Little Ones in Lockdown: Top Takeaways

Assistant Professor in Early Childhood Education, Grainne McKenna presented “Little Ones in Lockdown,” the fourth instalment of the “From a Distance Series” presented by DCU’s Institute of Education.

The series provides advice and guidance on the many ways and means to support children and young people to continue to learn and remain engaged during this challenging time.

Grainne is a member of the School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood and part of the core teaching team on the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education at DCU Institute of Education.

She has previously worked as a primary school teacher and a developmental and educational psychologist. She has a special interest in early childhood, child poverty and evidence-based initiatives to support better outcomes for children and families.

Wednesday’s session focused on providing insight into the experiences, behaviours and needs of infants and young children that have made the transition from attending early childhood settings, to ‘socially distanced’ lives at home since 12 March 2020.

Some key talking points from the broadcast

Children and isolation - not a new phenomenon

There are limited examples of the impact of young children's responses to an international pandemic in the available research literature.

However, there is a significant body of research dating back to the 1950s, that considers the impact of social isolation, reduced interaction and disruption to security and routines on children’s learning and development.

These studies indicate that the most significant cause of distress for young children is prolonged separation or isolation from their parents and siblings.

However, unexpected transitions, disruption to established routines and a loss of security, places children at risk of difficulties with aspects of learning, social and emotional development and wellbeing (Herbers et al., 2014; Koller et al., 2006; Pronzato et al., 2019; Yoon et al., 2016). In June 2020,

Barnardos published key findings from a survey exploring the impact of COVID-19 on children and families in Ireland.

A total of 2,683 parents responded, and the survey results indicate that across Ireland children are missing school and their friends and that a significant number of children and families are experiencing challenges in managing household routines, children’s behaviour and family relationships (Barnardos, 2020).

What might the impact on young children be?

For young children who had been regularly attending early childhood settings, the unexpected transition to home-based care resulting from public health measures may result in changes in children’s behaviour and stress responses.

Parents may notice that their children appear more tearful and fearful, seeking physical proximity, comfort and reassurance more frequently.

Young children may appear agitated or quick to anger, while others may appear to experience ‘regression’ in skills and behaviours such as sleep routines, independent toileting and feeding.

For young children, it is not unusual that unexpected changes or ‘transitions’ would result in these behaviours.

The good news is that there is significant research to suggest that responsive parenting, warm relationships and gentle reassurance can support children in managing these changes.

Supporting children- lessons from early childhood settings

Across Ireland, parents and children are attempting to adjust to the ‘new normal’, with many families juggling working from home alongside the care and educational needs of their young children.

As we await the gradual re-opening of early childhood settings, there are some practices and approaches used in early childhood settings that may help parents and families support young children while juggling daily demands in ‘lockdown’.

Reassuring Routines

Young children thrive on predictable routines; they provide a sense of security that supports their emotional wellbeing.

Within early childhood settings, teachers give careful consideration to ways to support children in establishing predictable daily routines.

One strategy that many settings use is visual timetables; these are visual schedules that plot out activities throughout the day, often with the use of visuals, either photographs or pictures.

Visual plan out children’s play and learning experiences, mealtimes, outdoor play and time for relaxation.

They include self-directed times, as well as adult-led or small group activities.

When children have established their routines within early childhood settings, they can be seen to refer to visual timetables throughout the day.

This strategy supports children in preparing for transitions between activities and supports their participation in independent activities as well as adult-led and whole-class learning experiences.

At home, parents might like to try a visual timetable, working with young children to plan out the day in small activity ‘chunks’ with time for independent play as well as shared games with parents and siblings.

Below are some examples of activities and experiences that children enjoy in early childhood settings that can be replicated at home.

Storytime and Book Sharing

Storytelling is extremely important for children’s language and literacy, but it also supports children’s social and communication skills.

For this reason, storytelling, nursery rhymes and songs are an important feature of daily routine in ECE settings across Ireland.

Children love the repetition of familiar stories, but if you do not have access to children’s books, there are several free online stories and storytelling resources that can be accessed with a simple Google search.

Many early childhood settings are offering Zoom storytelling sessions to children that attend their service. It may be worth checking with your ECE setting to see if they are offering this.

Outdoor Play and Learning

Outdoor play is an essential component of daily routine in ECE, and children will typically have multiple opportunities for outdoor play and learning in their pre-school, no matter what the weather!

Children will benefit from opportunities to run, stretch, jump and race, as well as time for gentle walks and exploration in their local community.

They do not need special equipment or materials, just time and a safe outdoor space. For more ideas on physical activity, parents may like to look at the DCU’ PE At Home’ sessions available on the DCU Facebook Page.

Food glorious food!

If your child attends a full-day care setting, they have five separate occasions when they sit down to eat alongside their teachers and peers!

This includes meals, as well as small snacks and settings carefully consider portion size as well as nutritional content. Mealtimes can be a wonderful and important opportunity to support learning and skill development.

