I spend four days a week around the mask-less. They are not motivated by politics, claims of being anti-government-mandate, or citing the 14^th amendment of the Constitution. They can’t even read. They are 3, 4, and 5-year-olds. They are preschoolers. They are not required to wear face coverings. They are small children who have been in this world for less than 60 months. About half of the children come to school in masks; their skill with them is, well, skill-less.

I’m tired. As the owner of a small preschool program, the past nine months have been exhausting. From closing unexpectedly, trying to secure every possible grant and loan made available to childcares in a pandemic, having to let an employee go and reducing the other’s hours by over half, experiencing hands so dry from sanitizer, bleach, and constant washing that they crack until the bleed, and panicking every time I hear a child or one of their family members is unwell. The list goes on and on. 

My friends and family have always joked that I am a walking germ. I spend my days with folx who are learning to wipe their bottoms, cover their coughs and sneezes, and not pick their noses (and then eat it). With Covid, these hilarious (and disgusting) antics of young children are no longer amusing; they have the potential to be dangerous. I am not a scientist and I realize that child-to-child transmission of Covid is rather low. But they can be carriers. Even if I was blasé about the risks of Covid, anyone who takes it halfway seriously would not want to be near me, even in a mask. Small people sneeze and cough into my masked face. They try to open their lunch containers with their teeth and when unsuccessful, they hand them right to me to open. 

There are two of us working in my program this year. We have one sub. One. We are balancing on such a fine line every damn day. If either of us gets a fever, unexplained cough, or any of the many Covid symptoms, and that ONE sub is not available (who has 3 children of her own and who she is schooling at home this year), we CANNOT be open. And we CANNOT be open for days. 

I did not camp with friends this summer. I live in the same town as my parents. I have not hugged my dad since February. I’ve hugged my mom twice since March, and both times, it was more of a ‘well fuck it, we should just hug.’ I’ve seen a few dear friends for socially distanced meals at homes, usually outside and masked until we are eating. I have not dined in a restaurant since early March; everything is delivered or take-out. I did not float the Deschutes River during our hottest days; too crowded. Our annual family reunion was canceled, the one time of year I see half of my relatives. I chose to teach my University courses 100% remote. I avoided my favorite hiking trails, as they were simply too crowded for my comfort level. No birthday gatherings either. 

I will likely be spending Christmas alone. There is a possibility my family will get together outside around a fire pit, however, the average high temperature in December is 41 and the low is 23. My parents are 70 years old. It will be brief and non-traditional. 

I am doing everything in my power to keep my little school safe and open. And it’s exhausting. We’ve already had 3 Covid scares among our program; luckily, everyone’s tests came back negative. 

Here is what gets me… When I see folks on social media associated with the preschool, being… well, ‘social.’ I feel scared. I feel angry. I feel discounted. I feel envious. I feel like our school being open is not valued. Why do these people get to spend time with friends? Why are they in enclosed spaces, unmasked with others? 

Yesterday one of the preschoolers shared when Covid is gone, her cousins will move here. I said when Covid is gone, I will hug my parents and my dear friends. 

We are all in this together. It takes one case, ONE, to shut down our program for at least two weeks. 

Perhaps I am feeling sorry for myself. There are so many experiencing it much worse. No-one close to me has contracted Covid that we know of – a friend’s father, a partner’s grandmother, and a colleague’s daughter. I am fortunate. I want to keep it that way.

I am taking this seriously. I want to stay open. I want to do my job. Take it seriously too. Wear a damn mask.

I am an out lesbian who owns a progressive preschool and a college student has lodged a bias complaint against me for failing to include LGBTQ families in my lectures. 

I am an LGBTQ family. 

My University sent me resources on “Family Equality: Advancing Equality for LGBTQ Families.” I don’t need suggestions on ‘advancing equality.’ It’s been a personal and professional fight for me for over 20 years. We need resources on how allies can help us advance equality. We need to help students advocate for themselves by talking openly with members of the community they claim to be fighting for. 

