
Hobby Deals
National Geographic Hobby Rock Tumbler Kit
Photograph: National Geographic
Interesting rocks can be found just about anywhere, and budding geologists will get a kick out of this National Geographic tumbler, which turns rough rocks into dazzling gemstones. It comes with some rough rocks, grit, a strainer, and jewelry settings. It is a bit noisy, so you may want to keep it outside. Target is also offering 30 percent off a wide range of other National Geographic science activities and kits.
Packed with different circuits that can be snapped together, this is a great way for kids to learn about the basics of electronics and get a taste for putting things together. There are more than 60 parts including resistors, a microphone, a slide switch, and wires that can be used to create a lie detector, AM radio, and more.
Blending the digital and physical worlds, Osmo’s innovative kits appear in our Best STEM Toys guide. Kids mount their iPad or Fire tablet on the special stand and engage in educational puzzles and games by interacting with pieces on a tabletop. Your tablet’s camera picks up on the action and provides onscreen and audio feedback. Games develop skills like adding and multiplication, spelling and vocabulary, puzzle-solving and physics, learning to draw, basic coding, and more. There are fun and imaginative kits for different ages, from preschoolers up to 12-year-olds.
For newcomers to Osmo, a starter kit is the best way forward as it includes a base for your iPad or Fire tablet. The Little Genius Starter Kit is for preschoolers.
One of our favorite family board games, Ticket to Ride challenges you to plot rail routes across North America. It’s recommended for kids aged 8 years and up, as there’s a lot of strategy involved and some math, but it doesn’t take too long to play and is a lot of fun. Ticket to Ride Europe is also on sale for $18.
Creating matching groups of tiles to get the maximum possible score from your game board sounds simple, but Azul has enough strategic depth to challenge your kids’ math, planning, and puzzle-solving skills. This is another one of our picks for the best family board games.
We have all had enough of the actual pandemic, but the board game is a family favorite. The beauty of this one is that it’s cooperative, as you adopt different roles and work together to beat the deadly viruses scouring the globe.
Tablet and Kindle Deals
Kindle Kids Edition (2019, 10th Generation)
Photograph: Amazon
For reading, devouring educational apps, playing games, or watching documentaries, a tablet can be an excellent buy for kids. While you can read on tablets, e-readers are more comfortable for the eyes and allow parents to ensure their kids are reading rather than gaming. Check out our guide to the Best Kids Tablets for more options.
A portable tablet with a protective bumper, a year of Amazon Kids+ subscription, and a two-year worry-free replacement guarantee adds up to a great deal for families with young kids (8/10, WIRED Recommends). There are lots of educational apps and games, videos and books, and solid parental controls.
If your kids are getting a little old for the “baby tablet” with the rubber bumper, this is an upgrade they won’t mind being seen holding. It offers all the same benefits as the smaller HD 8, including educational content from the likes of National Geographic, Rabbids Coding, and LEGO. And there’s still a protective case, though it’s a bit sleeker and has a handy kickstand.
This small, lightweight ebook reader (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the perfect size for kids and comes with a folding cover, a year of Amazon Kids+, and a promise that Amazon will replace it if it breaks within two years. It’s easy to load up ebooks, or just check them out from the local library.
An upgrade on the basic Kids Kindle above, the Paperwhite boasts all the same benefits but also has a backlit screen for reading in low light or at night and the ability to withstand a short dunk in water.
Subscription Deals
Looking for more discounts on subscription services? We’ve rounded more up here.
Yousician Premium for iPad
Photograph: Yousician
Learning to play an instrument is a worthwhile pursuit for any child, and this clever app uses the built-in microphone on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop to provide feedback as they play. Check out our guide to the Best Sites and Apps to Learn Music for more information.
With a range of themed packages for different age groups, these play-based science and geography kits are packed with toys and activities that are delivered monthly. Each contains art and science activities to get stuck into, from deep sea and dinosaurs for wee ones to a road trip around the USA for older kids.
Speaker Deals
Amazon Echo Dot Kids (4th Gen)
Photograph: Amazon
The Kids version of the Amazon Echo Dot gets a cute animal makeover as a tiger or panda. It’s a full-fledged smart speaker that enables children to ask Alexa questions, play music, listen to audiobooks, and even try educational skills. Like the rest of Amazon’s Kids range, it comes with a year of Amazon Kids+ subscription ($3 per month after), solid parental controls, and a two-year worry-free guarantee.
This might be out of stock depending on your location. With songs and stories featuring some of your kids’ favorite Disney and Pixar characters, this durable kid-friendly speaker is a great alternative to screens. Children place a plastic figurine, like Woody from Toy Story, on top of the speaker to trigger related content. Additional packs with other character tie-ins are available for everything from Disney princesses to Sesame Street characters. You can also record your own stories and songs or have grandparents record so they can read to your little ones from afar. The basic Toniebox Starter Set is also on offer for $70 ($30 off) at Amazon.
