A Fly on the Wall…

Last year when my daughter would come home from preschool, I would always ask her about her day. Inevitably, she would answer by saying some version of “It was good. I had fun.” I never got a lot of details. Sure, I would see the projects and worksheets that came home and I received occasional pictures through an app on my phone, but those were just snippets of her day. I always wanted to be a fly on the wall so I could see what she did all day at school. Well, what do they always say? Be careful what you wish for…

Fast-forward to the start of the 2020-2021 school year and my daughter is doing kindergarten remotely from a desk in my office - which we now share. I am not just a fly on a wall, but I feel like a full-fledged member of the class. I go through her whole day with her, from the flag salute to the end of the day song. I sing all the songs with her, listen to the teacher read stories, help her with her assignments during independent work times and I even do gym class with her!

I have always had the utmost respect for teachers, but this year is a different animal. I would like to stand up and give them a big round of applause for all they are doing to navigate these uncharted waters. To sit there and see their hard work and dedication first hand is a new level of respect. I consider myself extremely lucky because my daughter loves remote learning. The bond she has formed with her teacher is amazing even though she has never stepped foot in the classroom with her. (I realize that this is not the case for all students and that some families are struggling. Again, this is why I feel very fortunate.)

As a children’s librarian, one of my favorite things about being part of the kindergarten learning process is just how many books her teacher uses during her lessons. Often times, these are books that I have used in my storytimes or books that we have in our home library. My daughter gets so excited when the teacher pulls out a book that we have on the shelf. She’ll ask me to run and get it so she can follow along. If we don’t have a book that her class is reading, she will ask me to check it out from the library. Although following along on the screen is perfectly fine, there is nothing quite like holding a physical book in your hand. In addition to having books the teacher is reading in class, the library has also been a great resource for supplementing my daughter’s learning. When her teacher introduces a new weekly theme, I often check out books about that subject so she can learn even more.

So if you find yourself a fly on the wall during the remote learning process, don’t forget that Mercer County Library System is here for you! If your students want a book the teacher is sharing or want books to find out more about a subject they are learning, you can look up those books in the library’s catalog (https://merl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/mcl) and put them on hold. We’ll notify you when your holds are in and you can pick up them up using contactless pick-up or come in to one of our branches on the days we are open to the public. Please check the website (www.mcl.org) for our most recent hours of operation.

-Miss Andrea (Hickory Corner Branch)