My daily practices involve gender-neutral language. I change children’s books to make the protagonist female. We talk about ‘snow-people’ instead of ‘snow-men.’ I give teddy bears two moms. When children make comments like, “We have 3 girls at this table,” I follow-up with them about they ‘know’ there are 3 girls at the table. We don’t know someone feels like a girl in their hearts and in their minds unless we ask them. I don’t even refer to the children as “boys and girls.” 

What is most upsetting (okay, a hell of a lot of this is upsetting), is that the student chose not to talk to me. The student did not choose to leave feedback in their midpoint check-in. The student did not include it in their course evaluation. They submitted a formal bias complaint with the University that is now a part of my record. In the record of someone who teaches workshops like:

• Exploring Anti-bias Curriculum 
• Constructive & Critical Conversations about Diversity & Culture in ECE 
• Talking with Young Children about Marriage Equality 
• Embracing Gender Diversity in Early Childhood 
• Let’s Talk About Gender 

This is in the record of an educator who supported two preschool children and their families through a social transition of their children’s gender. This is in the record of a person who readily let a preschool family leave her program without notice because they didn’t want their child to know gender is a social construct. 

Do you know what happens to college instructors who are members of minoritized groups who actively and regularly highlight that in-group membership? We get accused of having an ‘agenda’ and trying to indoctrinate students. An agenda for being myself. 

My college students are repeatedly exposed to my ire about ‘gender reveal parties,’ as they do not tell us anything about the gender of a child. We don’t know a person’s gender unless they tell us, something a fetus can hardly do. They are truly “sex parties,” something that always gets a chuckle from students, but something they remember and makes an impact on their understanding of the differences between sex and gender. 

Half of my students are using a 2016 edition of the text, and the others are using a 2021 version of the text. The 2016 edition does not address children who are born intersex and the 2021 version has three sentences dedicated to it.  In the time of pandemic teaching, I did not address this. There are many things in the textbook that we do not cover in lecture, but can be read about in the text: the development of shyness and sociability, PKU, Chronic Villus Sampling, and so on. Is the absence of information bias? What is the metric for representation? 

In Human Sexuality (another class I teach), we go into great detail exploring the lives of those born intersex, the history of mistreatment folks have endured, and the various outcomes for those born intersex. We watch videos, write reflections, and discuss. In a class covering prenatal development through middle childhood in ten weeks in a pandemic, we do not address everything. This class is not Human Sexuality, but my feminist lens permeates all of the classes I teach. Gender is interwoven into the fabric of classes like Families in Poverty, Family Violence & Neglect, human development courses, and preschool practicums.

So, I ask, what is the answer? Rainbow PowerPoint slides? Every slide includes same-sex parents? My slides ALREADY have same-sex parents, coupled hetero parents, single parents, parenting grandparents, and so on.  In the slides with adults in them, the majority are Black, Asian, or Latina, with the exception of the old, White male theorists that lay the foundation of Human Development theory. We can’t assume gender in the pictures because we do not know the people in them. I guess the photos of “two men and a baby” weren’t clear enough? “HELLO! THESE ARE TWO MEN PLAYING WITH A BABY! I THINK THE MEN ARE IN LOVE AND HAVE SEX TOGETHER!” 

If the student had waited, she would see we do discuss gender fluidity in young children, LGBTQ parenting, how to talk with young children about gender diversity, and a sharing of my favorite books for young children on LGTBTQ families. 

I am an educator who uses phrases like “developmental differences.” An educator who corrects students when they label development as ‘normal’ or use phrases like “sexual preference.”  I am an educator who uses person-first language. I am not biased against the group I am in. Other people express bias toward my group. 

Imagine sending a faculty member in a wheelchair information on using less ablest language or offering feedback to a Black professor on how to be less racist in the classroom. You can’t imagine it because it is so blatantly ridiculous.

This is NOT ally-ship. This feels like gaslighting. I’ve gone through all of my lectures, second guessing myself. What did I do? What did I say?  Everything is recorded now. This student has filed a complaint against an established expert in the field, who is also a member of minoritized group for whom she claims to be advocating. This is not education. This is not growth. She has filed a bias report against one of the most progressive instructors at the University. How is this even helpful? How does this make me feel safe? 

