Dear Lower School Families,
I hope that this email finds you well, particularly in these unpredictable and unsettling times. We are so grateful for the resilience that students and faculty have shown in the past week, and for your trust in Penn Charter as we work to navigate the uncertainty and to plan for ways to keep our community united despite our physical distance.
On Monday you will receive a brief communication from your child's homeroom teacher that you may share with your child to reassure them and help them make the transition into this unexpected form of spring break. After that communication, we have asked teachers to step back and take this time to care for their loved ones and for themselves so that they can be fully present to you in the event that we do not return to campus on March 31 at the end of our scheduled break.
Should we need to prolong this closing of campus, Lower School homeroom teachers have prepared a variety of resources and activities to support you in helping your child maintain and practice skills and learning in reading, writing and mathematics. This information will be shared at the very end of March so that it is available to you after the planned spring break. At that time, teachers will also be sharing email communications and videos to help maintain our sense of community and connection.
There is a lot of advice circulating about what to do to support our children during this period of social distancing, and how we manage as parents to attend to their needs while negotiating our own disorientation from this radical change to our daily lives. Young children thrive when there is a sense of structure and predictability, and we encourage you to set up a daily routine filled with play and connection. Creating a plan that includes time for any or all of the following will be invaluable to your child:
- Read as a family, either aloud or snuggled on the same couch or in a shared family room.
- Play board games to help practice those mathematic or strategy skills.
- Create with whatever you might have on hand – upcycling is all the rage in Lower School!
- Practice executive function skills; for example, create a new system of organization for toys, or allow your child to plan out the day.
- When possible, get outside to run, bike, get dirty and explore – just be sure to keep some distance from other community members.
- Set up a virtual play or dinner date with other families: Google Meet or Zoom are great tools for this.
- Family chore time! Have your child help to wipe down surfaces, tidy and keep your home a relaxing space for the days ahead.
For additional resources in supporting your child's social and emotional well-being during this crisis, please use the following information curated by our school counselors: Seven Ways to Help Kids Cope, Using the Coronavirus to Build Student News and Media Literacy, Talking to Your Anxious Child about Coronavirus, Talking to Kids about the Coronavirus.
We will be in touch in the coming weeks with information about academics and learning, but truly hope that this time at home gives all of our community members a chance to slow down, connect and stay healthy.
Warmly,
Kate McCallum
Director of Lower School
One last note in considering future learning needs: If you anticipate any problems with your home internet connection or have any technology concerns, please contact our director of educational technology, Michael Moulton, at mmoulton@penncharter.com. Also, if you have Comcast as your carrier, here is an important message about Comcast increasing broad band during this crisis.