Sprig takes a holistic approach to early childhood education. This approach considers all places where a child learns, including school, at home and in the community. It considers the viewpoints of everyone who adopts a teaching role for the child.

Holistic assessments are one part of the holistic approach. They help uncover the unique needs, strengths and challenges of each student.

Holistic learning is extremely conducive to assessing early literacy. In the course of this article, we explain why.

 

Significance of Early Literacy

Early literacy has a strong claim to being the silver bullet when it comes to academic and non-academic achievements.

Being able to read and write is a remarkable predictor of success later on in life. Just look at these emphatic early learning numbers that corroborate the value of early literacy. 

There are five major early literacy practices suggested to educators and parents. These are singing, talking, reading, writing and playing. 

Early literacy is also broken down into its component skills. There are many versions of this, but they all touch on oral language, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

But beyond skills and practices at a granular level, are there other immediate things that can be done to help influence change?  Some advice to act on, as a matter of strategy?

 

Early Literacy Recommendations

For both recommendations below, holistic learning is suitable as it focuses on the coordination and collaboration of all to provide the best learning experience for the early learner.

Need for Greater Parental and Community Involvement

For preschool children, increased exposure to listening to stories and reading at home is positively associated with boosting semantic language processing. 

It is clear that kids at an early stage of development have to be exposed to oral and written words in school, and at home as well. It’s why holistic learning emphasizes participation of parents and the larger community in teaching the child. 

Holistic approaches not only achieve a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of the child, which is absolutely essential, but the active inclusion of both parental and community involvement can accelerate student literacy skills. 

Parent involvement is crucial for early learning.  Children whose mothers speak more frequently to them learn close to three hundred more words than children whose mothers rarely speak to them.

Holistic learning not only focuses on academic (cognitive) development, but also on mental, physical and spiritual development. The greater community is a big aspect of early literacy as well. Children learn grammatical syntax and social nuances of communication in their community.

By interacting with people, inside and outside the classroom, children have the ability to enhance their literacy skills as well as other social-emotional skills.

Learning is not so compartmentalized at a young age, making different types of skills work in tandem with each other and bolster each other. For example, motor skills help develop speech and thus oral language skills. Oral language in turn fast tracks the path to strong reading and writing behaviours. Total vocabulary size and lexical composition at age 2 is a significant predictor of later language literacy skills from ages 3 to 11.

Need for More Reading Practice

Before actually starting to read books, it is still important to be familiarized with books to develop print awareness. In a study of almost 100,000 schoolchildren in the US, access to printed materials was found to be the single most important predictor of reading acquisition. 

With access to storybooks, the challenge from there on is to read frequently. Children who are read to at least three or more times a week double their chances of scoring in the top 25th percentile. 

Encouragement and demonstration is required both in the school at the home. Without special help, students experiencing reading difficulties at the end of grade 1 find it extremely difficult to gain average reading proficiency by the end of elementary school. It’s helpful for any child if their parents, other family members, and caregivers all read to the child.

 

How Holistic Learning Imbibes Early Literacy Assessments

Beyond the collaboration aspect of holistic learning, the holistic approach is also a good fit for different types of early literacy assessments.

Curriculum-Based Assessment—Also known as Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM). CBM directly assesses targeted reading skills over a period of time. In this time, reading fluency and comprehension are assessed repeatedly. 

Similarly, holistic learning does not replace the existing school curriculum, it only supplements it with personalized activities that are meant to develop and assess reading fluency and comprehension, among other things. 

There are annual holistic assessment screens that collect data to initiate and personalize the student’s learning journey. These are followed by more regular formative assessments. 

Portfolio Assessment—Portfolio assessment is a running record of all behaviors, activities and tasks that help us understand how much the child knows and understands about the process of reading. It’s a case of formative assessment, which happens on an ongoing basis.

It’s important to keep track of all formative assessments, and a portfolio dashboard of all activities provide educators a platform where they can monitor their students to see if they are progressing based on the specific recommendations from the holistic assessment. 

