COVID and the Youngest Learners

December 01, 2020

Information

This webinar will cover the impact of COVID on early childhood education: what we know from the latest research about COVID, mental health implications, family engagement, and how to best advance social-emotional and academic learning goals.

Featured Speakers Include:

Dr. Walter Gilliam Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor in the Child Study Center and Professor of Psychology; Director, The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy
Dr. Heather Harris Child 360, Director of Provider Operations
Tracy Smith, LMSW Senior Early Childhood Consultant

ID5944

To CiteDCA Citation Guide

00:04Good afternoon everyone and welcome.
00:06We are so glad that you're here.
00:08Great to see in the chat
00:10box as we start today.
00:11People from across the country,
00:13from Alaska to Florida to Maine California.
00:15We are so happy to be with you
00:17today for this amazing opportunity.
00:19In the first of a three part series
00:21where we get to focus on strengthening
00:24the resilience in our youngest
00:26learners through a time of covid.
00:28I want to start today just by reaching
00:30out and let you know that at Scholastic
00:32and at the GAIL Collaborative.
00:35How much we value what each of you are
00:37doing in the education field right now.
00:39Truly unprecedented times across
00:40our country and the work of
00:42our early childhood providers.
00:43You're truly doing amazing things
00:44to to make sure that our most
00:46vulnerable populations continue to
00:47have safe places to grow and learn.
00:49So we thank you.
00:50And from the bottom of my heart,
00:52I want to say today that that
00:54I hope you're healthy.
00:55I hope you're well and I
00:57hope you're staying safe.
00:58We're excited about this three
01:00part series to meet your needs,
01:01to help you continue to meet the
01:03needs of students across the country.
01:05Scholastic is certainly proud to
01:07be a part of this Yale Child Study
01:11Collaborative and the opportunity to work
01:14alongside the Amazing Group of psychologists.
01:17At Yale,
01:18who are so passionate about
01:19meeting the needs of the youngest
01:21learners from our Chairman,
01:23Dick Robinson,
01:23to the President of Scholastic Reguar LRCACO,
01:26Michael Hagan and our director Karen Baker,
01:28this is truly a passion for them to use
01:30the power of story to meet the needs
01:33of students and working with GAIL.
01:35It is so amazing to see their work
01:37as it's interchanging of ideas and
01:39what the value of that can be to have
01:42the ability to impact students were
01:44excited today and we're excited to
01:46start today with the series to talk
01:49about code in the youngest learners.
01:51My name is Jimmy Bream.
01:53I'm the vice president of academic
01:55planning and solution development,
01:56scholastic education.
01:58One of the many things I get to
02:00do is work with districts across
02:01the country around supporting
02:03their initiatives in the district,
02:05including that is working with
02:06our amazing early childhood team.
02:07Many of you know early childhood team
02:09Kathy out in the East and Ernesto
02:11Rodriguez in the in the West as they
02:14work with you to meet your needs.
02:16Today we're going to talk about
02:17Covid in the youngest learners
02:18and we have an amazing panel to
02:20share their experiences.
02:21Starting with Doctor Will Walter Gilliam.
02:23Today he will share with you his research.
02:26Around what he has found most
02:29recently on the effects of covid
02:31inside of the early childhood centers.
02:33Doctor Heather Harris.
02:34Who is the Director of Child 360?
02:37Will talk about the needs and how
02:39she is supporting districts across
02:41her area of service.
02:42And then we'll go to Tracy Smith,
02:44a licensed social worker who can share
02:46with her the experience that she has
02:48had in supporting the families of
02:49our youngest students and the mental
02:51health needs of both the students
02:53and their families and her work.
02:55We know you're in for an amazing
02:57afternoon here today and we
02:58certainly are excited to have you.
03:00I do encourage you.
03:01Our chat box is there as
03:02the panel is speak today.
03:04Please feel free to put
03:05questions inside the chat box.
03:07Will do what we can after each of
03:09our speakers have had a chance
03:11to share their work with you will
03:12answer as many questions as we can
03:15during the Roundtable session of this
03:16may not be able to get to 'em all,
03:19but I do encourage the conversation
03:21in this virtual setting which
03:22we all live right now.
03:23It's amazing to have just that
03:25minor connection with each other
03:27and I can see right now I love
03:29everybody saying good app.
03:30Noon, where they're from.
03:31That helps us feel connected and also if
03:33you have any questions with the panelists,
03:35please feel free to add those in.
03:37So without further ado,
03:38we're going to start with our first speaker,
03:41which is Doctor Walter Gilliam,
03:42who is a professor in the Child
03:45Psychiatry and psychology at
03:46the Yale Child Study Center.
03:48He has worked across the country
03:50to advocate for the importance
03:52of preschool for all students.
03:54An extended preschool programs for
03:56all students across the country.
03:58His work in his well,
04:00well earned rewards in his work for
04:02young students is truly inspirational.
04:04I actually had the privilege of learned
04:07of Doctor Guilliams original work
04:09for me was as a very young educator
04:12and his research on the effects of
04:15suspension of students in early
04:17childhood programs and the long term effects.
04:20On those students.
04:20So as a very young educator in Kentucky
04:23where Doctor Gilliam is from as well,
04:25I got to see his work and it really had
04:27that immediate impact on me to see that wow,
04:30the the decisions we make
04:32at these students at 3,
04:33four and five have impacts way beyond 3,
04:36four and five.
04:36So I am honored.
04:38I feel certainly blessed and humbled to
04:40just be on a panel today with Doctor Gilliam.
04:42And so I will turn it over to Doctor
04:45Gilliam to share his most recent work.
04:49Great, thank you very much Jimmy.
04:51And thank you all for being here.
04:53It's wonderful to be to be with you
04:55even in these incredibly challenging
04:56times or maybe even especially in these
04:59challenging times for us to be able
05:01to find an opportunity to be together
05:03and to talk about the work that we do
05:05and what it means to care for children
05:07and families and what it means to
05:09care for those who care for them.
05:11The teachers, child care providers
05:12and all the staff that work in
05:14educational in care facilities.
05:15On behalf of our children and families.
05:17So I was asked today to come
05:19and talk to you about.
05:21A little bit of the work that
05:23we've been doing recently,
05:25specific to COVID-19.
05:27Now, as you know,
05:28these are completely unprecedented
05:30times in terms of the impact that
05:34COVID-19 is had on the educational.
05:37Provision of services for
05:38children and families.
05:40You know we're talking about, you know,
05:43like a week into the pandemic.
05:46Like in early March weekend to the Pandemic,
05:49107 countries had completely
05:51closed down their schools by three
05:54weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic.
05:56194 countries that closed down their schools,
05:59affecting literally 91% of the
06:01world's school age children.
06:03That's just incredible to think about,
06:06isn't it 91%?
06:07Of the world's school age children
06:09no longer in school, you know,
06:11and and as somebody who who studied the
06:14effects of expulsion and suspension.
06:16Just like Jimmy, it said before.
06:18I mean,
06:19I've been concerned about children
06:21being expelled from preschool for
06:22the past 25 years of my career,
06:25and all of the sudden,
06:26literally 91% of all of the
06:28world's children all got expelled
06:30at about the same time.
06:32Kick completely out of school,
06:34and so did their teachers.
06:36And so did the other staff in
06:38these educational facilities.
06:39The other thing to bear in mind is
06:42that it's not just about schools,
06:45it's also about Head start programs
06:47and child care programs an it's
06:49about home based childcare program.
06:51Just about the entire industry of
06:53care and education and this false
06:55dichotomy that we sometimes create
06:58between educational facilities versus
07:00care facilities is one that we need
07:02to be able to get beyond because any
07:04education really care that we provide
07:07to children should certainly be educational.
07:09And it's impossible to educate a
07:12child that you don't care about,
07:14you know.
07:15So the concept of care versus
07:17education is something that we
07:20should certainly get beyond.
07:21And so let's think that a little bit about
07:25within programs that call themselves child.
07:28Here over 35% job loss between
07:30February and April of this year.
07:33Over 35%.
07:33I'm not talking about over 35% laid
07:36off work temporarily unemployed.
07:38I'm talking about over 35%.
07:40Completely losing their jobs
07:41within the childcare industry.
07:43Just absolutely incredible and
07:44heartbreaking and the stress that that
07:46creates not only on children and families,
07:49but on the people who care for them.
07:51You know,
07:52it's just impossible to quantify.
07:54We knew early on that there was going to be
07:56certain important things for us to consider,
07:59which is the fact that not all child
08:02care programs are going to be able to
08:05close because we're going to need to keep
08:08some of them open for essential workers.
08:10And we're going to have to keep some
08:12of them open for essential health care
08:14workers and so early on in the pandemic
08:17when many child care programs were closing,
08:19many other ones were remaining open,
08:21and so we we were curious about what does
08:23this look like from the perspective of,
08:26say, for instance,
08:27a health care worker who might need to
08:29think about the care of her own child
08:32in order to be able to go into work.
08:34And so I teamed up with a with
08:37a group that provides.
08:39Digital opportunities to use,
08:41say for instance your iPhone to be
08:44able to create a documentary an
08:46we asked a variety of different
08:48questions from different health care
08:50providers in order to understand how
08:53they were struggling with childcare.
08:55And I've got a clip here to be able
08:57to show you I'm going to move over
09:01to my computer screen and hopefully
09:03you can all see this right here.
09:06So what we had here was this iPhone app.
09:10That we sent out to a bunch of
09:12different child care providers and
09:14we ask them a few questions.
09:16Tell us a little bit about yourself
09:18and then they would film themselves
09:20doing that and they would click
09:22record what's a day like in the
09:24novel paint coronavirus pandemic.
09:25What are the your childcare challenges
09:27as a child as a health care provider?
09:30What's next for you in the in the crisis?
09:33And we had them record themselves thinking
09:35about what these challenges look like
09:37and it all went up into the cloud.
09:39Stitched it together.
09:40And then we were able to then take
09:43a look at some of the things that
09:45they were creating.
09:46And so I thought that I would start
09:48off by showing you some some what
09:50what we received from one of these
09:52child care providers.
09:53Now this is a woman named Allison.
09:55She'll introduce yourself in a minute
09:57and she is an ICU nurse in St Louis,
09:59Mo.
10:00Hi, I'm Allison.
10:01I'm a nurse manager at Saint Louis
10:03University Hospital in St Louis,
10:05Mo and mother to Brecken
10:06who's 18 months old. Before I
10:08report to my floor I get my
10:10temperature and symptoms checked.
10:11I then come and check on my
10:13patients and staff to ensure
10:15that they have everything they
10:16need to protect themselves.
10:17I swap patients
10:18under investigations. I also attend
10:20meetings to update them on anything new.
10:24My son Brecken, previously went
10:26to an in home care provider,
10:28but she closed due to the pandemic.
10:30So my husband, parents and I are
10:32trying to take turns em and work
10:34from home and also watch my son.
10:36I'm currently in the process
10:37of applying for emergency care
10:39provider through the state,
10:40which is a process in itself.
10:42It's been very stressful.
10:44My son Brecken been 18 months old.
10:46I worry about his development
10:48and peer interaction.
10:49This is the time of his life where he needs
10:51to be soaking this all up like a sponge.
10:54I worry he won't adapt to the
10:56change that we will have to find
10:58another in home care provider.
10:59I worry most about exposure and
11:01exposing him and my family who are
11:03also relief care providers for him.
11:08I am lucky that I will never have to make
11:11the decision between work and my son.
11:13I have parents and my husband who can
11:16always watch my son in an emergency.
11:18I really think about the people that
11:20are single parents and don't have
11:22the options that I have where they
11:25have to choose between their job
11:27and their child.
11:29So you see there from Allison what
11:31she was talking about was a lot of
11:33the stresses that she is apparent
11:34was having to deal with in terms of
11:36just worrying about you know who's
11:38going to take care of her child,
11:40but she also mentioned that she
11:41has it easy in comparison to a lot
11:43of the people that she works with
11:45because she had family nearby and
11:47many of the other nurses that she
11:49worked it may not have family nearby.
11:50I mean not know exactly who would
11:52be able to take care of their child
11:54and what would they do if they
11:56had to decide between staying at
11:58home with their child versus going
11:59into the hospital and.
12:00Attempting to save lives in the
12:02middle of a global pandemic,
12:04and those were some of the things
12:06that she was talking about,
12:08just in terms of the stressors
12:10that she was dealing with.
12:12And all of these pressures that
12:14this parent was dealing with.
12:15So are our child care providers,
12:18and so are our teachers.
12:19Every single one of these folks who
12:21are dealing with other people's stress
12:23have stress in their own lives too.
12:26We were interested in understanding a
12:28little bit more about COVID-19 itself
12:30and the transmission of COVID-19.
12:32What COVID-19 looks like in
12:33child care programs.
12:34How transmitted is COVID-19?
12:35We knew that at some point we're
12:37going to be curious about whether
12:39it's safe to get back into the water
12:41or not when it comes to child care,
12:43and so we needed to know a little
12:45bit about about how much risk
12:47was there in the 1st place.
12:49We did a study of over 57 thousand
12:51child care providers across the
12:52United States and God bless them
12:54for participating in our study like
12:56this in the middle of a pandemic.
12:58It just so happened that when
13:00we collected the data at the end
13:02of May in the beginning of June.
13:04About half of these child care
13:06providers have been exposed to
13:07child care regularly because their
13:09program was open and about half of
13:11the child care providers weren't
13:13exposed to child care at anytime
13:15during the first three months of
13:16the pandemic because their program
13:18closed or because they were
13:20working completely from home,
13:21and this gave us a wonderful opportunity
13:23to be able to get this information from
13:26them about their exposure to cope,
13:28the childcare there,
13:29whether they have tested positive
13:30for COVID-19,
13:31whether or not they had ever been
13:33hospitalised for COVID-19 and merge that
13:36data with the Johns Hopkins University.
13:38Data on COVID-19 transmission rates
13:40at the County level and what we
13:42ultimately found when we analyze
13:44the results was that there was
13:46virtually no relationship whatsoever
13:48between exposure to child care and an
13:51increased likelihood that the child
13:53care provider would get sick from
13:55COVID-19 or be hospitalised for COVID-19.
13:57Now that does not mean that
13:59child care providers were somehow
14:01magically immune from COVID-19.
14:03In our study of 57 thousand
14:06child care providers,
14:07427 of them. Actually did get sick
14:10of COVID-19 tested positive for
14:12COVID-19 and about 1/4 of those
14:15were hospitalised for COVID-19 but.
14:18The reason that they got sick
14:19for COVID-19 had no correlation
14:21whatsoever with whether they were
14:23exposed to child care or whether they
14:26were staying home the entire time.
14:28The other thing to bear in mind
14:30too is that we do know from our
14:33study that are black, Brown,
14:35an indigenous child care providers were
14:37caring by far the heavier burden of COVID-19.
14:40They were far more likely to be
14:42diagnosed with COVID-19 now far more
14:45likely to be hospitalised for COVID-19,
14:47but even for them.
14:48It was unrelated to whether or not
14:51they were providing childcare or
14:53whether they were staying at home.
14:56Now.
14:56We also found that childcare
14:58providers in communities where the
15:01transmission rate was high were at a
15:03much greater risk of catching COVID-19.
15:06But they were catching COVID-19
15:07because of things that were
15:09happening in the community,
15:10not because of the nature of the work
15:12that they were doing in child care,
15:15but all of this was in context of
15:16the fact that these child care
15:19providers were doing near Herculean
15:20things to keep our babies safe.
15:22About 3/4 of them were testing temperatures
15:24and symptoms every single day,
15:26and about a third of them were
15:28doing that twice a day.
15:30Symptom checking and temperature
15:31checking every single adult and
15:33child in your program twice a day,
15:3497% were disinfecting literally.
15:36Every single surface and every
15:38single fixture in their program
15:40and over half of them were doing
15:42it three or more times a day,
15:43and you place that on top of the frequent
15:46hand washing that was happening.
15:48Both of the adults and well,
15:50as with the children and the
15:51cohort in keeping groups together.
15:53All the things that these child
15:55care providers were doing,
15:56the fortunate thing is that it seemed
15:58to have actually worked and that
16:00we didn't really have a situation
16:01where child care programs were
16:03driving Community level transmission.
16:05So in other words.
16:06Child care programs didn't seem
16:07to pose a threat to communities
16:10in terms of COVID-19 transmission,
16:11but that does not mean that communities
16:14cannot threaten childcare and that
16:15communities cannot threaten schools.
16:17And if the community level
16:18transmission rate is too high,
16:20then there's no way we're going
16:22to be able to continue keeping
16:23these child care programs safe.
16:25And So what we need to do is we
16:28need to 1 focus on making sure that
16:31communities are safe so that we can
16:33keep our child care programs open
16:35that we're prioritizing child care.
16:37And school over things like in restaurant,
16:39dining and bars and things like that.
16:42And then we also give our child care
16:44providers and teachers the resources
16:46they need in order to be able to
16:49succeed on behalf of our babies.
16:51And so I'll end it with that.
16:53And I'll thank you so much for paying
16:56attention and hand it back over
16:58to our moderator.
16:59Thank you, wow doctor William.
17:00Thank you so much for your
17:02continued work and passion and
17:04advocation across the country.
17:06That. Thanks for the video.
17:07I just think that's such an
17:09inspiring way to start for our
17:11partners on the call today with
17:13us to just that reminder that
17:14that you love your students and we
17:17know we love the students that we
17:19get to serve as a as a teacher.
17:21I love my kids everyday as a principle.
17:24I love my kids everyday and what
17:26we don't get to see is frequently
17:28is that that mom who is so in
17:31need of what you do every day,
17:33a place to bring horror child to be healthy.
17:35I love what you said there.
17:37Walter, when you spoke about.
17:40The fact that there's not that the
17:43transmission inside of the early
17:44childhood centers speaks as much
17:46to the work of our early childhood
17:48providers as anything that they are
17:50relentless about making sure that
17:52everybody is safe inside of that facility.
17:54I the way you process that really,
17:57I mean that hit home to me in my head that,
18:00wow,
18:01that's right that it's not spreading
18:03in the child care providers because
18:05we've taken on that task as people
18:07who love kids to keep them safe
18:09and and they're succeeding, but.
18:11Man,
18:11does that have an effect on the
18:13emotional can have effect on the
18:15on the Wellness of the providers
18:17themselves and pretty amazing.
18:18So thank you for the work.
18:20Thank you for the talk.
18:22I have some questions that will ask
18:24when we get to our roundtable session,
18:26but I think it'll be great to
18:28hear from Doctor Harrison and
18:29Miss Smith here in a moment about
18:31what they're seeing as well,
18:33so will turn over to two
18:35doctor Heather Harris,
18:36who leads up Child 360 in California.
18:38Many of you have probably
18:40seen Doctor Harris speaks.
18:41She does work at many conferences.
18:43And work across our country and
18:45advocating for early childhood and
18:46advocating for providing the services
18:48for students really centers her work
18:50around innovation and early learning.
18:52Coaching teachers leadership
18:53development and working on other
18:55research based outcomes and best
18:57practices for early learning.
18:58So, so excited to hear about your work.
19:01Doctor Harrison,
19:02what you've seen during this time,
19:04and I know our our guest star as well.
19:07So Doctor Harris, I'll turn it over to you.
19:11Thank you Jimmy, and thank you Doctor
19:14Gilliam for conducting that research.
19:16I remember learning of the
19:18research and reading it from you.
19:20Know top to bottom.
19:22It's so important in the work that we
19:25do and I want to thank Scholastic for
19:28inviting me to be here at this seminar.
19:31To share what's happening with
19:33the boots on ground at Child 360.
19:36We serve over 550 providers
19:38and that includes Head Start,
19:40early Head Start, state preschool,
19:41family, child care providers.
19:44Family and Friends Network and we we serve
19:50those providers through coaching assessment,
19:54resource distribution,
19:55technical assistance and
19:58research and evaluation.
20:00And as well,
20:01looking at some best practices and
20:03sharing it with other providers in the
20:06field were located in Sunny California.
20:08It's a beautiful day.
20:10It's only one o'clock for me.
20:12I know I saw in the chat that some
20:15of you are from all the way in Egypt,
20:18and so it's it's late at night and
20:21we appreciate you for joining us.
20:23But thank you for all of you childcare,
20:26early childcare heroes across the
20:28nation and across the world evidently.
20:30And so at child 360.
20:32We're located in Los Angeles,
20:34CA,
20:35and I asked to include this this
20:37picture and my PowerPoint because
20:40about 8 months before the pandemic,
20:43I was a director at a school district of
20:46our early childhood education program,
20:49and it was a wonderful opportunity
20:51to serve the community and
20:53serve children and families.
20:55And about 8 months into my current
20:58position at child 360 as the
21:01Director of Pride or Operations.
21:03We went into shelter in place and
21:05so I'm here to share with you.
21:07How did we work through that and
21:09how are we working through that?
21:11And some of the strategies that I hope
21:14that will help you where you're at.
21:16Next slide,
21:17please.
21:18So I wanted to give you a snapshot of the
21:21providers that we serve and where they're at.
21:24I remember the Monday after our County
21:26put us into a shelter into place.
21:28Actually let me back.
21:30Let me go backwards a little bit a week
21:32before that we had a case management
21:34meeting and we were talking about
21:36COVID-19 and we thought about our
21:38we're getting a lot of calls from
21:40our providers and they were asking
21:43us about the seriousness of it and
21:45what should they do to prepare.
21:47And so the coaches brought that to my
21:49attention through their supervisors.
21:51And one of the strategies that I
21:54really appreciate that we put into
21:56place was that we collected all
21:59of the personal cell phone numbers
22:01of our providers and they didn't
22:04shared with our organization.
22:06But they shared it with their coach.
22:09Our coaches have been embedded
22:11in the County for over 10 years,
22:14and when you think about access an equity,
22:17we strategically place coaches
22:19and assessors and professional
22:21development consultants.
22:21Throughout Los Angeles County,
22:23they live in certain neighborhoods,
22:24and so they have a relationship
22:26with providers and so
22:27providers were happy to share
22:28their cell phone number,
22:29their personal emails,
22:30because we didn't know what would
22:32happen and then when shelter in place,
22:34a curd that following Monday.
22:35I remember the supervisors called me.
22:37We jumped on a teams.
22:38I think we were the first Department
22:40to jump on a teams meeting at 9:00
22:43o'clock on Monday and we said OK,
22:45what are we going to do?
22:46And so we said we have to keep reaching out
22:49and we have to keep serving our providers.
22:52A lot of them are so courageous,
22:54especially our family child care providers.
22:56They want to stay open.
22:57They want to serve our essential workers.
22:59How can we support them?
