COVID-19 and reimagining learning
COVID-19 has impacted children in more ways than one and forced us to think of innovative ways to address the challenges which have come along.
Three-year-old Dhruvi had seen her elder cousins going to school every day and was truly excited to attend her first day at big school this year. Dhruvi hasn't yet set foot in big school and is one of the estimated 290 million children who are out of school in India because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She earnestly flips through books at home dreaming of school.
Dhruvi’s father Kirit has taken on the role of her teacher. He feels it is very important that Dhruvi continues to learn during early childhood despite the school closures. He spends time playing with Dhruvi to teach her a new concept every day. Currently Dhruvi’s favourite topics are shapes and colors.
Dhruvi loves her new picture book through which her mother Savita has started introducing new words to her. Savita has come up with some creative games that she engages Dhruvi in, who in turn looks forward to identifying the word with the image.
COVID-19 has impacted children in more ways than one and forced us to think of completely different ways to take on the challenges that have come along. It is important that during this huge learning crisis parents of young children take on the task of ensuring that their children continue to learn at home. The role of parents becomes even more important in families that do not have access to digital learning.
Whenever her parents are busy with their household chores Dhruvi often quietly picks up her favorite picture book and tries to revisit the one new word she learnt that day.