Concepts of Print—This is a very particular type of assessment that captures knowledge about how books and print work. It assesses concepts of how letters and words portray ideas, and how illustrations correspond to those ideas. 

Holistic learning includes learning resources such as storybooks. Yes, there are many classroom activities designed to enhance early literacy concepts, but storybooks are a mainstay feature of any holistic education program, given their enormous impact on early literacy development. 

Jennifer Serravallo, the author of The Reading Strategies Book, states that students are at their peak level of engagement during independent reading, and allowing them the freedom to choose what they read boosts engagement. 

But she forewarns that children are not good at monitoring their own reading comprehension. This is where the CBM and portfolio assessment of holistic learning comes into play. They help educators to understand when and how true proficiency has been gained.

 

Holistic Learning Matches Early Literacy General Assessment Guidelines

Holistic learning follows the general guidelines recommended for implementing assessment into any early learning program. 

1. It aligns well with instructional goals and approaches. As it includes everyone as a part of the holistic assessment process, the viewpoints of educators are also required. 

Sprig Learning’s AI engine recommends the best learning activities based on information provided by all parties, including the teachers. These activities change and grow with the child as learning continues throughout the school year.

2. The teachers familiarize the child with the concept of assessment and conduct the assessment themselves. This builds trust. It is highly recommended that the educators have some degree of involvement in the assessment process. 

With the Sprig Language program, teachers do the assessments themselves. Furthermore, the  assessment is conducted in the child’s usual environment so the setting and context is familiar for the child. 

3. The assessment is a cycle, not a summation. 

Indeed the annual holistic event is not a one time event at Sprig Learning. It builds on information from grade to grade, so any prior learning gaps can be addressed which could be holding back certain students from progressing. New information is also pumped into the engine, which provides a more accurate assessment.

 

Assessing for Literacy Becomes Fun with Holistic Learning

Literacy assessment does not always mean a high-stakes standardized test that is used for screening purposes. But some form of assessment is necessary. Without it, there is a risk of children progressing without a strong understanding of certain concepts. In Canada, one in four schoolchildren who enter grade 1 are poorly prepared to learn in comparison with their peers or are reading below their grade level. 

With holistic learning, early literacy assessments help teachers assess a student’s progress. It helps them understand how to best support every  student in their classroom. It doesn’t feel like a chore to administer them as can be the case with standardized tests. They are formative in nature, align with the daily routines of the classroom and are seamlessly  integrated into the daily lesson plans.

From the student’s perspective, this removes anxiety and the fear  of taking assessments. It is woven into the system as a means for educators to offer differentiated instruction, and not focussed on comparing students with their peers. 

With greater personalized support, students can advance quickly and not be penalized at a stage of development where every day counts!

To learn more about the holistic approach that can be used to assess students, contact us.

Every preschool, pre-kindergarten and similar early learning institutions such as child care or daycare centers aspire to provide a top-notch learning experience to young learners and their families. But it can be a costly ambition. 

• There are logistics costs that include furnishings, equipment, technology, utility bills, food and beverages, transportation, etc.
• Costs for learning materials, which include classroom resources for teachers and school supplies for students.
• Payroll accounts for the majority of costs. Salaries for teachers, early childhood educators, teaching assistants, and substitute teachers (as needed). 

After accounting for all these costs, there are often limited funds remaining to invest in new early learning program resources and tools. This is where grants are best used. Often, school and program directors look to apply for these funds so they can improve early learning experience for their young students. 

The United Nations declares that education is a basic human right in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With the increasing demand for early childhood education, there is pressure to create high-quality programs that are also affordable. In fact, the UN states in the same declaration that “Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.”

Meeting demand and ensuring that every child gets a quality education is challenging enough, but with the pressure of making it affordable, and even free, the need for government funding is truly palpable. 

In the planning stages, it helps to know what funding options are available to develop and implement high-quality preschool programs that are inclusive and accessible. This article focuses on the US. We will cover the same topic, but for Canada in a future follow-up article.

