E-Learning Through YSP’s Young Seeds Bloom
As a teacher, I find the cancellation of the culminating program and Moving-Up Day due to the COVID-19 health crisis, as having the most powerful impact on our school. Together with their families, we look forward to celebrating our students’ achievements every year. And together as teachers, we look forward to celebrating our own growth, as well.
On this special day, we watch with fondness how every one of our little students have bloomed and reached their potential. It is the only day when our school’s vision for our students become real and clear: Seeds in full bloom, Young Seed students reaching their full potential. We take the good feeling we have at the end of the program to sustain us in the next school year.
With no good feelings to sustain me and while buried under a mountain of housework, I prayed to God for direction and opened my mind to the possibilities of e-learning in the preschool. Thank you to Nest School and Raya for their initiative, expertise and generosity to teach us that it can be done!
Learning During the Lockdown
Young Seeds Bloom is an e-learning program that is developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the home situations of families. It is a springboard for hands-on activities. It will succeed because of home-school collaboration.
We envision our Young Seed students to bloom in our e-learning program. Bloom means a state or time of high development or achievement (merriam-webster.com). We see ourselves as Bloomers, people who reach full competence as e-learning teachers (merriam-webster.com).
Like many schools, more than 80% of Young Seed’s tuition fee goes to the salaries and benefits of teachers and staff. We pegged our school fees at an amount that is 22% lower than the previous school year in consideration of the financial challenges that families face at this time. This school year, 90% of our school fees go to our teachers and staff and 10% to students’ paper resources, wi-fi connection upgrade and tech tools subscription.
Supermom from Home
As a mother working from home, I had seen my tween (preteen) and teen glued to their gadgets for a month. I decided to bring structure to their day by imposing a 2-hour study time. My tween couldn’t do it by herself so I jumped in and did the teaching. I lasted only 3 days because a mother working from home was both a mother who was the cook and kasambahay, and a teacher doing her job. There were not enough hours in a day and not enough patience in me to be a supermom.
Just as years of my children’s schooling had shown me, my children’s teachers often did a better job.
So, I hope you will consider our e-learning program for your preschoolers and let your children bloom with us!
