Kindergarten is a fascinating state of mind. I’m amazed at how much my grandson and I have learned in the past month after school buildings emptied out to thwart the dastardly virus.
And we weren’t the only grandparents, either live-in or podding for the purpose, who were called on for “HELP!”
It all came down to this: no engaged adult sitting right beside the youngest students = no learning, despite teachers’ best efforts. But with many parents working during school time, a lot of arranging had to be done. That’s where grandparents, and sometimes friends and neighbours, were called to assist.
With my grandson, I learned to write the letter M, among others. I realized when you are first starting out at four years old, it isn’t as easy as it looks. You have to stay between those two lines. M goes up and then down and then up again and down again. That’s just the letter M. There are 25 more. Your little student is beginning an adventure that starts with a few letters and—presto-change-o—you get a whole word. Add to that a whole bunch more words and this little kid may use them in future to change the world.
In one way, it is hard to learn at home when you are four. You are squirmy. Your attention span is shorter than you are. Is little sister playing with the Ninja Turtle Sewer Set? It is so tempting to go pick up Raphael, but as soon as you slip away from your seat, Oma calls, “Come right back here. It’s still school time!"
This whole at-home school experience gave me some insight into a teacher’s in-school day, where 25 or 30 kids in the class are all trying hard to concentrate on their assignments and not leap up from their chairs and run around madly, hooting and hollering. You see the wide range of ability in each class, and imagine how hard it would be to do justice to each child to make sure they learn the best they can.
In our on-line class in the living room, we learned about emotions—It’s OK to be sad sometimes. What can you do to feel better? Can you ask your friends to help you? or What makes you happy? or It’s nice to help your family and friends. The message is clear: when you help each other it makes for a better world. We can only hope these Kindergarten lessons carry on to the adult world more and more.
Before that we had gym class and got to practice our yoga, walking, running, jumping and the Chicken Dance. Chicken Dance? Wedding? We are good to go for any such celebration post-COVID. Our grandchildren will be the stars. And I’m proud to say Oma got pretty good, too, even when the music was really, really fast.
We carried out science experiments—will snow melt faster in a tub on the kitchen counter or in the freezer? Write down how long each took.
Let’s learn our numbers. With pencil and paper, we went around the house counting up the number of lamps, beds, couches, you name it. And then charted them with tally marks. That concept takes awhile when you are four. This exercise really emphasized the idea of not just looking, but actually seeing. Reminds me of the time Sherlock Holmes asked Watson how many stairs led up to their apartment, after they had clumped up and down them for years. Watson was stumped.
Learning at home put teachers under a lot more scrutiny from all those parents and grandparents sitting beside their kids. Everyone was on a learning curve, but everyone soon got it. Kids got into the groove and were masters at teaching Oma how to log in to the classroom, how to mute the mike, how to raise your hand virtually. Most of all, it showed that, like much of life, you need a team to make the whole thing go. What a thrill to see my little grandson master those letters, numbers and ideas and slowly get the idea that you have to practice, practice, practice. It made it all worthwhile.
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