Insights from Expert Chat – “Virtual Pre-schooling: Holistic Learning and Development, Despite the Lockdown”

With schools and daycares closed for over 2 months now, children as well as parents are feeling emotionally and psychologically drained. The lockdown period has caused online education to rapidly evolve in India. At the same time parents are worried about the negative impacts of increased screen time.

The recent Expert Chat session on “Virtual Pre-schooling: Holistic Learning & Development, Despite The Lockdown Today” addresses the concerns that parents of young children have regarding the children’s wellbeing and holistic growth.

During the webinar, experts from Kangaroo Kids, India, unravelled the importance of online learning for pre-schoolers and urged parents to embrace the change and not let the pandemic disrupt the learning of children. They highlighted the importance for pre-schoolers to stay connected with their friends and teachers and urged other educators also to focus on ensuring emotional and social connect through online lessons.

While designing the curriculum their advice was to look at some of these factors

  • Interactive learning –Integrate online lessons with a child’s natural setting. E.g use everyday household items as learning aids
  • Blended Learning – Mix of Online and Offline Activities
  • Duration – Regular but short classes
  • Focus on movement based / hands on learning
  • Emphasise on social connectedness
  • Individual attention and inquiry- based sessions

The Webinar was also attended by Sonal Singh who is a practising family and parent coach in Delhi. She spoke about how best to navigate screen time for small children and gave tips on how to avoid meltdowns and tantrums associated with digital time.

Her advise to parents was to balance screen time with other activities that are good for preschooler’s development. She highlighted the importance of sticking to the old routine for children as much as possible and to focus on their mental and physical health.

Some tips from her to manage screentime for small children were as below

  • Focus on quality/ content of screen time – Interactive, educational, social, age appropriate and should be in line with family values 
  • Duration – Short screen time sessions, Use of aids like timers/ alarms to avoid tantrums or meltdowns
  • Strict adherence to screen time family rules
  • Use rewards for good behaviour
  • Time ins (hugs and cuddles ) instead of time outs
  • Avoid screentime atleast 1-2 hr before bedtime

In short, the biggest take away from the webinar for parents was that for pre-schoolers it is extremely important to balance screen time with physical activity, creative play, socialising and sleep.

The panel consisted of Sukanya Singh, Corporate Business Head, Proeves, Divya Punjabi – Culture Custodian and Curriculum Head at Kangaroo Kids International Preschool, Nitika Bajaj  – Partner, Kangaroo Kids, South City2, Gurugram, Devi, Partner Kangaroo Kids Sun City, Hyderabad and Sonal Singh, ADHD & Family Coach, Exceptional Minds.