Early Learning Funding Is Complex

Funding is a complex subject, and it’s easy to get lost in the weeds about who the funding is meant to support. Especially when discussing early childhood education. There are so many stakeholders involved, and each has its own separate funding stream.

This article covers funding intended for high-quality preschool and kindergarten programs that accelerate the developmental learning of those kids who need it most. 

Only 54% of 3 and 4-year-olds in the US participate in any preschool at all, and only 35% of eligible children enroll in Head Start- the nation’s go-to program for public early childhood education. 

While there are many reasons for low participation, the lack of perceived quality and the difficulty of implementation are two very valid reasons. This article discusses the major nationwide funding sources that can be used to strengthen early learning programs by increasing both quality and accessibility.

What Isn’t Covered by Early Learning Funds

Grants and programs mentioned in this article are not for:

• any specific regions, or cities
• educational television/internet programming or other entertainment options
• after-school activities
• parents or caregivers 
• tax breaks or credits

When researching grants, It’s easy to get into streams of funding that are overly specific and:

• do not focus on the overall improvement of an early learning program
• are non-school related
• are meant to indirectly help early learning through parents.

Main Sources of Early Learning Funding in the US

Below are the major nationwide sources of funding for early childhood education that every education leader must have on their radar.

Keep in mind these are not acts. These are grants. Acts inform policy that changes the availability, scope and promise of the grants. Acts may come up during the course of this article, but we will be taking a grant-driven approach to explore early learning funding in the US.

Preschool Development Grants

The Office of Innovation and Early Learning offers the Preschool Development Grants. It is jointly administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Education.

What It Allows You to Do: The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) is a $275 million federal grant that allows states to coordinate early learning programs and services that already exist in the state.

It is meant to “enable the delivery of high-quality preschool services to children” and “expand high-quality preschool programs in targeted communities” that would serve as models for future expansion. 

It was established in 2015 through the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA gives states more power to use PDG B-5 funds and to use high-quality early learning strategies to promote school improvement. K-12 is included as well, to cover school children from 5 to 8 years of age, which are also crucial developmental years.

Race to the Top — Early Childhood Challenge

The Office of Early Childhood Development, under the  US Department of Education, offers the Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC)

What It Allows You to Do: RTT-ELC is focused on improving the quality of early learning and development, and bridging the achievement gap for low-income or disadvantaged children. 

Its objective is to enact reform in many areas, but particularly developing better assessments to measure child outcomes, helping failing schools with resources, and developing better methods for tracking the progress of young students. 

There are 20 states that have participated in the program as of last year, with funding totaling over $1 billion dollars.

Title 1 Part A Program

The Office of State Support, under the  US Department of Education, offers the Title I Part A Program.

What It Allows You to Do: The Title 1 Program is also known as Education for the Disadvantaged, Grants to Local Educational Agencies, and Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantages. 

This program is for preschools with a high percentage of children from low-income families. The fund supports additional instruction in reading and mathematics and other services that would help children meet academic standards. 

The Biden Administration has proposed doubling the funds for the Title I program from $16.5 billion to 36.5 billion.

The Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program

The Office of  Academic Improvement, under the US Department of Education, offers The Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program (SRCL).

What It Allows You to Do: A striving reader refers to a student who only has rudimentary reading skills. The SRCL program’s focus is to “create a comprehensive literacy program to advance literacy skills.” It mentions the inclusion of pre-literacy skills, reading and writing. 

In developing early learning programs, the effect of pre-literacy skills cannot be overstated. It’s important to recognize the importance of oral language in the path to advanced literacy.

Some of the SRCL funds are earmarked for geographically remote schools or schools operated by Indigenous communities. 

Latest funding figurbut the program is definitely still intact, with Ohio and Michigan receiving $35 million and $16 million respectively in the last year.

Demonstration Grants for Indian Children

The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, under the  US Department of Education, offers the Demonstration Grants for Indian Children (DEMO). 

What It Allows You to Do: DEMO is focused on improving the education and achievement of Indigenous school children, which includes preschool. 

