Presby Preschool Teachers Finding New Ways To Teach Small Children
March 23, 2020 at 11:32 p.m.
Presby Preschool Teachers Finding New Ways To Teach Small Children
By Carol Anders-
When the announcement came on March 13 that Warsaw schools were closing down, Presby Preschool teachers Angie King and Audrey Dempsey knew they had to find ways to reach out to the kids in their classroom.
They teach some 40 2- and 3-year-olds.
Dempsey said, “We planned together all weekend and on Monday, March 16, we taped our first video. They continue to email three videos of about three minutes each every day that they shoot on their cell phones.”
King said, “We wanted them to have a routine, their new normal, in a world where everything was starting to get crazy.” She said, “We just keep going in the videos as if they kids were there coming into the building, playing in the gym, walking in the hallways and learning and socializing in the classroom. In our videos, we make sure to ask questions and pause just as if the children were answering us like they do in the class.”
Each day, students can watch a story, see a demonstration of a gross motor activity, listen to the regular day’s calendar/weather lessons or follow along for an arts and craft project. Since the craft projects for the next couple of months were already printed, Dempsey said they mailed them to the children’s homes.
She said, “The kids can follow along as we reinforce the same lessons we were concentrating on in the classroom, such as how much glue to use.”
The two got even more creative finding ways that the children could still enjoy their special day as the leader. King tapes a picture of the child on the end of the pointer stick as they count the days on the calendar and holds up the child’s art project that is kept in folders and sent home at the end of the school year. Dempsey said, “It’s not the same as being able to bring their favorite ‘show and tell,’ but it is something that only that child created.”
According to Presby Director Kathy Schumacher, “All of our teachers will be reaching out to their kids. We want our kids to know we are sending our love to them. This is not assigned eLearning, just a way to reach out to children we care about.”
King said, “At Presby, we have different teachers with different personalities who use various ways to keep children interested.”
To protect the privacy of the students, parents can access videos for the different classes only through their personal emails or by joining a newly formed Facebook group and then only by invitation. Each class where a teacher is offering videos has a separate group.
King and Dempsey anticipated that there could be restrictions on being able to access their classrooms and made enough videos to send out through March 31.
Dempsey said, “Mrs. King took the April calendar props home so she can continue as long as needed. I have enough stories to read and other activities for an entire month too.”
King said they will continue to send out videos to the kids in their classroom, even over spring break, to keep consistency.
According to King, about one-third of the parents of their students have sent positive emails, pictures of their kids watching the videos or shots of Facebook postings.
When the announcement came on March 13 that Warsaw schools were closing down, Presby Preschool teachers Angie King and Audrey Dempsey knew they had to find ways to reach out to the kids in their classroom.
They teach some 40 2- and 3-year-olds.
Dempsey said, “We planned together all weekend and on Monday, March 16, we taped our first video. They continue to email three videos of about three minutes each every day that they shoot on their cell phones.”
King said, “We wanted them to have a routine, their new normal, in a world where everything was starting to get crazy.” She said, “We just keep going in the videos as if they kids were there coming into the building, playing in the gym, walking in the hallways and learning and socializing in the classroom. In our videos, we make sure to ask questions and pause just as if the children were answering us like they do in the class.”
Each day, students can watch a story, see a demonstration of a gross motor activity, listen to the regular day’s calendar/weather lessons or follow along for an arts and craft project. Since the craft projects for the next couple of months were already printed, Dempsey said they mailed them to the children’s homes.
She said, “The kids can follow along as we reinforce the same lessons we were concentrating on in the classroom, such as how much glue to use.”
The two got even more creative finding ways that the children could still enjoy their special day as the leader. King tapes a picture of the child on the end of the pointer stick as they count the days on the calendar and holds up the child’s art project that is kept in folders and sent home at the end of the school year. Dempsey said, “It’s not the same as being able to bring their favorite ‘show and tell,’ but it is something that only that child created.”
According to Presby Director Kathy Schumacher, “All of our teachers will be reaching out to their kids. We want our kids to know we are sending our love to them. This is not assigned eLearning, just a way to reach out to children we care about.”
King said, “At Presby, we have different teachers with different personalities who use various ways to keep children interested.”
To protect the privacy of the students, parents can access videos for the different classes only through their personal emails or by joining a newly formed Facebook group and then only by invitation. Each class where a teacher is offering videos has a separate group.
King and Dempsey anticipated that there could be restrictions on being able to access their classrooms and made enough videos to send out through March 31.
Dempsey said, “Mrs. King took the April calendar props home so she can continue as long as needed. I have enough stories to read and other activities for an entire month too.”
King said they will continue to send out videos to the kids in their classroom, even over spring break, to keep consistency.
According to King, about one-third of the parents of their students have sent positive emails, pictures of their kids watching the videos or shots of Facebook postings.
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