With kids trapped at home, most of them are facing a hard time as they miss school. A 5 year old child felt the same as her school closed due to the global pandemic. For children that young, school is more of a play and attachment in terms of friends and extremely friendly teachers. My child who is in her K2 currently, wrote down her feelings in the form of a letter as she was feeling sad about the fact that the school will remain close till the 1st of June.
So, one day when we were sitting idle in the evening, my daughter who is 5 years old asked me when her school will reopen. By that time, I had to a definite answer, as Singapore by then, had not circulated any probable date for school reopening.
I suggested writing a letter to the class teacher asking when the school will reopen and how she feel about school closure.
As an innocent child, she was enthusiastic to write a letter to the class teacher. So my 5 year old started writing her letter. You can read it below.
In case, you are struggling to read her handwriting, I will explain what is written in her letter.
To,
Teacher Marylyn,
I am Chandreyee Dey from K2-Unity.
I am doing my homework at home with my mother.
Please inform us as the school reopens.
Thank you
Chandreyee Dey
K2-Unity
14.04.2020
The letter may look simple, but there is a lot of emotion attached to it. She was disheartened while she asked about her closed school. She told me “mom I want to go to school again. When will this Coronavirus stop?”
Can you imagine that a 5 year old has also been mentally impacted by COVID-19? She has been uprooted from her daily routine and put in a cage from where she cannot escape.
What can we do as parents?
As parents, it is distressing to see your child in pain. We parents can change the way our children think and express their feelings.
You may also like to read, how can you protect children’s mental health during testing times?
I help my 5 year old by engaging her in activities that are fun as well as enriching. We do follow the daily routine that is provided by her school and does our homework as assigned by her class teacher.
Not every time she keeps in a good mood, but as a mother, I have hundreds of ways to mold her emotions. And as young children, they can be molded with a wink of an eye.
Why I felt so emotional about her letter to the class teacher?
I know my child and her emotions. I know would like to write many things which even don’t make sense at times, but what stopped her, is her grip on her language. I wanted her to write all by herself, so she managed to write this letter of her own.
This makes me feel, how an animal or a bird feels like when they are kept in a zoo or behind bars? It scares me.
What did her teacher reply to this?
Within the following two days, I received a call from her class teacher. She was inquiring about the health of her student and she is doing. I had a talk with her for the first time as she is new to the school. As I talk with her, I understood why my child misses school so much.
Her class teacher is so kind and caring that every child will miss her even after they go to primary schools. She took this matter seriously as I told her about the letter Chandreyee wrote addressing her. She was mesmerized and asked me to keep the letter safe until the school reopens. She also said that “tell Chandreyee to give me the letter as she joins school again.”
I conveyed the same to my daughter and she has kept the letter safe with her, hoping that the school reopens soon and she can enjoy her remaining days in kindergarten with her school mates and teachers.
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