As COVID Cases Continue to Surge, Early Childhood Education at Risk

During the past few years, we have narrowed the learning gaps associated with family income. Parents in low-income households have increased their engagement in their children's learning. Parents are reading to their children more than ever. Visits to libraries, zoos and museums have become less lopsided as a function of family income. Unfortunately, COVID has changed this trend significantly. Not only are these visits not advisable during a pandemic, families, especially those who are socio-economic disadvantaged, are under significant stress during the past months. 


Above copied from
Bassok D, Finch JE, Lee R, Reardon SF, Waldfogel J. Socioeconomic Gaps in Early Childhood Experiences: 1998 to 2010. AERA Open. July 2016. doi:10.1177/2332858416653924


A snapshot from Tulsa, Oklahoma shows that parents, children, and their teachers are feeling the impact of this pandemic on their financial, physical and mental health. Here is just one measure:

Above copied from
Tulsa SEED Study


The learning gaps based on family income are expected to widen after this pandemic. We will lose some of the gains we have had during the past decade. There is certainty that our youngest pupils will suffer most. These young children are much more dependent on a stable family that engages them in reading and discovering. Unfortunately, these activities are now regarded as luxury during these times. And instead of closing bars, we keep our schools closed instead.



Comments

  1. Hi Thanks for the nice read!
    I am totally agreed with your point the "YES" this pandemic has affected badly the Education for Kids and Middle Class Parents where both father and mother is working they are finding hard to strike a balance between their Jobs, Income and Kids Learning. I also buy your point that visiting to Zoo and museums has been reduced considerably. However during this lockdown a new chapter has begun of learning which inside the doors or learning at home. This pandemic has forced many parents and teachers to adjust to new things. Many International school teachers have adopted new techniques of teaching, teachers those were not tech savvy they have learnt the tech and become a computer oriented teacher. Nobody know what future holds for us and our kids the only thing we can do is keep adapting ourselves to the situation and live our life to the fullest.

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