After almost 18 months of social distancing and virtual learning, playschools now face a new challenge. With a generation of kids who have stayed indoors and confined to the four walls of a nuclear family, parents now realize the significance of a playschool for the emotional & social development of a child more than academics.
While play has always been an important part of early childhood, we at Niño & Niña have always prioritized incorporating intentional play to promote social and emotional development of children. Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) is the very foundation from which we can play and work with others, take turns, manage our impulses and keep trying when we’re struggling.
This virus has snatched the playschool experience from our kids and we’re not sure what comes next. Children miss their friends, their school and their teachers. Most importantly they lack the experience and the feeling of being together and connected. So we have to extensively work on building relationship skills and teach children how to talk to each other in the right way. It’s more important, now than ever.
Hence our transition back to a classroom routine focuses mainly on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). For this we have ensured play to be at the forefront in our early childhood classrooms. We have our Learning Centers, where children learn to share the Learning Manipulative with their peers. They also learn to follow instructions and answer only when their name is called out. Through very simple activities at the soft gym, children explore and understand the significance of taking turns.
The foundation of a Niña & Niña classroom is based on relationships, a commitment that prioritizes the individual needs of a child. We strongly believe that supporting the child emotionally is integral to teaching and learning.
We are constantly working on helping children understand & regulate their emotions, share with others and follow simple instructions. These skills lay the foundation for developing literacy, numeracy and other cognitive abilities that are critical for success in school and life.
Our Early Childcare educators are trained such that they become important partners in supporting social and emotional development and ensuring that the youngest learners are ready for school and are on the path to success.
Alongside social emotional awareness, we are also focusing on the need to develop the child’s social skills with others. A year of social distancing has led to children not having typical interactions over the last year. Thus social skills are a part of every lesson that we plan, be it storytelling or just a simple pretend play.
Returning to the brick and mortar classroom from the virtual world of computers is indeed a very challenging transition for both the child & the parent. As for educators, we do have that superpower of embracing all new challenges thrown at us !!
-Divya Joshi