It is during mealtimes that we often see children engaging in rich discussion and decontextualised talk, as well as other important skills, including table setting, turn-taking, pouring, and clean-up time.

Junk Art and Exploratory Play

Many children enjoy using recyclable materials to build, sort, explore and create masterpieces of modern art.

Using everyday materials allows children opportunities to use their imagination and create new objects and items, without a ‘fixed’ outcome.

Junk art activities can support children’s fine motor skills, thinking skills, problem-solving, creativity, independence and for many is a highly pleasurable experience that can be completed independently using materials found readily within the home.

Mind Yourself: Parent Self-Care

Early childhood teachers are only too aware of the importance of good self-care when working in teams to support children’s early learning and development.

Young children can be sensitive to adults emotional wellbeing, and prolonged experiences of stress and worry within the home can result in difficulty for children.

Parents must acknowledge the challenges of physical distancing on their wellbeing and stress levels. Many families are experiencing stress resulting from a sudden change in established routines.

This may be further compounded by temporary loss of support from family and friends, financial uncertainty, challenges of working from home or job insecurity.

Parents should be encouraged to mind themselves as well as their little ones, actively seeking experiences that support self-care and relaxation.

Questions and Queries

Is my pre-school child not learning because of Covid-19? Children are curious and learn from what is around them every day.

Be assured that while formal learning structures are not in place, children are still learning from their play, interactions and home-based learning experiences.

Much of learning in early childhood takes place when children are supported in playful learning experiences that allow them to make sense of the world around them.

Should I be more lenient with my child, or should I stick to the rules and boundaries?

Given the stresses that both children, parents and families are experiencing, children may be experiencing difficulty managing their relationships and self-regulation.

It may help to ‘tune in’ to children’s context when experiencing changes in their behaviour. Young children benefit from responsive, positive and supportive relationships more so than admonishment or strict rules.

Allowing flexibility in ‘house-rules’ and expectations while they re-establish their routines and sense of security is likely to support children in regulating their behaviours.

Watching more tv than usual- is this bad for them?

Current research evidence indicates both positive and negative outcomes of children’s consumption of media, including television and online games.

High-quality programming can result in positive outcomes for children in terms of language and social skills, particularly when they engage alongside an adult or trusted caregiver.

Where possible, children should not engage in long periods of passive consumption, and parents should consider a balance of screen time within a broader range of activities throughout the day.

The following links are sources referred to in the session, and sources of additional information to support your ‘little one in lockdown’.

Barnardos Covid-19 Impact Survey

Barnardos survey was to help us understand the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on children and families across Ireland.

The survey focused on the Heart, Body, Mind and Wellbeing. There were 15 questions, primarily based on the experiences of families that Barnardos were working with during the pandemic.

The survey included the standardised outcome measure - ‘Family Life Satisfaction Scale’. All responses were anonymous.

The online survey was active for a period of one week in May 2020’.

DCU Research: Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on children

‘The School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health this morning launched a survey to assess the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on children.

Titled Have your say: Impact of COVID 19 restrictions on children and young people’s ability to maintain their play worlds and friendship groups across Ireland, the research is being led by Dr Carol Barron’.

Early Childhood Education by Television

Lessons from Sesame Street. Melissa S. Kearney and Phillip B. Levine’s study compares the educational and professional achievements of children who watched Sesame Street compared to those who didn’t.

The digital literacy and multimodal practices of young children (DigiLitEY) is a European research project that explores research and knowledge about children’s (birth to 8 years) digital lives.

Dr Mary O’Kane Early Years

Mary’s Facebook page includes videos, audio recordings and upcoming events to support children’s mental health and wellbeing.

Parents Plus

The site contains lots of advice, information and resources for individuals, families and parents during Covid-19 Crisis.

The Mehrit Centre:Self-Regulation and learning and information centre

The site includes lots of information, advice and resources to support children’s wellbeing and self-regulation.

It is designed for use by those working to support the wellbeing of children, teens or families in your community.

Enable Ireland: Enable Ireland Social Distancing Social Story

NCSE: Visual Supports: National Council for Special Education: Visuals to support understanding (ASD)

First 5: Guidance for re-opening childcare settings (05 June 2020)

This provides guidance for parents, early childhood educators and parents on the re-opening of childcare services.

The guidance is based on the latest public health advice available from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) in the HSE, which has been approved by the Expert Advisory Group of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).

Ideas to Entertain:

https://www.instagram.com/childrens_covid_creations/ is a page set up by a DCU Early Childhood Education student.

The page is designed to support parents in creating enriching activities for children during Covid-19.

https://www.instagram.com/early_years_and_me/is a page full of ideas for Early Years Educators, Teachers and Parents, with fun and easy activities while you’re stuck home over the next few weeks!

https://www.ncn.ie/images/Play-Tab/exploratoryplay.pdf A helpful tip-sheet by the National Childhood Network with lots of practical ideas for exploratory and sensory play for young children.