{"id":184,"date":"2022-03-06T21:06:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T05:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/essential\/?page_id=184"},"modified":"2022-04-20T13:55:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T20:55:48","slug":"anita","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/essential\/anita\/","title":{"rendered":"Anita"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

En espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anita<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Entering the circle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I felt panicked not being able to comply with the expectations, with what was expected, because well, we\u2019d never found ourselves with a challenge like this.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About My Picture<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The picture is of the kids outside, it\u2019s an outside activity. It was taken last year, more or less around this time, I think, because the kids were on school vacation. It\u2019s an activity where they have little figures, in yellow, blue, and red, and a little receptacle, each one with a color. They are separating the figures into their receptacles by the color, and counting how many figures they are putting in. Then, after they\u2019ve separated the figures, I have them group them in fives, in tens. And in that way, they\u2019re learning, we\u2019re practicing math. And they learn values, they learn grouping, and after, it\u2019s talking together, the open-ended questions I ask them, dialogue among them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, [it\u2019s] different [now] in the sense that they are a bit more separated, and we\u2019re in the outside area, I decided to do it outside this time. Usually the group activities, we always have them indoors. Only if it\u2019s springtime then we\u2019re outside, but in this time it was about doing all the group activities outdoors. The reason being oxygen, contagion, and so that they had more, like, fresh air. Well, because of the oxygen, more than anything, now that we were in COVID times and trying to, if we were going to be in groups, well, a little more of fresh, open air.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kids are working excellently. They understand what they are doing, what the activity is, what is expected with the activity. It\u2019s a little, like, it gets you to see them with their masks, doesn\u2019t it? More than anything, I like [the photo] because they came to understand that we were going through a pandemic, that it was for our health, that we had to take care of ourselves. \u2026 only one child, a little on the younger side, he was the only one that I had to [tell] a lot \u201ccan you keep your mask on?\u201d because he pulls it below his nose, it was, \u201ccan you keep your mask on?\u201d But the photo, as I said, yeah, it\u2019s impactful, seeing that they are there with their masks on, but, yeah, I love the way that they are working on it, understanding the activity that they\u2019re doing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our Interview with Anita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anita has been a childcare provider for 19 years. She prefers preschoolers because \u201cthe teaching and everything is based on just one level.\u201d During the pandemic, however, one child\u2019s mother had a baby and hoped that Anita would care for her infant. Anita initially resisted, saying, \u201c\u2026a baby means spending a lot more time, more commitment\u2026it does change my routine a little with the other kids.\u201d When the mother told Anita that she would need to remove her older child from Anita\u2019s care to be in a new setting with her infant, so the siblings could stay together, Anita said, \u201cI ended up folding completely\u2026I said, okay, bring him here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside caring for an infant, Anita was adjusting to the additional work required to \u201cmanage all the kids, together with a major pandemic\u201d. At first, she felt panicked and \u201ca little bit afraid of not being able to comply with all the requirements.\u201d She also noticed how the children reacted to new procedures and routines, including anger at not being able to do things they had previously, like bringing their pillows and lying down together in a circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point, the adjustments became so overwhelming that Anita feared she might have to close. But she felt a calling to stay the course, saying about the school closures, \u201cWhen the kids left school, I said no, I can\u2019t close, because this is the time that they need it most.\u201d She added, \u201clittle by little, one goes adjusting to it and following the routine\u2026it\u2019s what makes a person enter into the circle\u2026being able to adjust little by little.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From full interview transcript of 2,568 words<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anita<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Entrando al c\u00edrculo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Me dio p\u00e1nico no poder cumplir con las expectativas, con lo que se esperaba, porque, pues, nunca nos hab\u00edamos visto en un reto as\u00ed.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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