Preschool A's first week altogether in the classroom has been a bit of a shock; after working online in small groups, having twenty kids running around and trying to get organized is a very different experience for teachers and students alike.
The first day or two I was feeling a bit bad about my teaching, as there was no way I could give each child as much focused attention as I had been. There was also no way we could continue on with our unit and other subjects, such as math, from the point where we had got up to on Zoom.
But my perspective quickly changed.
What Preschool A is learning now is something that we couldn't tackle online; social skills and responsibility. We are working on walking to the park safely with less supervision (We will have only two teachers soon) , going to the toilet when we need to (rather than at set times), cleaning up after ourselves, communicating beyond crying, solving conflict verbally, personal hygiene, and much more.
Things like recognizing and continuing ABBC patterns, reading extended family trees, giving full introductions, and doing addition and subtraction can wait.
For the kids to continue to do well in their education, the most important thing is for them to build independence and responsibility.
They have already made an excellent start and will be back inquiring into trickier academic concepts in no time
Crossing the road on the way back from the park
Choosing our own books at the librayr and trying to put them back properly
tuning in to what our Senpais did for this unit last year
