How I Helped My Former Young Toddler Class and Their Families Feel Safe at Childcare While in a Pandemic
Originally posted on August 29, 2020 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page
CONTENT WARNING: I would like to mention that I am not a medical doctor and I am sharing this content for educational purposes only. If you suspect that you or a loved one has any coronavirus (COVID-19) related symptoms or other physical health concerns, it is okay to get help and I highly recommend seeking help from a medical doctor who is qualified to do so.
[Image Description: A selfie of me in my classroom wearing a pink mask with my brown curly hair down and a blue tie-dyed headband. Part of my blue smock, grey, white, and aqua "Teacher Shark doo-doo-doo" shirt, and red and white COA lanyard can also be seen. My classroom also has purple walls.]
[Image Description: A selfie of me in my classroom wearing a Ocean City, New Jersey beach mask with brown curly hair down and a black headband with white squares on it. Part of my blue smock, olive green shirt, and red and white COA lanyard can also be seen. My classroom also has purple walls.]
[Image Description: "LOOK FOR THE HELPERS. YOU WILL ALWAYS FIND PEOPLE WHO ARE HELPING. -FRED ROGERS" in white letters on a black letter board with beige wooden bordering. There is also a white filler heart placed below "FRED" and a white heart below "ROGERS" along the letter board standing on a brown couch.]
Last week when I was in New York, I went to Wegman's with my family to help shop for my brother's apartment and I found this book in one of the aisles. Thank You Helpers written by Patricia Hegarty and illustrated by Michael Emmerson is a children's book about all of the essential works and how to thank them for all of their selfless hard work during the pandemic. Since I really liked it so much, my parents decided to buy it for me to contribute to my classroom and I shared it with my young toddler students this week. They loved it so much and doctors and teachers seemed to be their favorite essential workers mentioned in the book.
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[Image Description: "Thank You," in light aqua bubble letters; "HELPERS" in red bubble letters; "Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, Grocery Workers, and More Who Care For Us" in smaller dark bubble letters; The book title is at the top of the book; 5 essential workers with their hands on their hips are standing below the title of the book; From left to right there is a medium-light skin toned female grocery store worker with long black hair and purple glasses wearing a yellow apron with a red apple on a white circle with a green border on it on the apron, white shirt under the apron, and white shoes. Next to the grocery store worker, there is a dark skin toned male with short black hair wearing a blue mask, navy blue scrubs, light blue gloves, and black shoes. Next to the dark skin toned male, there is a white female with long red hair wearing an aqua dress, light blue gloves, and a light blue mask around her neck. Next to the white female, there is a medium-skin toned male with short black hair wearing an orange long sleeved shirt with "ABC" on it, blue pants, and black shoes. Next to medium-skin toned male, there is a medium-light skin toned male with blonde hair wearing a brown shirt with a yellow oval with it a red right arrow on it, brown pants, a brown cap with the same symbol that the shirt has on it, and black shoes. The author and illustrator's names are center-aligned bottom of the book in light aqua bubble letters and the background of the book cover is yellow.]
We returned back to our center Children of America Southampton on Monday, July 6, 2020. My students are only eighteen to twenty-four months old; so they do not have much of an understanding or even awareness of what is going on with the pandemic. However, legally all adults and children ages two and up are required to wear masks. Since my students are under age, they do not have to wear them and have been doing really well around teachers wearing them; I am still teaching them about masks, health, and safety in a positive light in a way that they will understand on their developmental levels for continuous reassurance to maintain confidence though. My administrators and licensing said that we can pull down our masks to show our mouths to the children for a few seconds to show them that it is only us and that is what we do. I say, "See, only Miss Emmy. You are safe" and then, they are okay. I tell them that we (teachers, administrators, the "big kids", and others) are wearing masks to "stay safe," that they are "like a costume," and so that we do not get sick. I told them the analogy that "It is like when a firefighter wears a red suit. It is so that we know that we are safe. So, we are wearing masks so that people know that we are safe too." I also wear lots of colorful masks since children love colors and teach them the names of the colors of my and my co-teacher's masks to the babies to make it fun. There are colorful masks for kids being sold online too. There are even people who are making their own.