Featuring special guest blogger: Stefany Cunningham, B.S. (Areas of study include kinesiology, early childhood development & education, and psychology)

Young children learn through play; it’s imperative this play be taken seriously. The play itself shouldn’t be taken seriously, but the quantity of unstructured play opportunities should be taken seriously. There is a long list of learning opportunities found in each learning domain that children acquire when they are provided with unstructured outdoor play opportunities. In this blog post, we will explore perceptual-motor skills. 

According to Kostelnik, Soderman, Whiren, and Rupiper, authors of Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum: Best Practices in Early Childhood Education (2015), perceptual-motor skills are, “movement activities that lead to academic or cognitive outcomes” (p. 400). Children integrate sensory information from all sensory systems as they interact with and explore their environment. This sensory information gets sent to the brain where the child will then make a decision on what to do next. Then, with a little motor planning, the child will carry out their next movement based on the sensory information given to them. Kostelnik, Soderman, Whiren, and Rupiper (2015) discussed five important aspects of perceptual motor development:

Balance 

There are two components of balance: Static and dynamic. Static balance is practiced while holding a posture without movement (for example, standing on one foot). Dynamic balance is holding a posture while moving (for example, hopping over a log on one foot). Children acquire the ability to balance both statically and dynamically as they walk across a log or brick wall, hop from one rock to another, or explore movement on a variety of unstable surfaces (such as gravel or mud). 

Spatial Awareness 

Spatial awareness is an understanding of one’s environment in relation to one’s body. Spatial awareness helps children avoid colliding with structures or objects (and other people) while running. It also helps them decide how to safely maneuver their way through a cave or obstacle course. To understand spatial awareness, children need to be provided with opportunities to explore diverse environments. They need to run into things, fall down, and get stuck! Spatial awareness also helps with fine motor tasks, such as writing and manipulating objects. 

Figure-Ground Perception

Figure-ground perception involves being able to distinguish a foreground from its background, which typically requires visual and auditory perception skills. Hide- and-seek is a fantastic opportunity for children to practice figure-ground perception. Not only are children scanning their environment and processing visual foreground and background information, but they are also trying to separate background auditory input from giggles!

Temporal Awareness

Speed and timing is a complex relationship that takes time to understand. It remains, however, an important aspect of perceptual-motor development and can be fostered with unstructured outdoor play. For example, hearing one’s footsteps while running, dropping objects from different heights, or attempting to catch a ball are all experiences that foster temporal awareness. 

Body and Directional Awareness 

Body awareness is knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, while body relationship awareness takes this knowledge of human anatomy and physiology and incorporates, “roles that children create with their bodies, such as copying, leading/following, meeting/parting, passing, and acting in unison” (Kostelnik, Soderman, Whiren, & Rupiper, 2015, p. 403). Just about any gross motor activity fosters body awareness and body relationship awareness, but providing children with opportunities to make their own decisions regarding body movement (unstructured play), will provide children with a deeper understanding that carries across environments. Structured activities such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” are great for human anatomy identification, but children gain a deeper understanding of anatomy, physiology, and human movement when they are provided with opportunities to problem solve independently (For example, “How can I move my body so I can get on top of that huge rock?”). 

Directional awareness is applying location concepts such as backward, forward, near, far up, and down during movement activities. The opportunities to explore directional awareness during unstructured play are endless. An activity as simple as catching a ball fosters directional awareness (“That ball is going to fly over me. I better run backward to catch it!”). 

Unstructured outdoor play is critical for physical development. As one can see by analyzing these perceptual-motor skills, unstructured outdoor play is critical for cognitive development as well. Furthermore, most children love unstructured outdoor play. While kiddos are engaging in unstructured outdoor play, they will get dirty, they will practice evaluating risks, and they may get hurt. These are all valuable learning experiences; valuable learning experiences that will foster their physical and cognitive development. 

Resources 
Kostelnik, M. J.,  Soderman, A. K., Whiren, A. P., &  Rupiper, M. L. (2015). Developmentally appropriate curriculum: Best practices in early childhood education (6th ed., pp. 400-403). Pearson Inc.

In yet another Zoom call this week, we (child care providers and early childhood educators around the state) spent time discussing the rules and regulations for child care providers in Oregon amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we can no longer allow children to use sensory tables and sandboxes, it was suggested that we provide each child with their own sensory tub. The meeting’s host shared that “children like it better anyway, because they don’t have to share materials.”

