When I did schooling, preschool was termed as lower and upper Kindergarten. When people were saying PP1 and PP2 in my daughter's school, I was clueless at first. I later realised that PP means Pre Primary and they are equivalent to LKG and UKG!
She joined play group at the age of 2.2 and after almost an year, the pandemic hit. In initial months I didn't even think about her schooling. As we entered June and when we realized corona is here to stay, it slowly started sinking that schooling would be online. "What a disaster it is to get started with her actual academics online!!?!" I thought. I work as a technical writer...and my job demands lot of time, meetings, coordination and, writing of course! All the mentioned activities need my vigilance and utmost concentration. In the online school set-up I had to dedicate myself for 2 plus hours every day to sit along with daughter, make her get used to that mode of teaching and most of the times actually teach her. Kids of her age (she was 3.4 when she entered LKG) are physically very active and dynamic. They won't sit at one place.
Making such kids sit in chair staring at screen for hours felt like a torture! For atleast a quarter of the academic year my daughter made me study LKG😐. Along with English and numbers, they had pre-math concepts, little General knowledge and basic sciences. She was so bored by online mode that she used to wander around which made me highly irritable!
"Mamma I will write with marker instead of pencil!" "Mamma su su...(bathroom)!", "Mamma potty!" - some how everything happens as soon as class starts! "Mamma can I get the slate and draw!" "Mamma I wanna do just the activity!"
"Mam I am bored. Can we paint or dance?" "Mam what is your favorite color/breakfast," "Mam my mom is killing me!" - ya she once said even this to her teacher, much to every ones' amusement, but I wanted to go hide in a cave! She was and is quite conversational though and always wants to talk and mingle with kids even if virtually... which is a good sign! While all this disinterest and demands to do things her own way continued...I had no other way out than to step down, sacrifice my work a bit by being flexible with timings (I work till mid of nights on many working days) and become a full time preschool teacher to my daughter!
As I did things with enthusiasm, I saw a lot of change in her and she started getting adapted to school. Slowly she wanted to write - if not on paper, first on slate... if disliking the pencil then may be with pen...but she felt inclined towards writing as I let out a sigh of relief! I was so glad to see her scribbling A , B, C, D even if askew! She started enjoying the process. Doesn't mean I had a chance to leave the online 🏫 school zone. I always had to accompany her.
I got cards and charts which would help her with learning. The numbers , small words, seasons , days and many other charts indeed were so helpful! My living room turned class room has all charts plastered on walls. People who come to my house may get confused that I am running a preschool. That's how much I had to transform my living room to pique interest in the baby!
When daughter's mid term 1 exams of PP1 were over, I felt like I earned some gallantry award from the Govt🙏 I never knew that I would personally experience, how writing first most exam by a kindergarten kid feels like!😅
Eventually the kid transformed and got adapted. More on preschool diaries in my future posts!
I am participating in Blogging from A-Z challenge 2022 and this is my K post. I am taking up this challenge after many years as I want to talk about Covid life and the daughter diaries!
Some interesting blogs you can visit:
https://katcarpita.wordpress.com/
https://crackerberries.wordpress.com/
Your daughter is so very pretty! I would imagine it was a nightmare for parents having to adapt to online schooling for their children! We were so thankful that the kids were back in the classroom for this school year which is the year my grandson started kindergarten. He went to daycare the whole time of the pandemic and never got Covid; got it this past year in kindergarten. I cannot imagine if he had to do online school what his parents would have done as one of them would have had to do what you did and change your work schedule to accommodate your daughter's learning needs. I'm sure your daughter will continue to excel in school under your guidance and instruction!
ReplyDeletebetty
Thanks for a lovely comment Betty. Reading it filled so much hope in me....specially the last line. Ya here unfortunately everything is closed..even now they r not firmly saying if schools would open next year ;(
DeleteThey have exams for PP1 ? Isnt that a lit to ask for , that too in pandemic times. I somehow dont like exam concept for the younger lot when they are just entering the steps of education .
ReplyDeleteIn Singapore thankfully they never closed schools for my now primary 3 and sec 2 ( 8th) kids.
*lot to ask for... no edit option :)
DeleteI have heard such tales from so many parents in my apartment complex. It was such a challenging time. Luckily, for me, my son is much older, and employed. But he too had his difficult days since he couldn't go out with his friends.
Delete@jayasree: ya it's a bit too much in India. Teachers r helpful in exams but still it's lot of pressure.i covered on my Instagram a lot about daughters covid school :)
Delete@pradeep; employee? U mean occupied? Ya it was still lil ok for older kids i guess.