There are various types of projects within the program. For 2020, the main priority was to select Indigenous partners to develop learning programs that would best suit the educational needs of that particular partner. Indigenous people have long inhabited their communities and express the desire for their customs, culture and language to be reflected in the school curriculum. 

Last year, $15 million was made available in the form of 20 awards, averaging about $1 million.

Head Start Programs

The Office of Head Start, under the Administration for Children & Families offers Head Start Programs.

What It Allows You to Do: Head Start focuses on school readiness for the 3 to 5 age bracket, whereas Early Head Start focuses on those below 3 years of age. There is also the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start Program that is designed for the Indigenous communities of the US. The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start that is meant for the children of families engaged in agricultural labor. 

Head Start Programs are often what first comes to mind when thinking about early childhood development. Apart from shining a light on health and family well-being, it is the early learning component of the Programs that Head Start has become famous for. These programs seek to foster a positive environment for the child where they can learn language and math skills, as well as other concepts such as social skills and emotional well-being. 

The American Rescue Plan pledges $1 billion for Head Start Programs. In light of the pandemic, the Head Start Programs received another $1 billion in funding previously, bringing the total to $2 billion. The Office of Head Start has called on early learning institutions to prioritize recruitment, enrollment and extension of Head Start Programming with this fund. 

Only two-thirds of kids are now participating in Head Start Programs. Restoring accessibility to high-quality early education is a top priority.

More Sources of Early Learning Funding in the US

In an attempt to cover nationwide programs that best address the improvement of pre-school education, there are many regional or city-specific grants that were not included in this article. However, such grants can be gems if they align to a particular area of need.

At the time this article was written, Grantwatch.com lists 965 grants for preschools and other early childhood programs like childcare and daycare programs. You can sort by the type of funding source, such as: federal government, foundations & corporations, local government and state government. Each featured grant includes a deadline ,which is helpful.

Grants and Funds from the Private Sector

It helps to be on the lookout for funds made available in the private sector as well. These funds tend to be for specific purposes however, such as buying books, creating playgrounds, or funding classroom projects. It doesn’t have the same systematic intention of improving multiple preschool programs at once. 

Nevertheless,there are sometimes particular areas that require improvement for the overall quality and accessibility of early learning programs. 

The Early Childhood Funders Collaborative publishes some amazing maps that list over a thousand private funders of pre-k education in the US. You can filter by state and support strategy. For example, you can see if the funding is for professional development, family engagement, or program support. 

In its research, it has found that from 2006 to now, private foundations in the US have funded over $6 billion dollars towards the improvement of early childhood care and education. So it’s definitely a wise move to diversify your funding portfolio with a mix of public and private donors.

The Importance of Early Learning — Keeping Track

In the US, early childhood education is said to contribute to 1.1 % of GDP, while costing .75% of the GDP. In monetary terms, it has a surplus effect of $23 billion after a cost-benefit analysis. There is a greater push than ever before to better support early learning nationwide. 

In order for public agencies to coordinate the delivery of pre-school programs, they need the cooperation of numerous community programs for families and children, including both private and public schools. There is the desire for greater funding, but it’s up to early learning program leaders to keep track of what is being done in their state.

Our team at Sprig Learning hopes you found this content useful in understanding the importance of early learning and the availability of funds to improve the quality and accessibility of schools catering to pre-k to grade three. In the near future, we will be publishing a complementary article on the funding available in Canada.

Holistic Learning in Early Childhood Education

UNESCO defines holistic learning as a learning approach that activates the learner’s intellect, emotions, imagination and body for more effective and comprehensive learning.

When a holistic approach is applied to early childhood learning, those same components are applied to the whole child’s development: intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically.

It’s said that the first 5 years of a child’s life are the most formative years, which shape the trajectory for the rest of their lives. There are many cognitive and physical milestones to be achieved during the course of these first 5 years, such as naming colors, hopping on one foot and singing a song.

Holistic learning aims to support all of the pivotal early years milestones, while supporting the environment in which the child is learning. In an OECD report, the quality and duration of pre-school, mother’s education, and home learning environment were identified as the most effective factors in determining a child’s literacy proficiency at age 5.

Characteristics and Examples of Holistic Learning

Sprig Learning works with Indigenous communities in the development of unique learning programs. Inspired by the holistic approach that First Nations have used for generations, Sprig developed a program that couples this holistic method with artificial intelligence. This combination helps to reduce unconscious human bias when collecting data points from multiple sources for initially assessing an early learner.

There are multiple use cases for holistic learning, but what does it look like in early childhood education? Here are 15 characteristics, with an example for each, of holistic learning in the school, home and community.

1) Holistic Learning Is Experiential

Holistic learning involves an experience when absorbing information or being introduced to new concepts. Instead of learning through rote memorization or forced readings, the young learner comes to the solution by themselves.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: Let’s Collect. The act of seeking out and physically collecting items deepens the learning experience.

2) Holistic Learning Is Personalized

Learning in a large classroom constitutes a real challenge for some students. Children learn at different paces, have their own strengths, challenges and interests, and often use learning styles that reflect their unique personalities. Holistic learning supports personalized learning for every young student and, when properly supported by teachers, it can help students learn independently and work at their own pace.

Example: Sprig Library offers leveled readers to accommodate different reading abilities.

3) Holistic Learning Is Both Teacher-guided and Self-guided

Pre-kindergarten and elementary teachers have developed pedagogical approaches to best teach young learners over the years. Therefore, not all holistic learning is self-guided. However, self-directed or self-guided learning is encouraged, as it builds curiosity in the child to learn. It gives them self-confidence in their ability to do something on their own.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: It’s in the Clouds. Parents start out the activity by pointing at clouds, but the child may take lead as well as curiosity takes over.

4) Holistic Learning Considers the Community

Holistic learning is not constrained within the four walls of the classroom. It recognizes the important role that parents, caregivers, and community members have in providing a safe and nurturing environment for children to learn.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: “Talking About Antle’s Forest”. In this exercise, young learners are encouraged to think about the forest environment and all the animals that live there.

5) Holistic Learning Includes Social-emotional Learning

Social and emotional growth are closely related in early childhood development. By interacting with others and navigating through their emotions, a child learns what is set out for them. As such, holistic learning understands that, beyond academic achievement, there is a need to support the social and emotional needs of all children.

Example: Meditation exercises can be useful in refocusing a child and making them more aware of the present moment.

6) Holistic Learning Strengthens Relationships

As important as curriculum and learning materials are, it’s the educator and the student who must work in partnership during the learning process. As such, a strong relationship and a sense of trust between teachers and students are critical. Similarly, the home learning environment is a big part of holistic learning. Caregivers, teachers and children all require strong bonds that support early learning in the school, home and community.

Example: Allowing students to participate in the development of classroom rules.

7) Holistic Learning Is Culturally Sensitive

Culture and language are very influential in any learning approach. Given that there is such a diverse population in North America consisting of so many different cultures, it’s important to be mindful, respectful and accommodating when teaching. It’s important that young children from different cultures see their language and customs in the material that is being used in the classroom.

Example: Incorporate a diverse curriculum that is reflective of the student body. Such as this exercise from Sprig Language “Tea Party with Nukumij”, which uses Indigenous characters to meet the learning outcome, “Listening and Speaking.”

8) Holistic Learning Is Interdisciplinary

Future learning success depends on a solid foundation of early literacy and numeracy skills. Math and literacy concepts are interwoven with all subject matters. Whether it be teaching through historical stories, counting by 2s while doing jumping jacks, or learning about fractions through cooking and baking – there are countless opportunities to customize learning to individual kids’ interests.

Example: Developing language skills while learning about various cultures through animated stories.

9) Holistic Learning Is Focused on Formative Assessments

As opposed to summative assessments, which happen only after the end of the school year, or a couple of times a year, formative assessments can happen every day. Assessment for learning provides ongoing feedback to the student that quickly addresses any challenges as they occur during the school year.