23:01And the interesting thing is that most
23:03of the districts had closed down,
23:05and so we're so happy that we had that
23:08contact information because that's how
23:10we were able to support our teachers
23:12and erectors to either reopen or stay open.
23:15Or how to pivot over to a
23:17virtual or hybrid offering.
23:19And so here's a snapshot as I was speaking,
23:22I was hoping you were taking a look at it.
23:25We do serve about 500.
23:2750 providers and you could see
23:30that open at full capacity only.
23:33About 10%,
23:34about 56 of our providers are open,
23:37and that's mainly RFC sees.
23:39The family child care providers limited
23:42capacity because of the ratios that are
23:45governed by Community care licensing
23:47and the Department of Public Health.
23:50Some of our providers have reduced
23:52their capacity and so we do have
23:55about 86 centers and FCC's that are
23:58still open at a limited capacity.
24:01Then I want you to.
24:04Jump over to the next highlighted column,
24:06the virtual support online.
24:08The centers.
24:09You can see that there's a large amount of
24:12our centers providing virtual support online,
24:15300 centers and one family
24:17child care provider,
24:18and those centers are mainly our school
24:21districts and those school districts
24:23are facilitating learning in the home,
24:26so our coaches support the teachers as
24:29facilitating that learning in the home.
24:31And so it has been a wonderful
24:34and reflective.
24:35Process,
24:35but I will say that it has been
24:38extremely hard on teachers to offer if
24:40they have AM in a PM and they want to
24:43meet with their children every week,
24:45you know they might make two or three
24:49times a week and if you have AM and PM,
24:51that's 48 children and giving
24:53them time to be able to speak
24:56with one another on a zoom call,
24:58it's you know it causes fatigue
25:00and so our coaches are there
25:02to support the teachers,
25:03provide developmentally
25:04appropriate practices.
25:05To facilitate that learning in the home
25:08and also to encourage family engagement.
25:10And then we do have about 54
25:12centers that provide hybrid
25:14so the children come in and,
25:16as Doctor Gilliam has spoke,
25:18there's cohorts of children that
25:20come in to the actual center,
25:22maybe two or three times a week,
25:25and then there's virtual learning
25:27at home and the exciting
25:29thing is that the right next to that let that
25:32highlighted column we do have about 15 sites.
25:35That are state preschool sites that have just
25:38joined us looking for additional support.
25:41So mainly what I want to draw your attention
25:45to is at the end there's a total of 512
25:49providers who are serving thousands
25:51of children across Los Angeles County.
25:54Whether it's virtual or in person or hybrid,
25:58and that is an amazing number
26:00that's less than 7% of our centers
26:03that unfortunately either closed.
26:05Or decided to wait until things were a little
26:10bit until we had a vaccine to open back up,
26:14but to only have 7% of our
26:18providers who aren't open.
26:20It's amazing,
26:21and I definitely attributed this to our
26:24child care early childhood care field.
26:27Just being resilient and tenacious
26:29about continuing to open their arms
26:32in their homes and their centers
26:35to families sharing resources.
26:37Providing care social emotional
26:39services to families.
26:40And that's always been president
26:42in our field.
26:43And I'm just so proud that during this
26:46time during this pandemic we have
26:48really shined as far as our dedication
26:51to our most vulnerable population.
26:53Next slide,
26:54please.
26:58Equity and access.
26:59So I was on a meeting with our coaches.
27:02I have over 40 coaches and we have maybe
27:0420 additional assessors and professional
27:07development consultants and this slide.
27:09There's a lot of information
27:11on this slide and I typically
27:13wouldn't Add all this information,
27:15but being that this is a virtual conference,
27:18I hope that you're forgiving,
27:20but I just had to list all of the
27:23amazing work that's been going on,
27:25and this doesn't include it all.
27:28Equity and access has been important
27:30coaches assessors in the in communities
27:33in neighborhoods that speak the languages
27:35of families hearing their everyday needs.
27:38Whether it's we need diapers
27:40or we need cleaning supplies,
27:42we had an issue where our providers
27:45are family.
27:46Child care providers weren't able to
27:49get milk and you know snack healthy
27:52snacks for children and so our coaches
27:55brought that information to us and we
27:57were able to inform the governor's office.
28:00Through our public policy director,
28:02we were also able to contact local
28:04markets and ask if they could include
28:07early childcare providers and their
28:08early openings of their stores so that
28:11we can ensure that children get milk and
28:13fruit and vegetables and things like that.
28:15And we were able to get this information
28:18because over the past eight months we've
28:20had over 9000 virtual coaching sessions.
28:22Initially,
28:23it was difficult, you know.
28:24Like I said,
28:25we started out with the cell phone just
28:28to call and they were Wellness checks.
28:30How are you doing?
28:32And we had a triage.
28:34Those needs eventually we were able to
28:37pivot to online coaching using zoom teams.
28:40Whatever the teacher or the
28:42director of the family child care
28:44provider was comfortable with and
28:46now we're currently using online
28:49coaching platform called Torsh,
28:51which stands for today's one room.
28:53Schoolhouse Torch is amazing because
28:56providers are able to take snapshots,
28:58video snapshots of their day or
29:01particular activity with children.
29:03And they posted on torch and then
29:05their coach can go in and view
29:08it and then post comments.
29:10And when it's convenient for the coach
29:12when it's convenient for the provider,
29:14they go back and they look at the comments.
29:18And so there's a back and forth
29:20cadence you know concerning,
29:22like how to set up and reopen after
29:24Covid as the providers became more
29:26and more ready and we started to
29:29pivot and offer different services.
29:31Those services included.
29:33Resource distribution based on
29:34the needs of our providers.
29:37We we sent out surveys.
29:38We have listening sessions so
29:40that we know what the providers
29:43needs are and so over the past.
29:45Just four months we have distributed
29:48over 54,000 books because we
29:50found that there was a need,
29:52especially in our neighborhoods
29:54with families with low income,
29:55that there you know there weren't
29:58books in the home and so.
30:00Through a collaboration with
30:02Scholastic and through state funds,
30:03we were able to supply 54 thousand
30:06children with the book in their home.
30:08In addition to that,
30:09we realize that you know,
30:11like the health care provider in
30:13the video that Doctor Gilliam shared
30:15that sometimes as a grandparent
30:17or sometime it's apparent who may
30:19not know you know how to create a
30:22cozy Nook for reading for children,
30:24so we also develop a literacy
30:26toolkit to go along with that.
30:28We provide books provided books
30:29to all of the classrooms.
30:31Another need that providers had
30:34where social emotional toolkits and
30:36these toolkits included songsan
30:38puppets so that we can talk about
30:41the pandemic and how is it impacting
30:43children and that they miss their
30:46friends and their concern about
30:48not seeing their grandparents.
30:50So we created customized social
30:52emotional kits and distribute
30:54all those kids to our families.
30:56Our child, care providers,
30:58health and safety toolkits,
31:00and class toolkits, as well as.
31:02On every Friday,
31:04food distributions through Best Start
31:06sharing aggregating data throughout
31:08neighborhoods concerning covid relief
31:11options like tenant rights and
31:13funds and small business resources,
31:15and this all happened through
31:18monthly and sometimes weekly calls,
31:21and virtual meetings with our
31:23providers next light.
31:27And Lastly, I wanted to share our
31:30resources with you because we have
31:33many free resources that you can
31:35access through www.child360.org.
31:38I won't go through all of them,
31:41but we do have an online learning
31:44management system and that was crucial
31:47especially to RLE Azar School District
31:50are lead educational agencies the
31:53unions and because of the labor.
31:56Act we were able to pivot and
31:59provide on line management through
32:01our online management system.
32:03Professional development.
32:04Because our teachers.
32:05Maybe it was because of childcare,
32:07reason, childcare issues within
32:09their own home or it was because
32:12there was a core mobility or they
32:15were taking care of a senior they
32:18couldn't return to work and so
32:20part of part of what was negotiated
32:22with the unions is that they would
32:26engage in professional development.
32:28And so we have several offerings
32:29that we offer free through our
32:31learning management system.
32:33In addition to that,
32:34we also develop sub 360,
32:36which is a substitute teaching service
32:37and a lot of teachers have lost their jobs,
32:41and so we invited them to apply to our
32:43organization and these were teacher.
32:45It was wonderful because we were able
32:47to keep the capacity in our County.
32:50'cause we do believe that we're going to
32:52reopen and we're gonna flourish again.
32:55And so we wanted to maintain that
32:57capacity and so many of those teachers.
32:59Apply for those jobs and they're
33:01in centers and their providing
33:03substitute services until you know
33:05the the workforce opens back up again.
33:08But if you see here with the
33:10COVID-19 Task force,
33:12we have an internal an
33:13external COVID-19 task force.
33:15Internally our coaches we had to
33:17take care of them so that they
33:19could take care of the providers
33:21and the providers could take care
33:24of children and families and so
33:26that included anti bias cafes.
33:28Anxiety management because there was some.
33:30Empathy,
33:31fatigue and then we align processes
33:33and resources according to the
33:35individual needs of communities
33:37and that included our family,
33:39child care providers, needed iPads.
33:41So we distributed iPads and hot spots
33:43so that we can provide virtual coaching
33:46and stay in touch financial stipends.
33:49All of our providers through the
33:52California Department of Education
33:54receive covid stipends to buy
33:55PPS and we also distributed PPS.
33:58We also work with centers to
34:00create popup centers.
34:02And so nurses who were traveling,
34:04nurses or whatever job that you had,
34:06and you needed a pop-up center we
34:09created those pops in a pop-up centers
34:11throughout the County so that we
34:13could serve our providers to the
34:16our families and our communities
34:17to the best of our abilities.
34:19I believe my time is up and but please
34:22visit our website and I'm happy to
34:25share any resources that we have.
34:27We externally we work very closely
34:29with the Department of Public Health
34:32and Community Care Licensing.
34:33And what we found was there were some
34:35a little bit of conflicting information,
34:37and so we align that information
34:39to inform our providers
34:41and so anything that we have,
34:42we're welcome to share.
34:43We wish you all the best.
34:45And thank you for all that you do.
34:49So again, what do you want to thank you,
34:51Doctor Harris, for that that information.
34:53I love how you know we introduced
34:55the innovative practice and then
34:57for you to talk about how you guys
34:59pivoted to the realization that our
35:01child care providers still have to
35:02have that coaching support, right?
35:04That's still necessary.
35:05So for you guys, the pivot and figure
35:07out a platform to make that happen.
35:09That that is that's truly incredible.
35:11We have some great questions going on
35:13in the chat that I see that we will
35:16definitely address here when we get to
35:18the roundtable but but what amazing work and?
35:20An amazing support that
35:22you do with child 360.
35:23I know Michael Hagan is
35:25super passionate about that.
35:26He shared that with me numerous
35:28times in the in the here,
35:31you today and all your doing for
35:33students in your service area.
35:35We appreciate that we're going
35:36to go to Tracy Smith now.
35:38Who is working every single day with
35:41our youngest or youngest people.
35:43Write our youngest people and
35:44their mental health needs.
35:46She spent a decade in the mental health
35:48in the mental health business working.
35:50With those in need and working on the needs,
35:53and I'd have to imagine Tracy that
35:552020 and Covid has his exasperated
35:57mental health ease of everyone but but
36:00really had to shift your work as we've
36:02talked about with Doctor Harris did.
36:04And in order to shift her work,
36:06I'm so curious to hear,
36:08and I thank you for joining us today
36:11for you to share with us about how.
36:14You have found 2020 in the situation
36:17with covid, make your work shift,
36:19so I'll turn it over to you, Tracy.
36:22Thank you and I'm so happy to be here
36:25with all of you tonight and I'm honored
36:28to be on this panel with Doctor Gilliam
36:31and Doctor Harris and share with you.
36:34Kind of the work that my program has
36:36been going through in servicing our
36:39communities throughout the pandemic.
36:41So I just wanted to give a little
36:43bit of information about ECP.
36:46It's early childhood consultation
36:47partnership in Connecticut Sora
36:48statewide program throughout Connecticut,
36:50we offer free mental health consultation.
36:53To all early childhood providers
36:55throughout the state and their families,
36:57and that we work with children ages
36:59zero to five were a strengths based
37:02program and we really focus on
37:04building capacity of the caregivers.
37:06Um, all of these early childhood providers,
37:09caregivers of these young children
37:10to best meet the social emotional
37:12needs were funded and supported by
37:15Connecticut's Department of Children,
37:16Families and the Office of Early
37:19Childhood making our service free
37:21for all of the providers.
37:22So we have consultants across the state.
37:25If we all cover different
37:27towns throughout the state,
37:28making this our program accessible to
37:30all of the home daycares and all of the
37:33early childhood providers across Connecticut,
37:35and we're also managed by
37:36Advanced Behavioral Health,
37:37and they are located in Middletown,
37:39CT.
37:40We offer a various levels of service.
37:43We offer a child specific service
37:45in a core classroom service where
37:47we further child specific service.
37:50We really bring the family and the
37:52teachers and directors together talk
37:54about concerns and talk about strengths
37:57of the child and then put together
37:59some strategies with action plans again
38:02around those social emotional needs,
38:04behavior management,
38:04teaching, social skills.
38:06All of those different social
38:07emotional pieces and we provide
38:09classroom observations we provide.
38:11On home visits as well as part of
38:13our normal service and I'll get
38:15into kind of how that service has
38:17changed throughout the pandemic,
38:18and we also provide the core
38:21classroom service where we look
38:23at the classroom as a whole.
38:25And we really meet with the teachers.
38:27Ask them what their needs are,
38:29what, what,
38:30what supports they would like
38:31around the social,
38:32emotional in the classroom.
38:34Again, put together strategies.
38:35We do class observations and then we
38:38do series of support visits where
38:39we're coming into the centers,
38:41coaching, modeling with the teachers,
38:43and really implementing all those
38:45strategies from the action plans.
38:46So right now, once the pandemic began,
38:49we had to pause all of our face
38:51to face an in person services and
38:53we first focused on.
38:55Really reaching out to all of our
38:57families and touching base with
38:58the families that were working
39:00with the classrooms that we were
39:02currently working with.
39:03You know, seeing if they were still open.
39:05If if many children were home,
39:07I found at least with my services that
39:09most of the children were home now
39:11either parents just to keep them home
39:13or the child care centers had closed.
39:15So we did a lot of outreach and kind of
39:18were able to touch base with all of
39:20these programs and see where they're at.
39:22If they were open or closed,
39:24what their needs were.
39:25Many were many state remained
39:27open throughout the pandemic,
39:28some some closed down for a period of
39:31time and then reopen some clothes until
39:33the start of the school year in the fall.
39:37Really gave us a chance to feel out
39:39what they were all going through.
39:40Especially the ones that stayed open
39:42and had to make so many changes.
39:44You know those first few months
39:46they were there.
39:47There are many changes and continue
39:49to have changes so they were they
39:51were really dealing with a lot
39:52and we we talked a lot with them
39:54about stress and financials,
39:56financial stress and everything
39:57around the pandemic that they were
39:59all going through in dealing with.
40:00Parents at home that had children
40:02at home were trying to work
40:04from home at the same time.
40:06Again, lots of you know,
40:07lots of jobs for teachers.
40:09Everything like that.
40:10So it really gave us an opportunity
40:12in those first few months since our
40:15services were paused at the time to
40:16be able to reach out and really,
40:18really kind of figure out what the
40:20mental health needs were for these.
40:22For all of these providers early
40:24in the parents and the families and
40:26how all the stress and everything
40:28that they were going through was
40:30affecting the young children as well.
40:31Around during during those first few months,
40:34our program managers were developing a
40:36virtual model of our service so that
40:38we could do our Tele consultation
40:40services and pick back up our services.
40:42So may we rolled that out and at
40:44that time we were really focusing on
40:47recruitment and outreach and trying
40:49to touch base with every single center
40:51in home daycare in our coverage areas.
40:53So we have again we have
40:55consultants across the state,
40:57so we're all working on this at
40:59the same time and that really gave
41:01us some great connections to some.
41:04Centers and providers that we
41:05that maybe don't know about us.
41:07And again we got there was an
41:09array of needs across the state.
41:12Depending on if the centers were closed,
41:13if some teachers were home again,
41:15everything that Doctor Harris
41:16also was talking about in terms
41:18of centers being open or closed,
41:20or parents choosing to keep
41:21children home so that they gave
41:23us a really nice time to to again
41:25address those mental health needs.
41:26Figure out what those needs were.
41:28All of all the stress people were
41:30going through an and talk about how
41:32this is affecting the young children.
41:34And again there were so many transitions
41:36even at that period and then again
41:38through the summer and with a lot
41:40of centers reopening in the fall,
41:41we were trying to.
41:43Really provides support work
41:44wherever we could.
41:45During that time,
41:46we're still kind of rolling
41:48out the Tele consultation,
41:50so we put together a series
41:52of webinars that we
41:54worked on. His other consultants worked on.
41:57Those are on our website that I
41:59can definitely share with you.
42:01It's www.eccpct.com.
42:02We have webinars, webinars,
42:04up their resources,
42:05handouts that we were working on related
42:07to covid stress management webinars,
42:10how to create routines at home for children.
42:13All of those different things,
42:14behavior management strategies for parents
42:17at home with many children at home.
42:21So we're working on all of those,
42:23and then our services,
42:24the Tele Consultation services
42:25specifically kind of picked up
42:27towards the end of the summer.
42:28So where I have some services open
42:30right now where we're working again,
42:32we're providing our child
42:33specific service virtually.
42:34We have all of our meetings.
42:36We are doing our action plans
42:38and providing strategies,
42:39and again,
42:39we're learning a lot about the
42:41needs of these children with all of
42:43the changes that are taking place
42:45and all of the all the guidelines
42:47around around the pandemic and what
42:49all of these centers have to do.
42:51In terms of social distancing
42:53and mass and all of that,
42:55and we also are providing rather
42:57than a core classroom service.
42:58Right now we're providing kind
43:00of a center wide level service
43:02so we can really meet the needs
43:04of the entire center rather than
43:06focusing on a specific classroom.
43:08So all of the staff in the center
43:10can can benefit from that service.
43:12We provide social emotional training.
43:14Again, the support visits many resources,
43:16strategies that they can use,
43:17and things that are really
43:19relevant to what they're dealing
43:20with currently during this.
43:22Pandemic,
43:22so again,
43:23we've throughout throughout all
43:24of this I've been in contact
43:26with many centers in my area.
43:28I have a large area that I cover
43:30and I've learned a lot about
43:32what they're going through.
43:33The mental health needs of parents at home,
43:36teachers and centers.
43:37Teachers have maybe children at home.
43:39All of the stress around that.
43:41And really,
43:41how that's affecting the young children
43:43in their care or young children
43:45that are that are home as well.
43:47So I'm happy to share that with you today.
43:50I'm excited for our discussion and to share.
43:53More more in depth of what I've
43:56what we've noticed as a program.
43:58Thank you.
44:00Again, I appreciate what the
44:02entire panel shared with us today.
44:03I will ask Tracy as we as we move into
44:06question and the answers and I appreciate
44:08we have numerous questions from the
44:10from the audience and I will get to as
44:12many of those as we can get to today.
44:15I wanted to start Tracy.
44:16Could you share, you know in terms of with
44:19your experience over the last decade,
44:21what specifically you've seen an increase
44:22of or maybe even a decrease of through
44:24covid times in children like other
44:26specific behaviors or under specific
44:28mental health needs that you've said?
44:30Oh, that's new.
44:30Or that's something different
44:31that we don't see as frequently.
44:34Yeah, there's it's interesting because
44:36the I think it's I've been looking at
44:38centers kind of individually because
44:40some of these centers have been
44:42open the whole time and I've really
44:44figured everything out and are kind
44:46of going with the flow and rolling
44:48with the changes and everything.
44:50Some centers were closed, you know,
44:52throughout the whole summer and you know
44:54had to reopen and re and really implement
44:56all these guidelines and policies.
44:58Some centers kind of opened
44:59and closed back up,
45:01so there's been a lot of
45:03changes for these children.
45:04There's been a.
45:05A lot of transitions in the classroom
45:08teachers having to leave or being out sick,
45:10and we know that you know,
45:12for children transitions are very
45:14difficult at the at the IT was
45:17interesting in reaching out to the
45:18centers at the beginning of the pandemic.
45:21They kind of shared that the children
45:23that were still that they were
45:25seeing less behavior concerns at the
45:27beginning because they had such low
45:29numbers and they were able to focus
45:32on the those particular children.
45:33Those challenging behaviors and really.
45:35You know, meet their social emotional needs,
45:37but as were you know,
45:38centers are picking back up and
45:40people have to go back to work and.
45:42So there's more and more children there.
45:44Now we're seeing more of those
45:46challenging behaviors again,
45:47but I think in terms of.
45:50Things like wearing masks and
45:52social distancing.
45:52Those have really have an effect
45:54on children because you know,
45:56our program really promotes
45:57the social emotional piece,
45:58so all of these things like.
46:01Taking turns teaching teaching
46:03cooperation skills.
46:03Working together.
46:04You know how do you teach those skills
46:06when you have to stay socially distance,
46:09you know in terms of mass for like
46:11for the toddlers and infant ages,
46:13you know these teachers have
46:15to wear masks and they don't.
46:17You know they they're missing out on
46:19those facial expressions and everything
46:20that they learn through through
46:22their face through teacher faces.
46:24So that's definitely having an impact.
46:26Even just keeping you know.
46:27How do you keep toddlers from wanting
46:30to be touching each other and?
46:31Playing together and so it's really
46:33been a shift of, you know, how do we?
46:36How do we get creative in being
46:38able to still build these skills
46:40while remaining safe and following
46:42the guidelines and protocols that
46:44all these centers have been given?
46:46So I'm working with a couple of
46:48classrooms right now that are
46:50trying to trying to again get
46:52creative and think of ways we
46:54can do cooperative activities.
46:55Kind of in our own space and how we can
46:58teach self regulation skills and be able
47:01Doctor Harris mentioned like the cozy corner.
47:03The cozy area you know, how do you?
47:05How do you make a cozy area when you
47:08can't use cozy items and you know soft?
47:10Like you know stuffed animals
47:11and things like that.
47:12How do you?
47:13How do you make that cozy for them?
47:15So we've been trying trying to work with
47:17teachers to get creative around that,
47:19and I think one of the biggest
47:21pieces of that is is to,
47:22you know, with our service.
47:23It gives you know with these teachers
47:25are dealing with so much in the
47:27classroom and the stress related to
47:29this whole pandemic it's I think it's
47:30hard for them to even take a step back
47:33to start to even think about trying to.
47:35Problem solved,
47:36any you know these different situations
47:38that they're coming across so?
