GEKA St John's 

What We Have Learnt From COVID -19

Carol Quinlan, Early Childhood Educator 

It is unsure what long term effects the pandemic will have on young children or how the continued effects of COVID-19 may have impacted our families since the end of 2021.

During these challenging times our team feels it is important for us to provide a safe and secure environment with routines in place for children to feel supported, nurtured and valued. We work together to create learning spaces that stimulate and encourage a sense of wellbeing and support children to become confident and capable learners.

Children depend on their caregivers and families to help them regulate their emotions and process their feelings. We feel it is important to keep discussing the pandemic in a way that is helps children to understand how their own lives are affected. Let the children have a voice, to raise any concerns they have. If they are showing signs of anxiety encourage them to talk about their feelings or interpret through drawing or painting. 

Through our programming we use resources to explain COVID-19 in a more child friendly way, by reading stories, such as those launched by Queensland health: 

• Birdie and the virus (with supporting cartoon) 
• Birdie gets her Vaccination 

https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au 

With children we explore ways to maintain good personal hygiene and encourage healthy eating. Our service has installed fun 'timer touch button lights' above the sinks, to promote good hand hygiene. Masks are now a daily accessory, we explain the reasons why we need to keep wearing them to maintain the health of the children, their families, teachers and the community. We could say we are all being super heroes by wearing a mask. We can`t see everyone's faces but perhaps we can practice smiling with our eyes! 

As a team we also feel it is important to focus on some of the positives. I am sure many of our families have had to isolate at some stage  during the pandemic. This meant more family time, playing board games and learning new skills, cooking and eating a meal together. In some cases both parents working from home allowed families to be available to do pick ups and drop offs and to spend less time traveling, and more time at home.

This  year will continue to challenge us as educators. We need to work closely with our families, offering support and advice whilst maintaining a relaxed, fun learning experience for all our kindergarten children.