Early Head Start teachers in Magic Valley give parents multiple resources for teaching young kids during COVID-19 pandemic
By Steve Stuebner
Like many teachers in all levels of education, Early Head Start teachers serving the 0-3 age group have had to turn to online resources and mobile phone technology to give their parents and children educational materials for learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For all of us, it’s something new, and it’s hard not to be with our families helping them in person,” says Alice Westerman, an Early Head Start coach based in Twin Falls at the College of Southern Idaho. “With early childhood education, it’s all about relationships, making sure the children feel loved and happy. If a child feels loved, they’ll learn.”
“We’ve been doing a lot of coaching with the families,” adds Megan Wilks, supervisor for the CSI Early Head Start program. “Parents are the first teachers for their children. We’re doing as much as we can to provide ideas and suggestions to parents for early-childhood development. A lot of it is spending time playing with your kids, doing some fun games and singing songs.”
The CSI Early Head Start program serves 92 children and pregnant women in four counties in the Magic Valley – Twin Falls, Jerome, Minidoka and Power County. The free program serves families that qualify through low-income guidelines. The program runs year-round.
Photo courtesy of College of Southern Idaho Early Head Start
Early Years Are Critical for Brain Development
After the COVID-19 pandemic caused a statewide stay-at-home order in mid-March, Early Head Start officials have been using mobile and online resources to share educational ideas with parents to work on at home. But first, they want to make sure basic needs are being met.
“The first thing we did was to contact the families by phone and check to see if they had food, shelter, diapers, formula – things like that,” Wilks said.
Each child served by Early Head Start has an educational plan tailored to their needs. During the first few years of a child’s life, their brain is developing quickly, and it’s crucial to stimulate brain development during that time, officials said. A child’s brain doubles in size in their first year of life, and it keeps growing to about 80 percent of adult size by age three, and it’s nearly full grown by age five.
Things like singing to your kids, reading to them, and playing games with them are all important in the early years, Westerman says.
When the lockdown began, the CSI Head Start staff had to record themselves singing songs like the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus” and upload to a YouTube channel to share with parents by phone or email.
“We don’t necessarily promote screen time for our kids at that age, but right now, that’s what we’ve got,” Westerman says.
Photo courtesy of College of Southern Idaho Early Head Start
Counting Cars and Singing Songs
They’ve also looked to the Internet for simple home-based activities, like the “Partners for Healthy Babies” site for ideas. One activity was, “five ways children can use to play with a laundry basket” or climb inside a cardboard box, Westerman said. “Kids love to do that!”
There are simple counting activities that kids can do, adds Trina Dalso, an Early Head Start teacher in Rupert. She has two classes of 8 children each that she’s teaching during the stay-at-home order.
“A lot of my students are boys, and boys love cars,” Dalso says. “They can line them up on a table and practice counting them. They can also sort the cars by color.”
Kids also are encouraged to draw pictures. Early Head Start officials put together bags/packets for home-learning that parents came to pick up at the centers. The packets include crayons, chalk, and pens for drawing and making pictures.
The importance of parents just playing on the floor with their kids, singing songs with them and interacting with them is crucial, Westerman says. “Having good relationships with adults helps with their brain growth,” she says. “Giving them happy moments in life is so important. It brings some peace in their life and makes them happy.”
Not all families have Legos or building blocks, but maybe they have other items that can be used for building things, Wilks says. “We’re really encouraging parents to use what they have in their home. Maybe it’s cans of food or boxes of food, and they can stack them and learn to name them. They can practice fine motor skills playing with a shoelace, cereal or noodles, she said.
Going outside in the yard, kids can learn about nature, looking at flowers, birds, leaves, and insects.
Photo courtesy of College of Southern Idaho Early Head Start
Working Together to Overcome Anxiety
Children in the 0-3 age group really don’t understand why the Early Head Start centers are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it’s been hard for them, and it’s been hard for their parents, too, officials said.
“There’s an increased level of anxiety associated with the lockdown,” Wilks says. “We realize that our families are struggling with that, so we’ve tried to be extra-sensitive to their needs.”
Idaho Head Start programs serve as an important safety net for low-income Idaho families by providing free pre-K educational programs to boost school readiness for kids 3-5 years old, birth-to-three education in Early Head Start programs, Children’s Health Programs and Parent Advancement programs.
“Idaho Early Head Start has always served a vital function for low-income families and children in our state, but during this challenging time with the COVID-19 virus, it’s even more crucial that we’re there to support our families and ensure they’re doing OK and their children continue to learn and grow,” said Bill Foxcroft, executive director of Idaho Head Start Association.
All of the Early Head Start officials are glad that they have existing relationships with the parents they serve prior to the lockdown because that way, the parents are more willing to ask questions or ask for help.
“We want them to know that we’re here to support them,” Wilks says. “We stay in touch with them frequently to make sure they’re doing OK.”
For more information about the Early Head Start/Head Start program at the College of Southern Idaho, go to: http://www.csiheadstartehs.org or contact Megan Wilks at mwilks@csi.edu or 208-539-0803. For more information Idaho Head Start programs, For more information about Idaho Head Start programs, contact Bill Foxcroft, 208-345-1182, bfoxcroft@idahohsa.org, www.idahohsa.org.