Story Hour Connects Kids Amid COVID-19

Reading hour is in session for hundreds of New Haveners despite the coronavirus.

That’s thanks to the efforts of People Get Ready cofounders Delores Williams and Lauren Anderson.

With school closures and the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Haven, the Whalley Avenue community bookstore and reading space founders decided Anderson would read one children’s book every day at 9 a.m. over Facebook Live to fill gaps for teachers and parents.

On Monday morning, the book was Love by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Loren Long. Around 40 people tuned in during the session; another 900 had watched the video by later that night.

The book selection continues People Get Ready’s focus on nonwhite, bilingual, indigenous and LGBTQ authors to help every child feel affirmation and see themselves in what they read.

“It’s probably going to be important to create a new routine. I think the best routine is to start every day with love,” Anderson told her virtual audience.

De la Peña offers readers an array of little acts of love, from a street musician playing for passersby to a parent making two children toast before heading to work. Anderson added some of her own examples.

“I saw someone sweeping the sidewalk in front of their store, even though probably no one is going to their business today,” she said. ​“I saw two people talking to each other, 10 feet apart, doing the little things to keep each other safe.”

Anderson encouraged those listening to go for a walk and look for their own signs of love. She also recommended that viewers draw a web of people they loved and write one love note every day to one person in the web.

A Place of Concern

Public health experts are recommending that people limit their contact with others to slow the spread of the new coronavirus and prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with cases. New Haven has instituted these recommendations by postponing the Saint Patrick’s Day parade, closing City Hall and closing schools indefinitely.

What are kids going to do with all that time?

“This came from a place of concern for what children are going to focus on every day in a pandemic other than fear,” Williams said in an interview after the reading.

Williams’ own children are at home with the school closures, and she is taking online classes to maintain her real estate license. The wellbeing and education of her children are her top priority right now, she said.

“A lot of things are up in the air, and we’re juggling them the best we can. I’m trying to not to be stressed,” Williams said.

This year has been a soft launch for the bookstore and reading space, which is usually open every Sunday and during special events. Both Williams and Anderson have other jobs.

Anderson teaches future teachers at Connecticut College. She does not have children, and her students are on spring break, so she has taken on the Facebook Live readings. She said that she hopes to model ways teachers, parents, grandparents and other caregivers can replace the school day with other routines.

“How do you just quietly and gently give people some ideas that are both educational and therapeutic?” Anderson said. ​“It doesn’t have to be a worksheet. You can read a book together or go outside.”

Teacher Plus Parent

Metropolitan Business Academy teacher Leslie Blatteau and her 4‑year-old daughter have tuned into the Facebook Live readings every morning since they started on Friday.

“I’m so grateful for Lauren and Delores. It’s something we look forward to every morning. My daughter gets to hold the phone,” Blatteau said. ​“We’re not going to miss it.”

Blatteau’s daughter likes the experience of the reading the best, while Blatteau likes the suggested assignments that Anderson gives out.

On Monday morning, Blatteau and her daughter went for a walk as suggested to look for love. They found it in her daughter’s love of biking and running around Kimberly Field.

“I’m trying to communicate the reality that people are sick to my daughter, who is 4, and help her find day-to-day joy too,” she said.

Meanwhile, Blatteau’s students are working on the two weeks of work she assigned them, based on instructions from New Haven Public Schools administrators. For one class, the assignments are a combination of her own creations and online lessons through Khan Academy. Another class is finding sources for their senior research papers.

“I recognize there’s going to be a wide range of engagement. That’s totally acceptable to me,” she said.

She said that some students will want the distraction, while others may be watching younger children for their families, ​“or God forbid, are working,” she said.

Inspired by People Get Ready, Blatteau is sending her students poems on Remind, the app she uses to send announcements. Blatteau chose Eve Ewing’s ​“To The Notebook Kid” as the first poem, with the thought that journaling might help some students cope.

“I want to try to find a poem a day. I’m not promising one a day but I’m promising often,” she said.

Blatteau has told her students that she will not be available during the day. When her daughter goes to sleep, she plans to spend an hour answering questions and providing feedback by email.

Blatteau thanked the New Haven teacher’s union for the fact that she will receive her normal paycheck despite the forced hiatus. She also has plenty of sick days saved for her years as a teacher, just in case school resumes but she comes down with COVID-19. She hopes the state or federal government will step in to make sure everyone gets similar benefits, she said.

“What I have is what everybody should have, where they are getting paid and staying home. It seems like a no-brainer to me,” she said.

Blatteau also thanked television, podcasts and her friends for calling more often.

“It’s good to hear people’s voices, because this is going to be a long time,” she said.

New Foci

For Williams and Anderson, the new era of social distancing has meant a new focus on what is important to them.

Anderson is not checking her student teachers’ syllabi. Instead, she is responding to their 6:45 a.m. texts and checking in on their wellbeing.

She noted that some of her students or their families might get sick. Like Blatteau, she wants to be flexible to their needs.

“I’m going to cancel good number of assignments to refocus on the smaller number of essential things that we have to do. What are our core learning goals?” Anderson said.

Williams pointed out that some students or family members might pass away from the disease.

“If someone close to you won’t be here, do you want to have spent your time totally ignoring that human connection?” Williams asked.

She said that as she spoke her son was drawing the web of people he loves. That is how Williams’ own priorities work, from caring for herself to caring for family and neighbors.

Anderson said that if the public health crisis has a silver lining, it might be helping everyone refocus on these priorities.

“If we start every day with love, walking outside, recognizing how much love there is … I fundamentally believe the world would be better, pandemic or no pandemic,” Anderson said.