They may ‘like’ it better, but is it ideal for young children’s development? Children ‘like’ a lot of things, however, our role as early childhood educators is to engage in best practice. 

While we never require children to share, we do witness and support negotiation, collaboration, and the concept that one’s peer may not yet be finished with a toy. 

We know that social-emotional development is promoted through sensory play. Sensory play inspires:

 …children to work together to construct a sand village, wash a baby doll in water, or chase a giant bubble as it sails through the air. The fact that play with these materials can calm a child who is agitated or upset has been well documented. When children play with sand and water they often express their thoughts and feelings.  (Dodge, Colker, & Heroman, 2008, p. 403)

Furthermore,

 A central aspect of many quality preschool programs is sensory play, or play opportunities offered primarily for the tactile experience. Play is the natural learning style of the young child (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Quality play often takes place at sand and water tables, also known as discovery or sensory tables. We have observed that this “watering hole” of the preschool brings combinations of children together who might not otherwise interact with each other. The discovery tables provide rich opportunities for children to expand and practice their emotional development and are easily tailored to a variety of interests and developmental levels. Emotional development occurs through play as children explore, discover, negotiate, question, analyze, and synthesize the world around them (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Trister Dodge, Colker, & Heroman, 2002). Sensory play, traditionally centered around sand⁄water⁄discovery tables, is a dynamic type of play. This informal and unstructured play setting never offers the same experience twice, but provides numerous ‘‘teachable moments’’ to augment emotional development. . . Because of these benefits it appears that sensory play provides numerous opportunities for coaching, teaching, enhancing emotional recognition, and teaching or encouraging control of impulsive and aggressive behavior. (Maynard, Adams, Lazo-Flores, & Warnock, 2009, p. 26)

Children are hands-on, sensory learners. I shout this Piagetian concept from the rafters in parent conferences and in my college classrooms. They learn by exploring, moving, and physically engaging with their environments. And perhaps this concept is on my mind more so this week as my college students are reading a section on ‘sand and water’ play. 

I understand that developmentally appropriate practice must be sacrificed in the midst of staying alive during the Coronavirus pandemic. Our lives are more important… But what will be the long-term outcomes on children’s development? 

There are children in my program and around the world who so desperately need these sensory experiences. These are the children who spend all morning at the sensory table running their hands through rice, pouring water, spreading shaving cream, compressing kinetic sand, and mixing mud. These same children spend all of outside-time in the sandbox; digging, pouring, and covering their entire bodies with sand. As a result of this play, these children become more emotionally regulated. They are engaging in what they need. 

Yes, children can have single-use, single-child sensory tubs, but I struggle to imagine what that looks like with 10 children in my home. I struggle to see how one’s whole body could be a part of that experience. I also know that children can have sensory experiences at home with their families. I know this… But it is not the same. Many parents have shared over the years how grateful they are for our program’s sensory table, as folks don’t want that kind of ‘mess’ at home. Anyone who’s spent time using a kebab skewer to dig Oobleck (cornstarch and water) and kinetic sand out of the gaps in the hardwood floors would understand! Families are also unable to replicate the learning that comes from collaborating with one’s peers. 

There are no easy answers and I wish there were. These are the issues I lay awake in bed thinking about at 5:00 a.m. How can I still offer a model preschool program to families where limitations affect what I consider to be best practice?

“If it hasn’t been in the hand and body, it can’t be in the brain.”  (Bev Bos)

References

Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood programs. Washington, D.C. NAEYC. 

Dodge, D. T., Colker, L. J., & Heroman, C. (2002). The creative curriculum for preschool (4^th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Teaching Strategies 

Dodge, D. T., Colker, L. J., & Heroman, C. (2008). The creative curriculum for preschool: College edition. Washington, D.C.: Teaching Strategies 

Maynard, C. N., Adams, R. A., Lazo-Flores, T., & Warnock, K. (2009). An examination of the effects of teacher intervention during sensory play on the emotional development of preschoolers. Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 38 (1), 26 – 35. DOI: 10.1111/j.1552-3934.2009.00003.x