Appropriate early childhood education during covid19

TTUTA

THERE HAS been a lot of concern expressed about the students who must sit the exit examinations from primary and secondary school (SEA, CSEC and CAPE, respectively). However, apart from the Ministry of Education’s reference to its EMIS and LMS platforms that provide support for learning from early childhood to secondary, there really has not been much discussion in the public domain about what’s happening with our under-fives during this period.

In their social media groups, however, parents have expressed their concerns about what they should be doing. So, given the significance of experiences in these foundation years to lifelong learning and development, the question that must be asked and a response provided is: How do we appropriately engage our preschoolers during this time?

One of the key lessons we have been learning during these unprecedented times is that it cannot be business as usual, particularly when it comes to creating opportunities for learning.

While the efforts of the ministry to respond by creating its online learning platforms are commendable in the face of the numerous challenges arising out of the expediency that was required to make the transition, it is important for all stakeholders to note that the strategy cannot be one of transferring what was done in the face-to-face classroom to the online learning environment, particularly for children between the ages of three to five years.

Indeed, the activities provided for our youngest learners should not be premised on teachers being at home doing nothing, let us take the classroom online and proceed with our regularly scheduled programme.

Instead, the conversation should include questions such as: Given young children’s developmental characteristics, what should be our focus during this time? What is the teacher’s role in the absence of the face-to-face interactions that are an essential part of early education? How can parents support their children with appropriate learning activities that will keep them engaged and stimulated? Let us address each of these questions.

What should young children be doing during this stay-at-home period? Every experience in the early childhood years is an opportunity for learning. While these children may be taught using themes when at their early learning centres, this is not essential at this time.

This time is opportune for parents and children to reconnect in ways that are usually not available in the “regular schedule.” Together they can have fun with simple activities that are both engaging and informally instructional. Story reading, role-playing, cooking together, sing-a-longs all provide children with foundational skills, especially in early literacy and numeracy.

Additionally, and most importantly, these kinds of engagement promote young children’s social-emotional development – helping to build the strong dispositions required to be successful learners.

Regarding early childhood teachers’ role in this stay-at-home scenario, the focus should be on supporting parents in supporting their children. The EMIS platform created for early childhood care and education at this time should target parents.

The information uploaded should consist of parent tips, links to child-friendly sites that parents can use alongside their children; sites that support read-along, recipes for making things, art and craft activities, numeracy activities, etc that promote creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking, and that are fun and engaging.

Additionally, a space may be created for providing feedback to parents’ concerns.

It must also be noted that early childhood teachers, like many others, are at home with all the challenges faced by all of us with managing their family needs and children. An appropriate balance must be struck since their emotional well-being is an essential aspect of their professionalism and ability to be effective facilitators of learning. It is OK for them to be able to take time out for themselves during this time.

Parents, when it comes to your pre-schoolers learning, there is no need for hand-wringing, hair-pulling or despair. There are many things that your young ones can learning from daily, routine activities.

You can involve them when cooking and baking, which will help them learn mathematical concepts such as measurement and number, with the added benefit of helping them to see the value of mathematics in the real world – an invaluable experience.

Read-aloud can become part of bedtime routines and will lay a strong foundation for literacy, reading and critical thinking if done effectively. Colour with them, make collages, draw – all these build the fine motor skills needed for later writing. Share with them the things that give you joy.

The formality of the early childhood centres is not what is needed at this time.