47:39It's been important for with our
47:41service they they get a chance
47:43to get out of the classroom for
47:45minute and sit with me and another
47:47consultants and really problem solving.
47:49Brainstorm. How can we do this?
47:51But yes,
47:51I think in terms of the mental
47:53health needs and I think there's
47:55been an impact just on just the
47:57interactions with children.
47:58We focus so much on the relationship
48:00and those interactions.
48:01And again teaching how to take turns
48:03and share and work properly together.
48:05And when we can't be together.
48:07So I think that's one of the biggest.
48:09Things that we've seen.
48:11Yeah,
48:11absolutely yeah.
48:12That that social interaction of all ages.
48:14I think we even recognize as adults
48:16you know that that need you know,
48:18that's that's that's interesting to hear.
48:20You say that we know as adults at the
48:22zoom world has has taken its toll on us.
48:25And having the social interaction and.
48:27And yeah, that yeah,
48:28that's that's that's excellent feedback
48:30that that we have to really be looking for
48:33innovative ways to encourage that in a in
48:35a socially distance setting at that store.
48:37Or definitely in a virtual setting, right?
48:39And then.
48:40Yeah, and you said there Tracy,
48:41which I thought was so interesting,
48:43is to think about his teachers.
48:45We how we're all expressive, right?
48:46Like naturally as teachers were
48:48expressive and how that's that is part
48:50of our teaching and in the in the do
48:52that in the different with a mask on
48:54at times and what that does in oral
48:56language development is fascinating.
48:57And then the social emotional side of that.
48:59Yeah, just that closeness of, you
49:01know when when a child gets hurt you
49:03want to hug them and you want to
49:04be close and be able to create all
49:07them and and children learn those
49:08skills to do to one another one.
49:11They learned that if a child falls down,
49:13let me help him up and give him a hug.
49:15And um, if it, especially if teachers aren't,
49:17you know they have to adhere
49:19to these guidelines,
49:20but some may be really worried
49:21about it as well and might have
49:23kind of a panic response,
49:24which again that you know it's
49:26confusing for children to to.
49:28To now be kind of the opposite of everything.
49:30They've been learning this whole time. So
49:32yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, great.
49:34Great points, Heather there
49:35we had a great question.
49:36I thought you might be.
49:38Might be perfect to answer
49:39for us one I will ask.
49:41Kind of two parts here to start and
49:43then let the panel chime in as well.
49:46But one there there's a lot of interest
49:48in if if districts are interested
49:49in some of the support that you
49:51offer that aren't California based.
49:53If you have suggestions for them,
49:55but that you offer through child 360
49:57but but then maybe more specifically.
49:59If you would talk about in the.
50:00After panel, think about I thought.
50:03Families at home.
50:04We've always encouraged them to
50:05to support the learning at home,
50:07but more now than ever what we asked
50:09him to do is to encourage the learning.
50:12Maybe away from the screen, right?
50:13Because we are getting a lot of screen time,
50:16so resources or ideas to help families
50:18with you know that learning by play,
50:20which we all believe in at a young age
50:22and how you can help families do that,
50:25whether that's putting them in
50:26contact with people who can give
50:28them physical resources to encourage
50:29learning at player ideas you have,
50:31so I'll let the panel think about that.
50:33Question, and Heather,
50:34if you wouldn't mind starting with
50:37how they districts across the country
50:39might get in touch with you for
50:42the services or similar services,
50:44and then we can all extend into
50:46that that
50:47play at home question certainly please.
50:49That's why I put the our website.
50:52Please access our website.
50:53I think that the trainings are universal.
50:56We focus on we have coaches who
50:59are certified and zero to three.
51:01We have self paced courses on an.
51:04Anti bias cafe.
51:05Social emotional cafes mindfulness trauma
51:08informed care and those are universal
51:10messages that we all can benefit from.
51:13We also offer coaching institutes and
51:15so if you have coaches in your district
51:18around your County or state or if you'd
51:22like to do something like what we do,
51:25we we do offer coaching institutes,
51:27leadership Institute servant
51:28leadership institutes certainly.
51:30And concerning the second part
51:32of your question had to do with.
51:35Specific resources that you
51:36could use in the home, right?
51:39How did this, especially for
51:40play right play based learning?
51:42Yeah, on our website we have homegrown
51:45activities and So what we've done is
51:48we have model with our children and
51:50our grandchildren in our own home.
51:52Some activities and using materials
51:54around the house. And you know,
51:57they're across the different disciplines
51:58so it could be a social emotional activity.
52:01How to engage in expressions.
52:03Or it could be a math activity.
52:06And those are homegrown activities
52:08in their small video vignettes,
52:09no more than three to five minutes
52:11that you can take advantage of.
52:13And teachers and families have found that,
52:15um, extremely helpful as well.
52:18Awesome, yeah,
52:19Walter Tracy.
52:19Anything to add about about that?
52:21About the needs and really incorporate
52:23our families in play based learning,
52:25especially if they're in a fully
52:27virtual early childhood care right now.
52:32Yeah, I think again at the beginning of
52:34our of the pandemic we are, you know,
52:37reaching out to these families,
52:39especially the ones we were working
52:41with but trying to get our name out
52:44there to families that we didn't know.
52:46So we asked Chad providers to kind
52:48of give our information out to all
52:51the families so they could contact us
52:54and a lot were looking for ways to
52:56sort of mimic the the early childhood
52:58their their classroom schedule,
53:00but at home and we always encourage,
53:02you know.
53:03The importance of play and just having
53:05different interactive activities in
53:06our projects and things like that.
53:08So we we do have some resources
53:10on our website as well and I can.
53:12I can share our website in the chat or
53:14the question answer if that's easier.
53:17But just wait different activities
53:19to do at home.
53:20There's there's a resource with all
53:22all different sort of play activities
53:24that you can do with your child,
53:26and I think all those things help
53:28you know the mental health of the
53:30parent and the child together.
53:32If there's there,
53:33they incorporate these things.
53:34They're doing them together that
53:36we encourage,
53:36like some relaxing activities like
53:38doing some yoga together at home.
53:40Just anything to to really have them
53:42interacting with one another and
53:43siblings too as well, bringing siblings.
53:45And if their siblings at home.
53:47To keep you know,
53:48keep them busy throughout the day,
53:50like have some sort of schedule but
53:52have flexibility to have that play
53:54and outdoor time and all of that too.
53:56Great,
53:56I wanted to add Tracy.
53:58I know that you can relate
54:01that during this time.
54:02You know I worked in early childhood.
54:05My entire careeer Ann.
54:06I remember given orientations to families
54:08and an empowering families and sharing.
54:11You are your child's first teacher
54:13and so I think it's just motivating
54:15our families to validate them
54:17and know that they have all the
54:20skills and love and abilities to
54:22offer those in home activities.
54:24And so we have developed some on our website,
54:27some brochures that helps families.
54:29You know, with with with whether it's
54:32facilitating a discussion or an activity,
54:33but again,
54:34just for you know empowering families
54:36and then of course through the coaching.
54:38You know we jump on calls with
54:40families through family engagement
54:41and with our providers an just
54:44validate their ability to be
54:45their child's first teacher.
54:46That's so important because there's
54:48so much going on all around you.
54:50You're like I'm not equipped to do
54:52this and it's like you certainly are.
54:55You certainly able to do the
54:57best you could do in your
54:59home, right? Right, yeah
55:00awesome yeah and it Walter
55:01yeah I knew you had.
55:03Yeah go ahead go ahead.
55:04I was just going to
55:05add that I'm glad the doctor here said
55:08that parents with their child's first
55:09teacher and in the other part of the two
55:12that I might want to add is that in just
55:14about everything that you're doing already
55:16is something that could be a lesson.
55:18You know if you want to talk about, you
55:20know things that you can do at home books.
55:23There is no child so young and no child
55:25so old that you can't read with them.
55:27You can read a book with any child of
55:30any age. It's just about finding the
55:32right kind of material and finding
55:34the way in which you want to read it,
55:36either two or with or in exchange
55:38with that child.
55:39If you're making dinner.
55:40There is a reading lesson in that there
55:43is a food science lesson in there
55:45and there is a math lesson in that.
55:47How many tablespoons do I needed that laugh?
55:50I wanted to make twice as much of that,
55:52just even doing something that some
55:54people called broadcasting just going
55:56through your day and talking out loud.
55:58Just things that you think in your
56:00head about how you did that all makes
56:03everything that you do a lesson to the
56:05child who can now see what you're doing.
56:07But also hear what you're thinking
56:09just going about.
56:10Your everyday life in a way that your
56:13child can experience it and understand
56:15what it is that you're doing and why
56:17you're doing it that way in here,
56:19what your inner thoughts are is
56:21a lesson in and of itself.
56:23Parents are indeed children's first teachers,
56:25and the lessons are already built in.
56:29Yeah, that's great and what a great reminder.
56:32Undergrounding the Yale the Yale Child
56:34Study Center collaborative with Scholastic
56:35is built on the power of story, right?
56:37It's built on that idea of even though
56:39we frequently think as educators
56:41of the power of story and book and
56:43man is the power of story in book.
56:45Amazing, that's a great piece to
56:47remember that the power of story
56:49originally is oral story, right?
56:50Like that? That of course was
56:52the first story was always oral.
56:54It was way before written language
56:55and so utilizing that power of
56:57story and what you do.
56:59It is such a powerful reminder, yeah,
57:01that yeah, fantastic reminders group.
57:02Thank you guys.
57:03A quick question on kind of the
57:05physical mechanics of childhood
57:07centers and I'll start with you,
57:09Walter and go back to you to start
57:11here in terms of recommendations
57:13for and an both Tracy and Heather
57:15talked about the the what the
57:17socially distancing does inside of
57:18the classroom and how we need to pay
57:21attention to the additional social
57:22emotional needs that come from that.
57:24What are the recommendations around social
57:27distancing and even we had a great question.
57:30In the chat about are we finding that
57:32most child care providers have them wear
57:34the mask the entire day except for nap?
57:36Or is there some variations of that
57:38that that have led to success and I
57:41know that's a big question to ask,
57:43but if you guys could share
57:44experiences around that,
57:45around successes and or struggles when
57:47we'll start with Walter churning and
57:49I'd say it's a complicated thing,
57:50especially when you're thinking about,
57:52you know, like how do you social distance
57:54from my child you know who needs to be
57:57held and you want to hold the child,
57:59and sometimes they will.
58:00All of you want it.
58:02They want to protect and hold the child.
58:04And of course they want to be
58:06near each other and the masks,
58:08and I think I think both of them with
58:10the other two speakers spoke about
58:12about the complexities of wearing masks.
58:14You know around children,
58:16and can they read your facial expression
58:18like I think all of these things are
58:20things worthwhile for us to consider,
58:22but at the same time,
58:23one of the things that I learned
58:26along time ago is this.
58:27It takes a lot of time and patience to
58:30get children to change their routine.
58:32But it takes a whole lot more
58:34time and patience to get adults
58:36to change their routine,
58:37and so if the adults are generally
58:40comfortable with the change that happens and
58:42goes about it as if it is a normal thing.
58:45In many cases,
58:45children will take their cues from US adults.
58:48I can't tell you how many
58:50times I've had parents say,
58:51you know my child is getting
58:53ready to go to kindergarten.
58:55Get a bus for the very first time.
58:57What can I do to help my child feel
59:00more comfortable going to school?
59:02And usually my first thing that
59:04I say to them is how do you feel
59:06about your child going to school?
59:08How do you feel?
