Sesame Time for Teachers: It’s OK Not to Be OK
Akimi Gibson, VP & Education Publisher, Sesame Workshop
First, to all early childhood educators: thank you for everything you do on behalf of children and families! We know how challenging it is to adjust to the new and evolving routines these times present, and Sesame Workshop is here to support you as we collectively navigate our “for now” normal.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on how we’re feeling and doing. Our teacher friends share that they miss the buzz and energy of their classrooms and the encouraging presence of their teaching team and colleagues — and they miss the children perhaps most of all. Everyone is coping with different challenges right now, and we can’t expect things to feel “fine” all the time. But we can all draw comfort and support from the idea that, though we may be physically distant from one another, we can remain socially and emotionally close.
To help you maintain and strengthen your connections to children and their families, we’ll have four offerings for you each week:
· Playful Learning Moments: Learning supports with specific attention to social emotional learning (SEL) and approaches to learning
· Just for You: Take some time for self-care
· Caring for Each Other: Tips for Families
· Caring for Each Other: Provider Resources from Sesame Street In Communities
Playful Learning Moments
The child development experts at Sesame Workshop have carefully-crafted resources for you to use remotely with your students — and with their families, who may enjoy partnering as learners with their children and you. We invite you to add these to your remote learning plan for this week — or any time!
This week we’re focusing on the SEL skill of managing emotions. Let’s help little ones manage big feelings, create meaning-filled handprints, and shake those wiggles out!
Breathe Together
Invite your students to watch “Belly Breathe.” When Elmo feels angry, his inner monster wants to come out. What do his friends teach him to help him calm down? Model the “belly breathing” calming strategy for your children, then count out loud for them as they try slowly breathing in and out themselves.
Create Together
Make Family Handprints! Model for children how to trace their handprints onto paper using a crayon or marker. Ask a grown-up to support them as they write their names. Then, invite family members to trace their own hands — smallest to biggest — around the child’s drawing. Suggest planning for when children and distant family members can make screen-to-screen connections with virtual high-fives!
Move Together
Esme and Roy have a dance party with Tillie, Hugo, and Simon. But Simon’s wiggly arms get in the way every time he tries to dance. Esme and Roy cheer him up by creating “The Simon Dance,” giving him a dance pattern he is able to follow. Encourage your students to dance along — and maybe make-up their own silly steps!
Just For You
Breathing to Relax
Sometimes relaxing is as simple as taking a few deep breaths.
- Sit or rest so that you’re comfortable.
- Close your eyes.
- Count to 5 as you breathe in deeply and slowly through your nose.
- Count to 5 as you breathe out through your mouth.
- Do this 5 more times.
Return to your normal breathing as you open your eyes. Ah! Relaxed!
One last thing . . .
We would love to hear from you and to share your tips with other early childhood educators. In the meantime, here are additional resources and links for you:
- Sesame Workshop’s 2020 Census Kit — Free bilingual assets to help make sure all kids get counted
- First Book — Helping educators get free books and other resources to students in need
- Wide Open School — Vetted free online learning, from the editors at Common Sense
- Promise Venture Studio — Parent and caregiver resources for COVID-19
- NAEYC — Promoting high-quality learning by connecting practice, policy, and research
These are stressful days for families everywhere, and Sesame Workshop is here to help. With 50 years’ experience in early childhood education and in helping children and their caregivers face challenging times, we’ve created an online hub of resources that parents can use at home to spark playful learning, offer children comfort, and focus a bit on self-care, too. Each week, as we roll out new content, a Sesame Workshop early childhood development expert will contribute a column here with strategies to help families find ways to breathe, laugh, and play together.