I'm in awe of the kids getting through their schooling in Covid times.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest graduated from high school one year in to the pandemic and my youngest will graduate this year, and I really admire them for how they've coped with the mess of it all.
I hope your daughter's schooling gets better and better.
I cannot imagine. My husband and I are fortunate to work from home already, and have no school-age children, so compared to many, our daily life wasn't altered too much by the pandemic. I honestly believe there are many people who have a much greater appreciation for teachers now that they've had to do it from home!
ReplyDeleteI hope you're back to a more regular schedule now. Thanks for visiting my blog. Sorry it's taken so long to get over to yours!
Doesn't Speak Klingon
Kindergarten is still fine, Imagine a grown-ass boy sleeping through his online class. I awarded myself for the self control every weekend with a pizza. I think I have aged twice the speed just in last two years.
ReplyDeleteSo true, online classes really sucked all the interest out of school for me too
ReplyDeleteYou have a cute little daughter Afshan. ❤️. We had to come up with innovative ways to keep the children's interest alive. Children across all age groups have badly been affected by the online classes. Teachers too had a tough time to cope up with so many new methodologies of teaching.
ReplyDeleteAm glad that we are hopefully done with online mode now.
I can understand a parent's problem with online class especially when the child is so small. I teach senior sec students and parents complain about those grown up guys and girls. I complain about the students' lack of enthusiasm in online class. Well, now we are back in actual classroom and my complaint is over. But children are still behaving as if Covid is their Savior. 😊
ReplyDeleteIt has become very difficult for kids to study than when we were kids.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how parents of small children survived this. I work at a university and students that age had problems engaging, so no wonder small children did. Shoot, grownups had trouble. May we all learn and grow from this!
ReplyDeleteVisiting Blogs AtoZ from http://susanhaven.com
Oh I know that challenges as I saw my nephew struggle to concentrate, he is just a year older than Zaara. It was equally tough for teachers. Since my daughter turned 2 and 3 during the covid period, I had the option to homeschool her. Hoping things normalize soon.
ReplyDeleteHope you check out my A-Z challenge posts in which I am trying to have every sentence of the story (one chapter a day) start with the letter of the day https://momandideas.com/
"Mam my mom is killing me" That is hilarious! I'm sure it didn't seem like it to you, but it was probably some welcome humor for other people. I know with all of our Teams meetings I was always amused if it was someone else's pets causing trouble instead of mine for a change. I assume it's the same with kids.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that all the mothers and fathers who had to deal with home-schooling during Covid Times deserve a medal. Your little one is a gem--love her smile:)
ReplyDeleteObviously, online schooling has made you into a teacher! Sigh! I guess, the pandemic has ensured we all learn more than the skills we already have. Kudos to you and your daughter!! All the best! Stopping by via the AtoZ!
ReplyDeleteI had a terrible time facing the situation with my child. Don't want to go though that phase again in my life. Nicely written.
ReplyDeleteCOVID was bad, but the response was worse. I would have hated being a teacher--or working at all for that matter--during the pandemic frenzy. My wife was a kindergarten teacher but retired in 2019. She was glad that she wasn't teaching in 2020 and not now either.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Tossing It Out
It is really really sad for kids these days.. They have missed out on so much..
ReplyDeleteAmazing job you've done by trying to keep your daughter's interest! Kudos to you!
Hopping in from the A-Z community,
Dream
https://thedreamgirlwrites.wordpress.com/a-z-2022/
Quite an adjustment for you both. You did a wonderful job!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine it having been so difficult. I see my 3 year old nephew trying to attend online school and say his poems or dance to a song and I think that's no way for kids to have to attend school. They should be able to go out, make friends, run, fall, get their hands and legs dirty and all of it. The experiences. Thankfully, they started offline now. Hopefully it stays this way. Hats off to you and other parents (mothers mostly) that put in so much effort and juggling responsibilities. Kudos to you, and lots of love to Z as well!
ReplyDeleteHere's my post for K:
The Kite Runner
The year 2020 / 21 has been an absolute struggle for the entire world . Specially for the kids . No physical school, no physical exams. Just lying on your bed , still inside the blanket ,attending classes half heartedly had become the norm with the teenagers too . I m happy it's over for now. Very beautifully explained 👏 👌 👍👌💯💯
ReplyDeleteYou deserve a big pat on the back. I am sure you must have felt proud of yourself and of course the small one when she transformed and adapted herself.
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that!
ReplyDeleteFirst, your pre-kindergarten classes are MUCH more advanced that the pre-kindergarten classes in the US! I am in awe of how Zaara and the rest of her classmates were able to have class via zoom, since that age is not physically able to sit for long periods of time. Is she going to be able to attend school in person this next year?
ReplyDelete