59:09Have you met the school bus driver 'cause
59:12you're going to put your child on that bus?
59:14If you met this person and you and your
59:17child is going to go to the kindergarten,
59:19have you had a chance to meet the
59:22kindergarten teacher who's going
59:23to be with your child all day long
59:25with the reality is when a child
59:27is uncertain about whatever thing
59:29is new or stressful or unusual,
59:30they will immediately turn to
59:32the trusted adults.
59:33And look at their expression
59:34and borrow their feeling.
59:35And if we are generally comfortable
59:37with what we're doing,
59:39then we can loan our comfort to the
59:41child and the child will take it.
59:43But if we're not comfortable
59:45with what we're doing,
59:46then we have nothing left to give the child.
59:49And so to a large degree,
59:50I think a big part of the answer to
59:53your question is we get children
59:55feeling comfortable with the
59:56new changes that we have to do
59:58in order to keep them safe.
01:00:00By making sure that we first
01:00:02were comfortable with it,
01:00:03that our teachers or child care
01:00:05providers are supported and given the
01:00:07supplies and the staffing that they
01:00:09need in order to be successful with it,
01:00:11and that they feel comfortable enough
01:00:13to be a source of comfort to their children.
01:00:17Well
01:00:17yeah, that's a great.
01:00:19What a great advice I was.
01:00:21I couldn't help but think of parenting
01:00:23advice right there when you said loan,
01:00:26our comfort to our children right?
01:00:28Like great,
01:00:28great for and they'll receive it.
01:00:30Yeah, Heather further dig
01:00:32deeper into that conversation.
01:00:33There. Certainly I agree with Doctor Gilliam.
01:00:36I think that I'd like to expand just
01:00:38a little bit to say that we have
01:00:40to ensure that our early childhood
01:00:43education providers have their
01:00:44oxygen mask on 1st so that you know.
01:00:47They can offer it to the
01:00:49children or offer it to,
01:00:51you know their their colleagues,
01:00:53and so I think taking care of self and
01:00:56being honest with yourself you know can I
01:00:59actually handle this an am I going to be,
01:01:02you know the best source of energy
01:01:04for children you know right now in
01:01:07this particular situation and then
01:01:09on top of that for administrators
01:01:11to be able to tell teachers it's
01:01:13OK if today is not your best day.
01:01:16But in order to do that we have to.
01:01:19US County level and state level
01:01:22issues that we've been talking
01:01:24about in early childhood for long,
01:01:26long time,
01:01:27which is providing the finances
01:01:29providing an opportunity for
01:01:31providers voice to be heard.
01:01:33As far as what are their needs
01:01:35and how do we actually meet them
01:01:38when the pandemic began,
01:01:40you know it was so important
01:01:42through our public office that
01:01:44we were informing the governor's
01:01:46office as far as vouchers that
01:01:49are needed PPE's that are needed.
01:01:51And so just being a voice in
01:01:53advocating for our field is a senchal,
01:01:55and that's the only way that our our
01:01:58providers are going to be able to
01:02:00put an oxygen mask on themselves.
01:02:02You know, these are all.
01:02:03It's all fine and dandy to make
01:02:05these recommendations,
01:02:06but if you don't have the funding
01:02:07available or you don't have the
01:02:09additional staff available or you
01:02:11don't have a hotspot available if
01:02:12you're not addressing digital divide,
01:02:14then, then what's the point?
01:02:16So actually hearing what the
01:02:17providers needs and then advocating
01:02:19for them to get their needs met.
01:02:22Yeah, thank you. Yeah yeah absolutely.
01:02:24And I know that education is such a huge
01:02:26part of your work that you do and and and
01:02:29we certainly support that in all we can.
01:02:32And please always reach out to our
01:02:34US as partners to support that work
01:02:36is yes we have to make sure that
01:02:38our teachers are taking care of.
01:02:40We have to make sure that they're they're in
01:02:42a safe spot in order to provide for the kids.
01:02:45But I love that conversation.
01:02:47Tracy, let me ask you a question
01:02:49that from our chat box.
01:02:50What do you feel will be?
01:02:52We know that their social, emotional
01:02:54impacts you know what level of worry,
01:02:56and I think a lot of what?
01:02:57What Heather and Walter addressed there
01:02:59with with OK take confidence in it,
01:03:01but what are your worries as a
01:03:02as a mental health problem?
01:03:07I hope it's sooner than later about the
01:03:09long term effects on these students.
01:03:11What can we expect kindergarten
01:03:12to look like for these students?
01:03:15Yeah, I think that that's definitely
01:03:17a big concern is as all the like
01:03:20when I was talking about all of
01:03:22the skills that we usually teach
01:03:24in terms of the social, emotional.
01:03:26If they're they're not able to get some of
01:03:29those things and are really affected by,
01:03:31you know, the the the adults around them.
01:03:33Going back to Walter said when I was
01:03:36reaching out to all these centers,
01:03:38that was one of the biggest themes
01:03:40that they were talking about in terms
01:03:42of what Walton had were talking about.
01:03:45That these children are resilient that
01:03:47they do what they're supposed to do there,
01:03:49wearing their masses.
01:03:50That's us adults around them
01:03:52that are having you know,
01:03:53you know so much stress and
01:03:55issues around everything,
01:03:56and that is eventually going
01:03:58to affect these children.
01:03:59But wouldn't they initially notice
01:04:01was that they were really having
01:04:03no no problem with it, it was.
01:04:05It was our reactions as adults
01:04:06that was that was different,
01:04:08but in terms of the mental health
01:04:10needs of children and being ready
01:04:12to go into kindergarten and all the
01:04:14transitions that they've been through.
01:04:16That's that is a big worry because.
01:04:19There's just so much going on for
01:04:21them right now in these centers,
01:04:24with against teachers changing teachers,
01:04:25being out sick,
01:04:26they have to go home and and
01:04:29isolate if they've been exposed.
01:04:31Even um.
01:04:33Things like parents drop off outside
01:04:34so that connection with the teacher.
01:04:36Alot of centers are having parents
01:04:38drop off outside and pick up kind of
01:04:40in an outdoor situation so they don't
01:04:42always get to kind of connect with the
01:04:44teachers and build that relationship.
01:04:46All of that.
01:04:47I think that plays a big part in
01:04:49two to everything that's going
01:04:50on with these children as well.
01:04:52If the parents don't feel less
01:04:54connected to their teachers and and
01:04:56vice versa if the teachers don't
01:04:57feels connected to the parents and
01:04:59able to communicate everything with
01:05:00them in terms of their particular
01:05:02child in the classroom.
01:05:03Uh,
01:05:04concerns how things are going those
01:05:06those those everyday interactions usually
01:05:08happen during a drop off and pick up,
01:05:10and that's that's a huge thing that
01:05:13they're missing right now and just again,
01:05:15just the skills around all you know,
01:05:18the social interaction went when we think
01:05:20of sending our children into kindergarten.
01:05:22The you know,
01:05:23those teachers want these children
01:05:25to be able to regulate their emotions
01:05:27and interact with one another.
01:05:29And all of those social emotional pieces
01:05:32that it might be difficult to really.
01:05:35Really,
01:05:35teaching and dive into right
01:05:36now with the focus being being
01:05:38so many other places around.
01:05:40You know how often do I have to
01:05:42clean these different things?
01:05:43And again, the mass,
01:05:44but I think again vector back to
01:05:46Walter said it's so important to
01:05:48do that broadcasting and narrating,
01:05:50especially for for the toddler age,
01:05:52is just constantly because we can't
01:05:54see our facial expression other than,
01:05:55you know,
01:05:56we talk about happy eyes and
01:05:58things like
01:05:58that or stern eyes.
01:06:00But you know, narrating what
01:06:01they're doing throughout the day,
01:06:03every single thought that they
01:06:04have and the importance of.
01:06:06You know these these these tiny children
01:06:08being able to hear all of that,
01:06:10but yes, that's that.
01:06:11That's definitely a worry in a concern,
01:06:13and we're we're again trying to to
01:06:15put those things out there in our
01:06:17in our support visits and meetings
01:06:19with these with these teachers
01:06:20and directors and 50 importance
01:06:22of of still trying to focus on the
01:06:25social emotional pieces as much as
01:06:27possible and get the children to
01:06:28practice these skills even if they
01:06:30have to kind of be in their own
01:06:32space to practice and read again.
01:06:34Reading reading stories about
01:06:36self regulation techniques.
01:06:37How to calm our bodies down.
01:06:38How to slower engines down being
01:06:40able to take some space in the
01:06:42in over in the cozy area?
01:06:43Or maybe maybe a solution to that
01:06:45is is building each child their own
01:06:47little cozy box where they can bring
01:06:48that box and it's their own items?
01:06:50Maybe some items from home that
01:06:52they can bring to a spot in and
01:06:54kind of talk about feelings and
01:06:56being able to self regulate and.
01:06:57And you know,
01:06:58having cooperative activities where
01:07:00maybe we're taking turns doing
01:07:01something in a Safeway and trying to
01:07:03figure out how to be be mindful of that,
01:07:05and be creative and and continue to
01:07:08build those skills as much as possible.
01:07:10My love back.
01:07:12Apple sentence is in there because I'm.
01:07:14I'm so glad that Tracy mentioned,
01:07:16you know the issue of teachers getting sick.
01:07:18You know when we were.
01:07:21Checking the survey that we that we did,
01:07:2477% of the teachers reported
01:07:25on the 57 thousand child care
01:07:27providers across the nation,
01:07:2977% reported that they were worried or
01:07:31very worried that they make it sick.
01:07:3374% worried or very worried that they
01:07:36may bring sickness home to a family
01:07:38member that they get in the course of
01:07:40providing childcare and the largest percent.
01:07:4379% worried that they themselves
01:07:44might get the children sick and so
01:07:47the amount of worry that these child
01:07:49care providers carry is significant
01:07:50and from a policy standpoint from the
01:07:53advocating standpoint that Doctor
01:07:54Harris was talking about before.
01:07:56Here's some things to advocate
01:07:58for for child care providers.
01:07:59Sick pain so that child care providers who
01:08:02are hourly workers primarily not salaried.
01:08:04Workers don't have to be put in a
01:08:06Sophie's choice of deciding whether
01:08:07or not to go to child care program
01:08:10and potentially bring sickness with
01:08:12them or stay at home and not get paid
01:08:15and not have the money necessary
01:08:16for them to be able to put food
01:08:19on the table for their own family.
01:08:21Or how about this one?
01:08:23Vaccination prioritization for
01:08:24teachers and childcare providers,
01:08:25especially our teachers and childcare.
01:08:27Providers of color,
01:08:28especially when you're talking
01:08:29about child care programs.
01:08:31Child care programs,
01:08:32especially,
01:08:32are primarily staff were disproportionately
01:08:34staffed by child care providers of color.
01:08:36If we want to protect our children
01:08:39and our child care programs in our schools,
01:08:42that means protecting women overwhelmingly.
01:08:43An especially women of color.
01:08:45The measure of how much of society truly
01:08:48loves and values his babies is how will
01:08:51we take care of those who care for them.
01:08:57Here, here.
01:08:59Yeah, and then I intentionally let that said.
01:09:02I mean, I. Yes yeah, yeah.
01:09:03May we leave today when we leave here in
01:09:0620 minutes and intake that advocation
01:09:08forward and I want us all as a group.
01:09:10That's what this collaborative is about.
01:09:12It's about bringing professionals
01:09:14together to have the open dialogue
01:09:16about what has to happen to take
01:09:17care of our youngest children and and
01:09:19and think this this collaboration.
