Chaos to Clarity: Teaching Kindergarten Online
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
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