POV: COVID and Kindergarten

 Dear 2nd grade teacher,

Do you remember you are teaching 7-year-olds?

Well, let me tell you about mine. Recently, you repeatedly told your students that "this was kindergarten stuff" and they should know it. Well I can't speak for the others, but Jeffrey never attended Kindergarten. Why?

Because the year he was supposed to start his school adventure, getting a new backpack and sneakers and getting on a big yellow bus - was the year that COVID hit in March.

By August, the plan was to have all the students wear masks all day and sit with clear plastic dividers around them. They weren't going to get to run in gym - or they were but with masks on - and they had to sit far apart at lunch. No giggling in small groups, figuring out how to make friends and sit close together on the carpet for story hour.

These kids were isolated in a room together.

No thank you.

You see, Jeffrey had some communication issues early on, and at age 3 we had to have him evaluated for the autism spectrum. In order to complete those tests, I had to take a child who said maybe 20 words to an office in our local high school, where he proceeded to hide under the desk and then scream. He refused to identify objects he knew, and I'm not sure how many were just completely foreign.

Somehow, through a specialized pre-school program, Jeffrey began to speak. He would identify objects and interact with his siblings without scratching or screaming in frustration. We all began to understand his personality, and he realized the world was opening up.

At age 4, life changed for our family and he wasn't able to continue attending preschool. He had completely come out of his shell, spoke full sentences (albeit with some impediments) and was enjoying life. We did our best to keep him learning at home, and he became receptive to reading and playing games where we could teach him things at home.

This little guy found the world challenging when it was traditional. When COVID hit, the whole ball game changed from basketball to curling - and he was not prepared to be set up in this environment. At a time when he was supposed to learn all the social cues like standing in line, being quiet when told while in a large group of children, and otherwise behaving in a school setting - he was also going to be required to stop being an inquisitive, impulsive six-year-old to avoid spreading covid.

The year Jeffrey was born, his older brother went to Kindergarten for the first time. We all spent the entire year sick because - germs, and kids, and impulsive 6-year-olds.

Our family had not had covid yet. We didn't know what to expect. So, Jeffrey skipped Kindergarten. It isn't mandatory, you know. Well, it wasn't. It is now.

Yes, tons of kids spend years in daycare, preschool, and straight to kindergarten. Jeffrey didn't.

Anyway, let's jump forward again, shall we? To today.

To you teaching 7-year-olds like they should be keeping planners and scheduling out their lunch hour. To repeatedly telling them what they should be doing to your expectations - rather than TEACHING them to do things at their age level and capacity to understand.

Our son has easily 5 hours of work to do once he is done with 5 hours in front of the computer. He's learning to type, learning social cues and when to talk (everyone talks when the teacher leaves the room, so save your 10-minute lecture for yourself in the mirror because that's a normal behavior) AND he's supposed to be learning english and math and social studies - that there's a big world out there with 7 continents and animals and people that come in a variety of shapes, colors, and attitudes.

He should be playing with toys and watching his favorite YouTuber (they all have these now) or petting his cat. He shouldn't have to spend 10 hours a day at his computer in 2nd grade.

My son sounds out words in an impressive way, is working on spelling like the champ I know he is, and has a vocabulary that continues to surprise me. He works out math problems on his fingers or a timeline and is learning about metamorphosis (yep, he knows that word already). He watched beans grow roots in a plastic bag on the window and was thrilled.

He reads and learns complex concepts to regulate his emotions - something that the rest of the household can learn from him some days.

Can we NOT ruin his school experience at age 7?

COVID already tried that. We are trying to salvage what we can. Brick and mortar doesn't work for our family at this point, so we are doing our best with online school. Help us give him the love of learning we are striving to build in him. Please.