Buds in Monsoon- pre-school education during COVID time

Monsoon is not a good time for most of the flower bearing plants. And yet most of those plants survive the monsoon and return to their blossoming life during the prolonged monsoon season this year

I was asked yesterday a question by Shalini, colleague in the place where I work, 'Are there not new possibilities for pre-school children, who have been looking forward to begin their schooling life for 18 months now'!

That set me thinking as children around three years have been denied of any experience of a school life, class room experience or the rhythm of a week-long schooling and the delight of a  week-end  at home. 

I have come across at least three alternatives which some communities have experimented in some parts of India to substitute for the missing link in the life of children, who were waiting to join pre-school. 

1 Neighbourhood Learning

I know of a group of parents who got the three year olds in their neighbourhood together for three hours in a day to meet for activity based learning  Each day, there were five children who met in a public place, in a church or  a marriage hall campus, with due diligence to follow all the COVID protocols. Parents or teachers, each day two of them, who did not have to go to school or other work place volunteered to be available. They were made ready to have a plan for each day, to allow children to explore learning with Montessori equipment and creative activities with paper craft, listening to stories read or with flannel graph,  learning from nature walk, narration of events from the experiences at home, etc. This formed the daily play based learning agenda.  

Children came for this outing with readiness and eagerness to be part of a non-formal learning process. It took a while before children got used to wearing masks and follow the practice of sanitising hands. The routine also involved having snacks in between the three hours. What children could not do was to be physically close or play games which involved physical proximity to each other. 

I heard from some parents, who were involved in this experiment that this experience restored the longing of children to be at school and gave parents an idea of how they could engage children during the rest of the day from the example of what was done for them in the mornings. 

The children were rescued from TV dependence and got introduced to a discipline of a routine, similar to what would happen in a regular pre-school season. The outcome was children were happier and parents felt glad for provision of a semblance of a pre-school experience. 

2. School initiated learning process

After the severe restrictions of schooling were lifted I know of few schools who allowed children to come to 'visit' schools once or twice a week for three hours in groups of four or five children by prior arrangements. At least two teachers were available each day. This voluntary option offered to parents to choose, became popular as most parents found this outing a valuable respite for children from being home bound. They met some of their friends and could have some informal class room experience of activity based exploration. Teachers entertained them with stories, nature walks, paper craft, activities to develop their hand-skills and co-ordination. They could even play with a ball standing at a distance from each other. 

During this time teachers allowed children to narrate their stories or draw or enact stories, none of which would be a COVID risk, as physical distance from each other could be maintained. 

The teachers who were starved of being in touch with children had an opportunity to renew the contacts with children and gave them an emotional connect which teachers looked forward to. 

The parents found this as an example for them to engage children on the other days when they did not go to school. The feed back  about this experience from parents, teachers and children gave me an impression that there are alternatives that we can continue to pursue even now when schooling is still a distant reality for a while. 

Children find a new identity when they can have an association with their class rooms during this time. Pre-schoolers are in a formative stage where trauma of denied schooling might be interpreted by children in different ways. I came across a child, who said, 'My parents do not send me to school because I am naughty'! How many three years old children can understand even a little about a pandemic and its adverse effects! They are used to thinking instantly and not laterally. What they miss  can be attributed to 'not being good enough to school'. We might not even sense that a pre-school child entertains such a thought in their perception. 

I wish schools would feel for children and do something soon to get children catch up in their growth by adding the schooling experience! How terrible for them to  have a prolonged denial of this aspiration to be at school! It is a void which they shall turn back to view as a lapse on the part of teachers and schools!

3. Community Home schooling  

I know of a hospital in rural Bihar, who decided to create a substitute for regular schooling for children of their staff, by bringing children together for four hours each day, by dividing them into three groups and parents of children taking responsibility in between their hospital work to be tutors to children. The stories of benefits to parents  and children I gather form this experience are significant and outstanding. 

The hospital got three of their staff equipped to offer learning support for children through on line learning mode. The hospital set up separate class rooms to accommodate five children in each class and continued the regular curriculum as per the school schedule. 

The staff who volunteered to help brought their skills for the benefit of children. They got children introduced to gardening, pet rearing, dancing, public speaking, story telling, cooking, designing, etc that children found this form of life skill centred schooling most amusing. I know of parents who do not have to be after children to get ready to go to school on time. 

The hospital staff who volunteered to do this got a new glimpse of what hey can do at home to enhance the creative instincts of their children. They spoke of a new consciousness of parenting they learned from this exposure to the educational aspect of their children. For children, it was an experience of learning where they discovered more dimensions than reading and writing. 

The introduction to self directed projects made a big difference to parents, as they learned how children can be engaged in areas of their interest at home.  

Parents also feel relieved that this form of learning by doing, experiencing and exploring inside and outside the class room, gave them enough inspiration, that they were not seeking to view Television during  every in-between time. 

 

Let me conclude!

I have a suspicion that adults have not yet fully felt the grief of children in being denied a  schooling for a second year! This easy option of on-line learning is a poor substitute to be fully depended on! At best it can be an adjunct to other forms of active learning. 

Where are the friends of children, who feel with children and be moved to find alternatives to suit children and not just adults!

If children do not get primacy of attention during difficult times and receive the best of the options, adults would be judged by history for their casual outlook to childhood learning during this pandemic season! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)