01:09:21This conversation right now
01:09:22is is so critical for that.
01:09:24And then then the number of people here.
01:09:26As we said, we have people joining
01:09:28us from from Egypt.
01:09:30Doctor Harris,
01:09:30all somebody from Egypt today and
01:09:32in the knowledge that that's how far
01:09:34reaching this conversation is in in
01:09:36that advocation for young students
01:09:37and for for not just the funding of
01:09:39the educational programs with the
01:09:41funding of those teachers who are who
01:09:43are there for to make to make it happen.
01:09:45Yeah, I mean,
01:09:46we've we've answered the questions today,
01:09:47and I think it.
01:09:48I think it's so important that we
01:09:50that we recognize as a panel in the
01:09:52group that's come together today,
01:09:54virtually to say that the answers
01:09:56start with our reactions as adults.
01:09:57That's how you've answered,
01:09:58you know, our four questions so far.
01:10:01Is it begins with the reactions
01:10:02of those people that are that are
01:10:04at the front of the classroom?
01:10:06And so I I mean,
01:10:08I just think it's so critical that
01:10:10we continue to leave when we leave
01:10:12in 20 minutes today with the message
01:10:14to everyone who will listen about
01:10:16the importance of that.
01:10:17So, so thank you that that's powerful.
01:10:19That was goosebumps and Ann.
01:10:20And thank you,
01:10:21thank you for that conversation.
01:10:23I I'll transition that right to
01:10:25Heather and her coaching work that she
01:10:27does currently in a virtual setting.
01:10:28So when we talk about the
01:10:30early childhood providers and.
01:10:32And what you're seeing when you're
01:10:34doing coaching sessions inside
01:10:35of classrooms and a lot of times
01:10:36in a virtual setting right now?
01:10:38You know, we ask,
01:10:39try ask Tracy before about what
01:10:41she sees is kind of a a new need
01:10:43in 2020 with the situation.
01:10:44What do you see from a coaching
01:10:46standpoint from from our teachers that
01:10:48they need extra support in in this situation?
01:10:50While coaching these teachers?
01:10:52And you need that popped up for us.
01:10:55Is family engagement facilitating learning
01:10:57in the home and so that was new for us.
01:11:00You know, when it came to me in
01:11:03case management that districts are
01:11:04asking if our coaches could get on
01:11:07a call with the teacher and families
01:11:09to facilitate learning in the home.
01:11:12That was a new one for us.
01:11:14The good thing is that we have a
01:11:16wonderful pool of experts within
01:11:18our organization that specialize in
01:11:20family engagement and so we accessed.
01:11:23Those resources Anne shared them
01:11:24with all of the coaches and shared
01:11:26them with our providers as well,
01:11:28but that was a new one for us.
01:11:30Was coaching the teacher in real
01:11:31time while they were facilitating
01:11:33learning in the classroom.
01:11:35Well, well, yeah. And actually had
01:11:37another question in the chat box and
01:11:39will open this up 'cause it's kind of.
01:11:41It's a tough one and then it
01:11:43says as a former principle,
01:11:45it's something I always openly
01:11:46admit I struggled the most with has
01:11:48in this situation. Have we seen?
01:11:50Can anybody give a really strong
01:11:52example 'cause this question has
01:11:53come up two or three times today?
01:11:55As we've spoken of tangible
01:11:57resources this year that you've said
01:11:59that really work to engage family
01:12:00like that specific thing, man,
01:12:02that that that happened for him, right?
01:12:04Like that got families.
01:12:05Interested in any and again will
01:12:07anyone can start on that one.
01:12:09I'll look to see who on mute first
01:12:11so you don't talk over each other,
01:12:14but where that's really been where
01:12:16that's really been a valuable in a value.
01:12:18Added tangible examples of that
01:12:20are so critical.
01:12:22I'm so happy that you asked that question.
01:12:25Jimmy, 'cause I asked that
01:12:26question two to the coaches.
01:12:28I said what is the one thing that
01:12:31providers really appreciated and they
01:12:33said it was the books for children
01:12:36for them to be able to deliver those
01:12:38books to the home in Scholastic.
01:12:40And I'm not just saying
01:12:42this because we're partners,
01:12:43but Scholastic delivered books,
01:12:45two children's homes and that that
01:12:47was an issue that we've never
01:12:49come across as far as like the
01:12:51logistics of getting supplies.
01:12:53To children's house you know we get
01:12:55them to districts and you know they
01:12:57get distributed to classrooms and
01:12:58then from there they get to children.
01:13:00But when we when we had this funding
01:13:02and I reached out to Michael and
01:13:04Greg and I said hey we have some
01:13:07funding and we want to get you
01:13:09know books in the hands of all the
01:13:11children in California and they
01:13:12said great they put me in touch with
01:13:14the right people and we actually
01:13:16you all shipped books to children
01:13:18in their home and so for children
01:13:20to receive those books and then be
01:13:22able to talk about their books with.
01:13:24With their teacher,
01:13:25that was one of the largest and most
01:13:28grateful things that we could have done.
01:13:30You know,
01:13:31for our families and far children it just
01:13:33really infuse some hapiness in the home.
01:13:36And then I think families felt heard.
01:13:38They felt like they weren't forgotten.
01:13:40You know that we didn't have to survey
01:13:42and say who's the neediest family.
01:13:44Just it was everyone received a book
01:13:47and everyone can benefit from that.
01:13:51Wow, thank you. Yeah,
01:13:52yeah that that's that's beautiful.
01:13:54Thank you. Tracy Walter,
01:13:55any any piece that Excel
01:13:57Tracy you nodding their
01:13:59go ahead? Yes, I agree.
01:14:00We with our service we meet with
01:14:03the parents and the teachers.
01:14:05Virtually right now we put together
01:14:07action plans with strategy,
01:14:08goals and strategies around the particular
01:14:11child or the again the center as a whole.
01:14:14But with the parents involved.
01:14:16Part of that action plan is really
01:14:18bringing bringing everybody together and.
01:14:20Putting together some very specific
01:14:22strategies with resources that the
01:14:24parents can use at home with the child
01:14:26in the teachers can use in the child
01:14:28care facility in the classroom with the
01:14:30child and the goal of that is so that
01:14:33we find some responses to behaviors
01:14:35and strategies that work for the child,
01:14:37and they will.
01:14:38The child will see them in both
01:14:40places so the teachers know
01:14:42what's going on in the classroom,
01:14:44an invoice and an parents know what's
01:14:46going on as well, so vice versa,
01:14:48they both use the same exact strategies.
01:14:50In the same resources,
01:14:52so part of it part of that action
01:14:54plan meeting, I email out.
01:14:56Now that we're virtual,
01:14:57usually in person, I'll be,
01:14:59you know,
01:15:00I laminate and give them these
01:15:02printable printable social
01:15:03stories and visuals with feelings,
01:15:04visuals,
01:15:05any anything visual an things at
01:15:07tangible that they can read an look
01:15:09at when they're teaching children
01:15:10these self regulation techniques.
01:15:12Or and I can use my words book
01:15:15I can be a super friend,
01:15:17all different kinds of printable resources,
01:15:19social stories that the.
01:15:20Children can see in both places,
01:15:22both at the home and at the school.
01:15:24So it really brings everyone
01:15:26together and giving them actual
01:15:27things that they can print out.
01:15:29Hang up.
01:15:29I had an I found really through
01:15:31through our services now through
01:15:33this Tele consultation that parents
01:15:34are very engaged in the service and
01:15:36I'm not sure if it's working from
01:15:38home or kind of giving them the
01:15:40opportunity to print these things out.
01:15:42But you know,
01:15:42I have one family that took
01:15:44their child to Staples.
01:15:45They printed out all of the resources that I,
01:15:48you know,
01:15:48the social stories things I sent them.
01:15:50They got them laminated and
01:15:52they did it as an activity.
01:15:53With their child so they could
01:15:55continue using that home and and
01:15:56I encourage teachers to kind of,
01:15:58you know,
01:15:58do the same like make make it an
01:16:00activity for that particular child
01:16:01where he get where he or she gets
01:16:03to teach the class about these
01:16:05techniques and just trying to
01:16:06really bring it all back together.
01:16:07But I have found that parents have
01:16:09been very engaged in the service
01:16:10and they kind of they get everything
01:16:12printed and they start him right away.
01:16:14And you know,
01:16:14I meet him the next week for the
01:16:16support visit and they're like Oh no,
01:16:18I haven't done this one thing and
01:16:19I'm like it's amazing you've done this,
01:16:21this and this already.
01:16:22I can't believe it.
01:16:24So it is interest.
01:16:25I have seen a lot of engagement
01:16:26through just making that
01:16:28connection and give it,
01:16:30giving them those actual resources, tangible
01:16:32resource. That's that's.
01:16:33That's really that.
01:16:34Yeah, that's fascinating. Both of you.
01:16:36The tangible resource means a lot.
01:16:37Like you know,
01:16:38the conversation is always huge,
01:16:40but the tangible resource just
01:16:42to serve as a reminder to your
01:16:44families is what I'm hearing you say,
01:16:46is is so valuable that to
01:16:48do those social stories?
01:16:49Yeah, yeah, that's that's,
01:16:51that's that's excellent.
01:16:52Walter I'm going to I'm going to.
01:16:54Start with you here and um.
01:16:58Ask in terms of as you've worked with,
01:17:00you know your your work and childcare
01:17:02providers in this part of the year.
01:17:04In an early childhood setting,
01:17:06this is usually where we're getting into.
01:17:08We're getting into the,
01:17:09you know,
01:17:10more of the skill development we've we've
01:17:12spent the first part of the year developing,
01:17:14you know,
01:17:15the social emotional skills and
01:17:16hopefully we can start getting into the,
01:17:18you know,
01:17:19the the letter recognition and those very
01:17:22early early concepts of reading skills.
01:17:24Is there adjustment to be made,
01:17:26or should we expect an adjustment
01:17:28in terms of that this year and
01:17:30will trust I'll start with you to
01:17:32weigh in and what in what you seen
01:17:35in your conversations with with
01:17:36your network and then move across the panel.
01:17:38Of course, of course,
01:17:40there's adjustments to be made, you know,
01:17:42not in, not just because it's about
01:17:44COVID-19 and 2020 and all the bizarre,
01:17:46unusual things that 2020 is brought us,
01:17:48but because we're talking about working
01:17:50with young children and families and
01:17:52so of course you would just. You know,
01:17:55like if if you were a preschool teacher,
01:17:57childcare provider going to come in,
01:17:59you're going to do a lesson on pumpkins,
01:18:02'cause it's it's almost Halloween.
01:18:03So I'm going to do a lesson on pumpkins,
01:18:06but it turns out to be a freak snowstorm.
01:18:09You still come in and
01:18:10just talk about pumpkins.
01:18:12Or would you talk about the snow
01:18:14storm that's happening now?
01:18:15That's that's an example that I learned
01:18:17from a friend named Erica Chris Dockus,
01:18:20who was a a residential mass
01:18:21residential counselor at Harvard
01:18:23and then residential counselor for.
01:18:24College students at Yale.
01:18:25But she also used to run a child
01:18:28care program and she used that
01:18:30particular example to how how we
01:18:32sometimes have to make adjustments,
01:18:33childcare providers, preschool teachers.
01:18:35These are people who can walk
01:18:37to school one day,
01:18:38find 2 pebbles in an acorn and
01:18:40make a curriculum out of it.