Other Deals
Photograph: SBenitez/Getty Images
This tempting Target promotion allows you to pick three items from a wide selection of books, video games, and board games, but only pay for two. There are a few educational options in there and lots of things to encourage creativity and puzzle-solving.
Got a Yoto Player (7/10, WIRED Recommends)? It’s a cute-looking speaker that kids can insert cards into to play stories and podcasts. The speaker itself isn’t on sale, but Yoto is offering 10 percent off cards and accessories, which can be handy if your kid needs a batch of new content.
More WIRED Black Friday and Cyber Monday Coverage
Retailer Sale Pages and Coupons
Want to browse the Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2021 sales yourself? Here are a few places offering deals. Be sure to check out our many buying guides and gift guides for additional ideas.
Physical activity among young people can be improved by well-designed and delivered online interventions such as ‘exergames’ and smartphone apps, new research shows.
According to a review study carried out at the University of Birmingham, children and young people reacted positively in PE lessons to the use of exergames, which deliver physical activity lessons via games or personalized activities. Changes included increases in physical activity levels, but also improved emotions, attitudes and motivations towards physical activity.
The study, published in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy is one of the first to examine not only the impact of online interventions on physical behaviors in non-clinical groups of young people but the effects of digital mediums on physical activity knowledge, social development and improving mental health.
The evidence can be used to inform guidance for health and education organizations on how they can design online interventions to reach and engage young people in physical activity.
The authors analyzed 26 studies of online interventions for physical activity. They found three main mechanisms at work: gamification, in which participants progress through different levels of achievement; personalization, in which participants received tailored feedback and rewards based on progress; and information, in which participants received educational material or guidance to encourage behavioral change.
Most of the interventions were focused on gamification or personalisation and the researchers found the majority of studies (70{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf}) reported an increase and/or improvement in outcomes related to physical activity for children and young people who participated in online interventions. Primary school age pupils in particular who participated during PE lessons benefited.
Lead author Dr. Victoria Goodyear, in the University of Birmingham’s School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Science, said: “We find convincing evidence that PE teachers can use online learning to boost attitudes and participation in physical activity among young people, particularly at primary school age. There’s a real opportunity here for the PE profession to lead the way in designing meaningful and effective online exercise opportunities, as well as an opportunity to embed positive approaches to exercise and online games and apps at an early stage.”
More information:
Students’ perceptions of fitness testing in physical education across primary, secondary, and pre-university school levels: a motivational profiles perspective, DOI: 10.1080/17408989.2021.1953458
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University of Birmingham
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Physical activity in children can be improved through ‘exergames’ (2021, August 26)
retrieved 28 November 2021
from https://phys.org/news/2021-08-physical-children-exergames.html
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HALLSVILLE — A Hallsville ISD elementary school has raised more than $5,000 this year to contribute to the district’s Angel Tree fund, which provides Christmas presents for families in need.
Each November, Hallsville Intermediate School raises money throughout a two-week period known as the “Penny Wars,” to donate to the Angel Tree Foundation, which provides Christmas presents to area children in need.
The friendly competition sees jugs for teachers set out front of the school’s front office during the two-week period. The teachers who collect the most points from pennies wins.
“Here’s how the game works: each family of teachers has their own plastic jug outside of the front office. Students gain points for the class by adding pennies to their jug. Students can lower their opponents’ points by adding silver change to the opponents’ jug,” Hallsville Intermediate School Counselor Victoria Downs said. “The points are tallied each day and announced over the intercom. The next morning, the students are ready to sabotage whoever is winning and also add more to their own jug.”
In addition to knowing they bested other classes at the game, the winning team at each grade level wins a pizza.
“We also set a campus goal to raise $3,000, and if we reached that goal, the students would be able to pie our principal, Aaron Hoecherl, and our campus officer, Justin Clark, in the face,” Downs said.
The students raised so much, more than $5,300, resulting in both Hoecherl and Clark getting a face full of pie this year.
“This competition is such a fun way to raise money towards a good cause while also integrating math,” Downs said. “The Penny Wars has always been very successful, but this year we were shocked at how well it went.”
Downs and other staff presented the $5,327 check to Hallsville ISD Special Programs Director Amy Whittle recently.
“We sent emails thanking parents for letting their children raid their couch cushions and cup holders, but parents were calling the school and letting us know that their children were using their own allowance for this fundraiser,” Downs said. “I hope our students know how much of an impact they have made on children’s lives and how many children will actually be able to enjoy Christmas this year because of them.”
In celebration of the above and beyond giving, the winning classes received their pizza and the whole school received popsicles and extra recess time, making a win-win for everyone this holiday season.
