This fall, parents who were able to send their children into the classroom – whether a full day or via hybrid model – lined up their children’s backpacks and pencil cases the night before their first day of classes. Also sitting among that pile of new school supplies was 2020’s newest necessity required for in-person school days – a mask.

While the CDC requires that masks be worn this fall while in the classroom and out in public to help keep COVID-19 at bay, this new normal does not arrive without its challenges.

One of the biggest challenges with mask-wearing is that faces are covered, therefore making social cues less reliable and sometimes difficult for children to interpret.

With the school year well underway, here are some helpful tips on how teachers and children can connect with one another when faces are not fully visible.

Raising kind and compassionate children is inevitably one of the most – arguably the most – important tasks that parents and caregivers are responsible for. Of course, parents want their children to do well in school, get involved in activities and make friends, but the foundation to raising a kind human being all boils down to the basic of principals – teach your children to become empathetic and compassionate toward others. 

This, however, does not happen overnight. In fact, it takes a lot of practice. But the process can start when children are young. Between the ages of 6-9 months, infants focus on parents’ reactions to social events and mimic them to learn how to operate in a social world. Between 18-24 months, toddlers begin to develop their own theories about the way the world works by attributing thoughts, feelings and intention to others and themselves. 

So, how can you instill empathy and compassion in children? Melissa Nelson, Oak Knoll's Lower School Guidance Counselor, says there are several ways parents and caregivers can model and guide, starting when they are very young: 

In September, as the air gets cooler, kids load their new notebooks, folders, and pencils into their new backpacks. When the first day of school finally arrives, parents shuttle their children out the door and cross their fingers for smiles and a great first day. This year, however, back-to-school looks vastly different as the country is still dodging COVID-19 minus a vaccine.

In episode 3 of the Academically Speaking podcast, Laura Perillo — Oak Knoll's Marketing Content Strategist — sat down with Athletic Director Dr. Kelly Childs to speak about navigating athletics during a pandemic and how the school is preparing for athletes to return to the playing field safely this fall.

Listen to the Podcast

In our brand new podcast, Academically Speaking, Laura Perillo — Oak Knoll's Marketing Content Strategist in the Office of Marketing and Communications — sat down with new Lower School Guidance Counselor Melissa Nelson on re-entry anxiety in children as they return to campus this fall under COVID-19 restrictions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced countless changes since March. Absent of a vaccine, and with the start of the school year just weeks away, parents everywhere are wrestling with the fact that the return to the classroom is going to look very different this fall.

For years, experts from different specialty areas have proven multiple benefits of a pre-K learning experience. From being better prepared for kindergarten to increasing high school graduation rates by 11 percent, there is no doubt that children who are exposed to a preschool experience reap advantages from this form of early education. 

As New Year’s Eve celebrations occurred throughout the globe to usher in 2020, clusters of cases of pneumonia in people began popping up in China. By January 30, nearly 10,000 cases of COVID-19 were reported in at least 21 countries including the first in the United States on January 20. 

Since COVID-19 began to spread across the globe and states began to mandate stay-at-home orders, the light at the end of the tunnel has become clouded for many. Although some questions have been answered by state and local health officials over the past few months, some things – such as when students can return to classes and sports – are still up-in-the-air. 

On March 6, 2020, the last day of classes, I vividly remember running to my car as soon as classes were dismissed. I was in a rush to an appointment after school that I could not miss, and I did not give my friends or teachers a last goodbye. In my head, I figured we would be back in school. Now, 10 weeks later, it is my biggest regret that I did not give my teachers or friends one last hug.