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Episode Summary:
When schools shut down during COVID, learning didn’t just move online. Childhood did too.

In this episode of Hidden Chapters, I sits down with Karin Tramm, a retired Department of Defense Education Activity kindergarten teacher and author of 100 Days Smart. Karin shares what it was really like inside a kindergarten classroom when the pandemic hit an American military school in Italy. From teaching five year olds through screens to preserving routine, connection, and emotional safety, Karin offers a rare and honest perspective from the front lines of early childhood education during a global crisis.

This conversation explores how children adapted, how parents became co-teachers overnight, and how teachers carried far more than lesson plans. They carried fear, resilience, and the responsibility of helping children feel safe in a world that no longer made sense.

What We Talked About in This Episode

• What kindergarten classrooms looked like before COVID and why physical connection mattered
• How teachers tried to preserve routine, predictability, and emotional safety through screens
• The “hidden curriculum” of social skills, community, and emotional regulation
• The unique challenges and strengths of military connected families during the pandemic

The Hidden Chapter Moment

Karin’s hidden chapter is not just about teaching kindergarten during a pandemic. It’s about what children carried quietly behind screens. The loss of routine. The absence of touch. The confusion of learning emotions without faces, carpets, or closeness. While adults focused on lesson plans and logistics, teachers and parents were holding something much heavier. Fear, grief, adaptability, and hope. This episode reminds us that resilience was being built long before anyone could name it.

Resources & Mentions:

🔗 Karin's Website: https://karintramm.com/

🔗 FB: https://www.facebook.com/KarinTramm.author/
🔗 IG: @karintramm.author
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karin-tramm-23086925a

📖 Amazon to purchase her book “100 Days Smart”: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BTS9SR34

Museum of the American Military Family and Podcast:

https://militaryfamilymuseum.org

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Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay