In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, preschool-aged kids are missing out on valuable early education experiences.
Families have fewer options to help their kids build foundational skills that will impact academic success for their entire lives. They can’t get the early education opportunities they need.
So one area nonprofit is going to bring preschool to those families.
Early Learning Community, a nonprofit preschool operating in New Whiteland created a virtual preschool experience this school year. ELC at Home, which first started in the spring when schools closed due to the pandemic, has been greatly expanded with the help of a $5,000 emergency grant from the Johnson County Community Foundation.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
"What I’m finding is, every day, families are having a hard time making a decision. So it’s either for financial reasons, but mostly for COVID reasons they’re not sending them," said Dawn Underwood, director of Early Learning Community "We created this virtual preschool as an option for families."
Early Learning Community is a nonprofit community preschool, providing services to children ages 3 to 5. Preschool leaders developed a curriculum to ensure that kids are ready for kindergarten.
Points of emphasis center on kindergarten readiness using programs such as Handwriting Without Tears to teach writing letters and three different types of social-emotional learning.
Kindergarten readiness remains a challenge for schools, not just in Johnson County, but throughout Indiana, Underwood said. In Johnson County, 2.1% of children were kept for a second year of kindergarten, according to the Indiana Department of Education. That cost county schools more than $259,000.
In an attempt to reach all families, including those who do not feel comfortable with in-person learning yet, virtual preschool was the way to go.
Early Learning Community teachers put together a curriculum with Waterford, a company that specializes in using innovative technologies to form early education home programs, among other options, that deliver high-quality and equitable experiences for all learners.
"We didn’t want COVID to prevent children from having the opportunity for a quality preschool experience," said Julie Welling, who teaches the virtual preschool for Early Learning Community.
The format offers children a variety of ways to learn. The preschool includes one weekly live Zoom circle time to connect with the teacher and classmates.
"Kids are able to meet with each other, play games, read stories, sing songs — all of the things other kids are doing in preschool," Welling said.
Two weekly on-demand interactive learning videos offer additional opportunities for students to expand their knowledge base.
Parents can access individualized online learning activities that come with teacher guidance, and receive take-home packets of materials that are used during circle time and home learning activities.
Through the interactive videos, children learn social-emotional skills, such as identifying and managing feelings, following directions and participating in whole-group instruction.
"They’re still learning those social-emotional skills of raising their hands, waiting their turn, those kinds of things," Welling said.
They’ll tackle literacy exercises to practice letter recognition and vocabulary, work on fine motor skills and delve into math basics, problem solving, creativity and STEAM concepts.
Organizers also added a second component, allowing families to sign up for a Waterford Early Education’s online platform for $25 a month.
The program was successful in the spring, and Early Learning Community educators wanted to open it up to more families if they wanted to take part. They also wanted to make it affordable to all families, Underwood said.
To fund that initiative, the organization reached out to the Johnson County Community Foundation. Since March, the foundation has awarded $50,609 to local agencies and organizations to address challenges impacting the community due to the pandemic. The foundation, as well as a number of donors, have created a fund of more than $82,000 for the emergency grants.
Past recipients include the Interchurch Food Pantry and KIC-IT to address food insecurity, and Turning Point Domestic Violence to handle expanded case management during the crisis.
"The needs of agencies is all over the board. We’re trying to still wrap our hands around the current needs that aren’t being funded by government programs," said Gail Richards, president and CEO of the community foundation.
The most recent round of emergency grants included $1,000 for the Humane Society of Johnson County, to help with emergency spay and neutering costs during the pandemic, and the $5,000 for Early Learning Community.
"We’re going to help them with the kids whose parents don’t want them to go back into a congregant setting with others. This gives them an affordable option for accessing preschool activities that will help them get ready for whatever school looks like in the future," Richards said.
For the families who have already registered for virtual preschool, the response has been positive, Welling said.
"Our families are appreciative of this option, because for a lot of them, their kids can’t attend preschool, or they don’t feel comfortable sending them," she said. "At least they have this option."
As an added bonus, this format allows Early Learning Community to extend the opportunity to those outside Johnson County, Underwood said.
"We can and will serve people in and outside of Johnson County. We can offer this to families whether they live in the county or not," she said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”At a glance” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
ELC at Home
What: A virtual preschool program that will provide an at-home learning opportunity for children during the coronavirus pandemic.
Who: Early Learning Community, a nonprofit preschool serving children ages 3 to 5.
Includes:
- One weekly Live Zoom circle time to connect with teacher and classmates
- Two weekly on-demand interactive learning videos
- Individualized online learning activities with teacher guidance
- Take home packets that include materials to use during circle times and home learning activities
What will children learn: Weekly videos will include opportunities for developing social-emotional skills, literacy, fine motor skills, math, problem solving, creativity and STEAM.
Cost: $150 per month
Secondary option: Families can also choose another option, offering access to a wealth of online materials Waterford, a company specializing in early education, including at-home programs. This option is $25 per month.
How to register: jclearningcenters.com and click on ELC at Home, or call Julie at 317-530-9999.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
