Early Childhood Education in a Pandemic

Adapting, learning and thriving in the face of adversity.

Like so many other things, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on our Ready, Set, Go! Preschool Program. On March 15, 2020, we had to say “goodbye for now” to the kids in all three of our preschools due to the pandemic restrictions we have all come to know.

This was difficult for both the kids and our team, however we were lucky to have had one of our wonderful teachers work right through to the end of June. This rockstar teacher was able to stay connected with families and create summer activity packs as a way for us to offer something engaging for families through July and August.

These activity packs were filled with lots of different learning activities that focused on a variety of subjects like art, science, movement and music, as well as gross and fine motor skills. All of the materials were included in the packages, including things like crayons, glue and even pool noodles. Simple instructions and photos were included for parents to support their children. We had 45 families pick up these packages in June to enjoy over the summer!

Luckily, after a very quiet spring for our classrooms, we were able to re-open for September! But of course, there were a lot of changes that were challenging for the kids to comprehend and the parents to navigate. It was evident on our first day back that there was a lot of anxiety for our team, parents and the kids. We had to remove several items from classrooms that are pretty normal things you would find at a preschool. If it was a shared item or something that couldn’t easily be sanitized, we had to put it away for now. As an example, we are not able to use the costumes in our dramatic play area or have clothes on our plastic dolls. Water and sand sensory tables cannot be used this year, and books can only be used for one class and then they need to be put away for a week.

Despite all of these changes and challenges for the kids and staff, we continue to see incredible progress and development in the children in our preschool program. One shining example of this resilience is our friend Ella. Ella is currently four years old and in her second year of our Ready, Set, Go! Preschool program. In 2019, she was diagnosed with severe global developmental delays. When Ella first joined our program, her teachers noticed the challenges she was having adjusting to routines and expectations in the classroom. Ella had limited language use and very few peer interactions. She would often scream and run away from teachers when she was unable to share or meet expectations.

In the past year, Ella has received additional supports through government funding and Trellis has supported her and her family to achieve new goals. Through all of Ella’s hard work she has demonstrated extensive growth in both her intellectual and social emotional development. Over the past 16 months, she has learned to use her newly acquired language to comment, question and explore with her peers, toys and activities. Her success with language and social-emotional development has increased her ability to problem solve and use words to express her wants and needs appropriately.

With the support of the classroom team, Ella has gained skills in all areas of her development. She is willing to take more risks and has built quality relationships with both her peers and her teachers in the classroom. We are so excited to continue celebrating her growth!