For most of this school year, four-year-old Grandview kid, Sam (who receives speech and occupational therapy at Grandview while attending Campbell Children’s School) has started each school day by arriving at Grandview Children’s Centre.
Today, things look a bit different. Sam is connecting with his teachers, friends and lessons virtually using the SeeSaw app — a technology that was put in place for families in September.
“Before starting up virtual school, we were already connecting with all our families through SeeSaw,” says CCS principal, Janet Harper. “We began by asking them what sort of technology they needed to participate in virtual learning, and got the necessary equipment out to them.”
For Sam, this meant having access to SeeSaw through his mom’s phone, and also having a iPad that allows him to use educational apps like Raz-Kids.
Since becoming part of a virtual classroom, Sam has been able to watch some of the same videos he used to watch in class, see his teachers explaining learning activities he can try at home, and watch clips of his classmates.
“To keep Sam interested, we decided we would plant a garden with him in the back yard,” says Sam’s mom, Natasha. “We sent details to his teacher and she asked him all kinds of questions about what he was going to grow.”
Here’s a short video of Sam in his new home garden:
“The CCS teachers are phenomenal,” says Natasha. “They are still doing such amazing things for the students each week. It’s really neat for Sam to be able to see his friends and also see what everyone is doing at home.”
Principal Janet Harper is equally as impressed with the outstanding job that many Campbell’s families have been doing with their kids at home: “It has blown our minds how our families have transformed their homes into full-blown classrooms.”
