Volume 1 Issue 4
March 14, 2022
The Teachable Tutor's Thoughts
'Behind every mask there is a face, and behind that a story."
Marty Rubin
Parents, let's talk about your children and the last two years. You and I can both agree that your babies have been through a lot these past years. As an educator, I cannot stress to you how difficult it has been to teach your children with a mask on. The struggle has been real for your kids as well. Learning has lagged linguistically, emotionally, and socially. With so much loss, what is a parent to do?
You're probably asking yourself right now how can you best support your child.
Let's look at the problem
Why does mask wearing negatively impact our children? Well as you already know, the masks made it nearly impossible to see faces and to hear voices. HOWEVER, this is a problem because kids learn best from listening to our voices + cluing into our gestures + looking at our full faces. The younger the learner, the more they need to look at faces when being spoken to or when learning.
Here are the facts!
Brown University states in a Dec. 16, 2021 DailyMail article, that face masks + social distancing resulted in an over all 22% drop in measurement of children intelligence. It also noted a 33% reduction in the verbal and nonverbal development of language skills, as well as cognitive performance. These numbers are alarming and should concern you.
You can help your child
So here are some things you can do to support your child.
⭐️Academically... parents can first talk with your child's teacher. Ask if your child is meeting their academic benchmarks. 'GET INFORMED'!
Next, with summer soon approaching plan to get a private tutor for your child.
In the meantime...... read, read, and read some more with your child. Reading provides an opportunity for your child to correctly hear words. Reading a minimum of 20 mins a day can build up to 4,000 to 12,000 words in a year, according to Therapist, Shannon Cavaluchi.
⭐️Emotionally....parents cans also use books to support the emotional needs of their children. You can use the illustrations in books to have your children talk about the emotional expressions of each character. This is a great opportunity for children to build their awareness of perspective taking
and empathy.
Most importantly, make the practice of engaging in social emotional learning, SEL as part of your child's daily routine. Here are some SEL questions to ask your child about their day at school.... click the link below ⬇️⬇️⬇️ for this free resource.
Oma Learning Academy's Reading Recommendations for SEL:
CLICK THE BOOKS BELOW TO VIEW ⬇️
CLICK TO VISIT MY
STORE @ TPT
⭐️Socially....parents can GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! Plan playdates for your child. The numbers are going down and masks are coming off. Social distancing is coming to an end. The weather is getting warmer and sunnier. So what is the excuse now? Let kids be kids!
Soooo.... you now have the info + the tools to now meet the linguistic, emotional and social needs of your child. Be constituent. Be patient. Be fun! Be your child's confidant in this world that is ever changing. Most importantly, let your children see your beautiful smile.
💜💜💜
Tear off your mask, your face is glorious!😊
Rumi
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