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- COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, has led to school and workplace closures around the world as more than half a million people are infected.
- Schools are turning to online learning, even preschools with students as young as two years old.
- Parents and teachers shared what it's like to be on a Zoom call with a toddler.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Schools across the country have closed to slow the spread of coronavirus, but teachers are still working and trying to connect with students, even toddlers as young as two years old.
It's hard to imagine a dozen or more toddlers on a Zoom video call, so parents and teachers told Business Insider what the transition to digital learning has been like.
Parents emphasized that teachers are trying to preserve children's routines, which can be especially important for toddlers, who can't fully understand what's going on right now.
"They sing the same hello song, they make sure to mention each kid by name, and they ask how each child is doing," Daryl Eisenberg, a mother of three children, told Business Insider.
She said that both of her toddlers enjoy having part of their "normal" life back, like seeing familiar faces of teachers and friends and hearing the same songs every day.
"What I wouldn't give to have a full day of Zoom for both of them," Eisenberg said.
Pamela Hobart has two preschool-aged daughters, two and four. She said that her girls' classes had done class-wide circle time as well as short chats with teachers.
For this young age, she said that parents must be heavily involved in the process, and it seemed somewhat difficult for kids to follow along to what was happening, although she noted that can often be the case for adults, too. The children don't appear upset, but "pleasantly bewildered."
Casting director and managing partner of a New York casting office Daryl Eisenberg is taking different approaches to online learning with each of her children. For her four-year-old preschooler, "I pull up the app, set him up in a 'workspace' next to mine, and encourage him not to be too shy. It keeps his attention and he can follow along with the teacher while I try to get work done for my casting company right next to him."
Daryl EisenbergHer nearly 2-year-old has different Zoom classes for his age. Eisenberg told Business Insider that his school is engaging kids through school-wide singalongs, yoga, Shabbat song sessions, and other activities.
Daryl Eisenberg"For the 2-year-old, my biggest hurdle is keeping him from grabbing the iPad or banging on the keys on my computer. But when he hears a song he recognizes, he is transfixed. He is singing along, doing all the motions, and smiling the biggest smile of the day," Eisenberg told Business Insider.
Daryl EisenbergSee the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Rural Airbnbs are the stars of the suddenly struggling vacation-rental platform, as Americans flee cities to escape the coronavirus
- Apple just released a COVID-19 app backed by the CDC that tells you whether to quarantine or get tested — here's how it works
- Amazon, Apple, and others are making shows, books, and sporting everts free to access online for users staying home during the coronavirus pandemic
SEE ALSO: How to make group FaceTime calls with up to 32 people while social distancing due to coronavirus
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