[Image Description: The top left corner picture is of a selfie that I took with a toddler with a yellow smiley face with white medical mask emoji over their face in my classroom. In the picture, I am wearing a cloth purple mask that says "Tah-Dah!" on it in white text with my brown hair in a bun with a coral, white, and light blue headband on and smiling underneath my mask. Part of my red shirt, blue smock, and red and white COA lanyard can also be seen in the picture. The bottom right corner picture is of a selfie that I took with a toddler with a yellow smiley face with white medical mask emoji over their face in a classroom. In the picture, I am wearing a white mask with many pink, light blue, and dark blue hearts on it with my brown hair in a bun with a red, blue, and purple headband on and smiling underneath my mask. Part of my blue shirt, blue smock, and red and white COA lanyard can also be seen in the picture.]
In addition, I have been teaching them how to say "mask" in Sign Language at circle time every day after seeing Baby Signs: The Original Sign Language Program for Babies' recommendation of teaching this lesson to children.
[Image Description: Baby Signs Too's "mask" Sign Language visual; In the top left corner, there is an picture of a yellow square with a cartoon white baby signing "mask" with the instructions for the sign below it in gray text, which state "Make the shape of a mask with thumbs and index fingers apart starting by the nose and chin ending on cheeks." Next to the cartoon baby image, the word "mask" is written in blue text with "mascarilla" in black text below it. Below those two things are a picture of Hispanic child with black hair and white baby (left to right) wearing masks.]
We are also continuing to wash our and the children's hands before and after meals. When getting ready for hand washing time, we sign "wash," sing Happy Birthday twice, and a song about wiping our hands and faces that I made up:
(Tune of Farmer in the Dell): "Wipe, wipe, wipe your hands,
Wipe them every day.
Wipe them till they're nice and dry,
Wipe them every day."
[Image Description: Baby Signs Too's "wash" Sign Language visual; In the top right corner, there is a light green square with a cartoon white baby signing "wash" with the instructions for the sign below it in gray text, which state "With one fist up and the other down, rub together in a circular motion." Next to the cartoon image, the word "wash" is written in blue text with "lavar" in gray text below it. Below those two images, there is an Asian child with black hair wearing a navy blue t-shirt washing their hands at a white sink with a silver faucet.]
I encourage them to climb up the stool to the sink on their own as my toddler students love to be encouraged to participate in any developmentally-appropriate opportunities for building independence skills.
The other protocols that we have been taking are curbside drop off and pick up of children, taking temperatures of each teacher, administrator, and child twice a day (once at the door at arrival, once after nap time, and additionally if necessary), all administrators and staff legally have to wear masks, children ages two years old and up legally are required to wear masks, but not forced to wear masks at all times throughout the day except for meals and nap time, and we teach the children about wearing masks, health, and safety positively. We are also setting up cotts six feet apart at nap time and do extra cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting.
Starting on Monday, my center will also have a full day school-age room for elementary school students whose schools are going all virtual or hybrid and whose families have to go to work, especially for jobs that cannot be worked from home. The students are bringing in their own electronic devices, headset, must wear a mask, and have a positive attitude. They will be sat socially distanced too.
I hope that you enjoyed reading about my experience with my toddler class during the pandemic and found this information helpful! Are you a teacher too? Are you a teacher in a childcare center or a school? Have you returned back to your classroom virtually, hybrid, or in-person? What have you been doing to help your students and their families feel safe and healthy? Let me know in the comments below what your overall experience has been like!
For more information about my job as a toddler teacher, please click to read my blog post below:
Lastly, while the pandemic is taking quite a toll on many people's mental health, I also wanted to give this supportive reminder. If the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting your mental health, I wanted to let you know that you are not alone. If you and/or someone you know needs support and help right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or text "START" to 741-741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
You can also visit The Mighty's hotline resources page by clicking on this link: https://themighty.com/suicide-prevention-resources/
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Citations
1. Baby Signs Too - The Original Sign Language for Babies, 2020. https://www.babysignstoo.com/
2. Thank You Helpers. Patricia Hegarty & Michael Emmerson. 2020.
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