01:18:42You know that they've got this if they
01:18:44trust themselves they've got this.
01:18:46This is all about making sure that
01:18:48the curriculum matches what that
01:18:50child and family needs right now,
01:18:52not what we think that they might
01:18:54need some other day later on.
01:18:56I mean, that's important too.
01:18:58But the most important thing is right now,
01:19:00and so if the curriculum right
01:19:02now needs to be,
01:19:03how do I feel safe when things around me
01:19:06have changed then that's the curriculum.
01:19:09And I have faith that our child
01:19:11care providers can do that because
01:19:14they do it all the time.
01:19:15And if they ever feel like they struggled,
01:19:18then I'm looking right now at
01:19:20two friends in Tracy and Heather,
01:19:22who would
01:19:23be delighted to help them.
01:19:25And so I, that's awesome.
01:19:27That's awesome. Yeah, yeah,
01:19:29Heather. Pieces of Adam there.
01:19:32I think the adjustments I think
01:19:34it's a positive adjustment is for
01:19:37everybody to just slow down and
01:19:39take inventory of how one another's
01:19:42filling and what we're going through.
01:19:44And perhaps it is facilitating
01:19:46learning activity.
01:19:47But as a coach, or if you know if
01:19:50you're working with a director,
01:19:53we've had several conversations where
01:19:55coaches have just said how are you doing?
01:19:58And the conversation isn't about reopening.
01:20:01Bing or the PPS.
01:20:02It's about,
01:20:03you know they want to talk about
01:20:05how much they miss their mother
01:20:07or they want to talk about.
01:20:09You know the challenges of having to,
01:20:11you know, educate their own children at home.
01:20:14But I think just being a human
01:20:16being and slowing down and
01:20:18checking in with one another
01:20:19has been an adjustment that our
01:20:21entire society has benefited from.
01:20:25Well. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
01:20:27that's that's that's fantastic.
01:20:29Thank you guys.
01:20:30Thank you for sharing that.
01:20:31We're going to do one last question.
01:20:33And then we'll I'll let each
01:20:35of you kind of answer it,
01:20:37and then we'll close up the data
01:20:39to make sure that we stay on the on
01:20:41the time of all our participants
01:20:43whose participated today.
01:20:45So I'll ask the question 1st and then
01:20:47give you a moment to think about it
01:20:50with covid numbers in across the country.
01:20:52Increasing in many schools,
01:20:53being once again forced to shelter
01:20:56and and are closed again and move.
01:20:58To a virtual learning environment.
01:20:59If some of our schools face that,
01:21:01and knowing that a lot of will stay
01:21:03open for essential workers as well,
01:21:05just a piece of advice that each of you
01:21:07have that we that we learn from March.
01:21:09Having seen it,
01:21:10having been having experienced it from
01:21:11each of your lenses back in March,
01:21:13what's the one piece of advice
01:21:15that should that happen?
01:21:16Again,
01:21:16you can give our participants moving forward,
01:21:18so I'm going to give you a moment
01:21:20to think that. Think about that.
01:21:21'cause that was a that was a big question.
01:21:24And again I appreciate the panel.
01:21:25Today we had a set of a few
01:21:27questions that we were ready to
01:21:29possibly talk about the day but but.
01:21:31The conversation and your questions
01:21:33in the chat really allowed us
01:21:35to drive the amazing panel today
01:21:36and and learn from them.
01:21:38And so I thank you again
01:21:39for that opportunity.
01:21:40But I'll start with you Tracy.
01:21:42Then I'll go to Heather and then
01:21:44I'll will finish with Walter
01:21:46answering that question about
01:21:47piece of advice that should school
01:21:49shut down again that you have that
01:21:51we've learned from March Tracy.
01:21:53I think one of the most important things
01:21:56that we did touch on already is for these.
01:21:59The adults in these young children's
01:22:01life to take care of themselves first.
01:22:04Whether it's having your own us,
01:22:06you know routine around self care.
01:22:08If you're going to children at home with you
01:22:11really being able to address your own needs,
01:22:13and if that's mental health related,
01:22:16you know get keep continue doing
01:22:18those things that you might be doing,
01:22:20whether it's therapy,
01:22:21whatever it is to take care of yourself.
01:22:24In order to take care of your children
01:22:26in the young children around you
01:22:27and to kind of have a plan around
01:22:30that we they've done it before.
01:22:31They can do it again if things shut down
01:22:34and now and now you're more prepared.
01:22:36You know that these child care providers
01:22:38and parents have been through so much
01:22:40and all of us have been through so much
01:22:42these past almost nine months now.
01:22:44We've had the flexible
01:22:45make changes constantly,
01:22:46and I think we're we're so,
01:22:47you know,
01:22:48we can be so prepared and all the
01:22:50experience we've had for all this to
01:22:52make a plan if that happens again,
01:22:54to make sure you're taking care
01:22:56of yourself first in order to.
01:22:58To meet the needs of your child.
01:23:01Great, thank you Tracy. Doctor Harris.
01:23:05Change is inevitable.
01:23:08Things that I've learned
01:23:10from this entire experience.
01:23:11I don't plan anything past this
01:23:14because I don't know what's gonna
01:23:17happen next week or next month.
01:23:19With that being said,
01:23:21being forgiving and treating one
01:23:23another with grace and being a human
01:23:26being has been extremely important.
01:23:29Learning from one another I've
01:23:31learned so much on this call,
01:23:34and so anytime that we can bring together,
01:23:37you know people across the
01:23:39nation in different communities.
01:23:41Different genders,
01:23:42different cultures,
01:23:43languages and say what is it like a day
01:23:46in your life and then learn from those
01:23:48strategies and share them with one another?
01:23:51Because perhaps you've already
01:23:53solved something that I'm going
01:23:54to come across next week.
01:23:56I don't know.
01:23:57I just said change is inevitable,
01:23:59so I think sharing those strategies
01:24:02is just a century old.
01:24:04You know adage that we can bank Appan is,
01:24:07you know,
01:24:08was successful and share that with
01:24:10one another so that we don't have
01:24:12to keep reinventing the wheel.
01:24:14So thank you so much.
01:24:15Again,
01:24:16Scholastic and yell for bringing us
01:24:18together to share strategies with one
01:24:20another and anything any resources.
01:24:21I have child 360 you know welcomes
01:24:24and offers it to you and I've
01:24:26learned a lot of things on this.
01:24:28This call and I hope that it's
01:24:30been helpful for the participants
01:24:32who are here too.
01:24:34Thank you doctor Harris. We love
01:24:36and appreciate you talk to Gilliam.
01:24:39It's like you know,
01:24:40most people you know whether we're
01:24:42talking about children or adults or
01:24:45parents or child care providers.
01:24:47Anybody most people want to feel safe.
01:24:50And a big part of feeling safe is
01:24:52feeling that the people who can take
01:24:54care of us have our best interest in
01:24:57mind that they're thinking about us,
01:24:59but they're holding us in their own mind.
01:25:02And so you know, a big part of,
01:25:04I think getting through this together
01:25:07is realizing that you know children
01:25:09need the adults around them to be
01:25:11able to show them that they are
01:25:13primarily concerned with them.
01:25:15Not with a curriculum,
01:25:16not with some specific routine or
01:25:19something that they normally do not.
01:25:21With anything other than how
01:25:23do you feel and how?
01:25:25How are you doing right now?
01:25:27And it's not just about children,
01:25:30though.
01:25:30You know parents parents are worried
01:25:33and concerned and they want to feel safe.
01:25:36They want to feel that the teachers and
01:25:39the providers care about their child and
01:25:42have their child's best interest in mind.
01:25:45And so do childcare providers and teachers.
01:25:47They want to feel like administrators
01:25:50have their best interest in mind that
01:25:52they're thinking about them that when
01:25:54they talk about when our political
01:25:56leaders talk about school and childcare,
01:25:58that they're not just talking about
01:26:00something that needs to be reopened in
01:26:03order for businesses to stay afloat,
01:26:04but that they actually have a plan
01:26:07in care about the human beings
01:26:09that are going to be in that room,
01:26:11taking care of children and families in
01:26:14the end, especially in times like this.
01:26:17People, regardless of their size,
01:26:19want to feel safe and are primary.
01:26:22Our primary responsibility is not to
01:26:26be perfect for the people who need us.
01:26:30To make them feel comfortable and safe
01:26:32is for us to be able to show that we
01:26:36care and that were crying and that
01:26:38we have their best interests in mind.
01:26:41If there was ever a time when
01:26:43child care providers teachers could
01:26:45connect with families,
01:26:47it's probably right now because many
01:26:49of us are going through literally
01:26:51the exact same struggles child care
01:26:54providers are also worried about who's
01:26:56going to take care of their child,
01:26:58and so are teachers.
01:27:00When schools closed,
01:27:02many teachers have children who are
01:27:04impacted by this. We're going through.
01:27:06Maybe it's different and for some
01:27:08certainly the burden is heavier
01:27:10than for others, no doubt about it,
01:27:12but many of the stressors are
01:27:14fundamentally fairly similar,
01:27:16at least in terms of the way in
01:27:19which they initially present.
01:27:21Use that to be able to show this
01:27:23is how I'm dealing with it.
01:27:26How are you dealing with it?
01:27:27How are you doing today to just be
01:27:30able to show one another that we're
01:27:32holding them in mind and that we care
01:27:35about them will take us along online?
01:27:38Thank you, yes, thank you so much document,
01:27:41I think I mean the sum up those
01:27:43those recommendations take care
01:27:44of the people you love, right?
01:27:46So they can take care of
01:27:47the kids that we all love.
01:27:49Thank you all so much for today.
01:27:51I wish I could give you guys
01:27:53so I'm going to give you a big
01:27:55virtual hug today for your work.
01:27:57I know it's hard being socially distant
01:27:59so I'll give you a virtual hug and and
01:28:01squeeze my arms and and pretend we're
01:28:03all together for for just a few seconds.
01:28:05Thank you guys.
01:28:06Thank you for sharing.
01:28:07Thank you for the amazing work that
01:28:09you're doing every single day for.
01:28:11For students,
01:28:12the this is what the the the Yale
01:28:14in Scholastic Partnership is about.
01:28:16The exchange of ideas,
01:28:18the freedom to share stories to
01:28:20share experience so that we impact
01:28:22this kids across our country
01:28:24and across our world that we all
01:28:26love that we all want to have
01:28:28beautiful and bright futures.
01:28:30This is what it's about and and we
01:28:32certainly hope that we were able
01:28:34to accomplish that today for you.
01:28:37I know I certainly got that by
01:28:38listening to these three amazingly
01:28:40brilliant passionate individuals.
01:28:42Talk about bringing that research into
01:28:44the classroom and making the impact.
01:28:46So we thank you.
01:28:47We do have two additional opportunities
01:28:49that we are that will be doing in
01:28:52this series and we do encourage
01:28:53you to join us as we dig deeper
01:28:56into how we can use the power
01:28:57of story to build resilience.
01:28:59Especially in this covid time.
01:29:01So thank you all so much we will
01:29:03post a recording of this and
01:29:05will send information to you as
01:29:07well of the participants today.
01:29:09Doctor Gilliam doctor Harrison Smith.
01:29:10Thank you all so much for your time.
01:29:13Thank you participants and we love
01:29:15you and hope you have a great night.
01:29:17Stick with the team.
01:29:19Take care. Kill thank you. Bye
01:29:24bye friends. Thank you for all you do for
01:29:26children and families, whatever it is.