Example: Weekly quizzes that gamify learning and make assessments more routine.

10) Holistic Learning Is Strengths-Based

Holistic learning believes that there are no deficits in early learning, just differences. It strives to achieve equity by providing the best learning atmosphere, resources, and activities that are appropriate for that child to succeed in life.

Example: Sprig Language progress tree. Seeing how many activities are completed for Listening and Speaking versus Reading and Viewing outcomes for each student. Addresses the child’s learning challenges by focusing on their learning strengths and interests.

11) Holistic Learning Is Reverent of The World

Holistic learning emphasizes respect for all, which includes the land and other natural elements of life. Students learn essential language and math concepts and life skills, but also develop a sense of gratitude for everyone and everything around them.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: Gratitude Circle. Children engage in speaking about and listening to what makes them grateful.

12) Holistic Learning Includes Play-based Learning

Experiential learning is the first characteristic on this list. The act of playing is experiential as well. However, play-based learning has a special emphasis on motion. Holistic learning fully embraces the value of play-based learning where the young learner has to engage the mind and the body. It’s through play that young learners grasp motor skills and also develop their creative and imaginative capabilities.

Example: Sprig Math Activity: Running Games. Focusing on the breath while counting heartbeats engages both the mind and the body.

13) Holistic Learning Is Equal Parts Indoors and Outdoors

Holistic learning offers a healthy mix of indoor and outdoor activities and lessons to promote learning in the child. The change of scenery helps to negate boredom and keep young students receptive to learning new concepts.

Example: Control the size of the splash by using varying force. Indoors in the bath/sink or outdoors by jumping in puddles.

14) Holistic Learning is Safe

The world as we know it is very dynamic. Data privacy and security are important in any industry, especially education where minors are involved. To safeguard the interests of childhood learning, holistic learning relies on its community of teachers, parents and others in the community to protect young learners. While it’s important to keep up with the times, holistic learning discourages unsupervised use of technology.

Example: It takes a whole village to be as secure as possible. While there are many things done on the backend to ensure cybersecurity, here are some tips recommended to parents for protecting their child’s data.

15) Holistic Learning is Resource-Based Education

Just because holistic education emphasizes play, environmental elements, reliance on community and other forms of growth alongside intellectual growth, it is easy to dismiss it as not having a curricular structure. It’s by doing all of these other things that the young learner is best able to follow the curriculum that is set out in front of them. Holistic learning serves to enhance any learning outcome that is to be gained by a particular curriculum.

Example: Using leveled readers and benchmarks to match a child’s reading level to books and resources that are challenging enough for them to make progress.

Holistic Learning’s Evolution

Holistic learning has always existed, but only attracted more attention in recent times as alternative modes of education are explored. At Sprig, we hope these 15 characteristics provide you a better understanding of what holistic learning is all about.

At its core, holistic learning involves personalized and equitable instruction that considers all aspects of a child’s development. The values of holistic learning can be transferred into any education system to improve learning outcomes and experiences. Let us know if you are interested in a demo of holistic learning in action.

September is here.  More than 5.5 million Canadian students have returned to school in the last few weeks.  For most schools in Canada, classrooms continue to look different with a focus on safety measures and anticipated interruptions due to COVID outbreaks.

The past two years had a significant impact on many students.  Teachers are welcoming many students who thrived during the hybrid and remote-learning environments, but they are also re-engaging with a considerable number of students who struggled, in part due to learning loss.

Many students experienced difficulty with internet connections, accessing computers, finding support at home, and in some cases, simply accessing adequate food and shelter. Many students struggled socially and emotionally, which impacted their mental health, as well as their academics.

The Extent of Learning Loss

Early learning researchers around the world estimate the negative impact of academic achievement from school closures due to COVID-19 and termed the phenomenon  the ‘COVID Slide’.  Illuminate Education found that the COVID slide has led to between two and four months of learning loss.  Specific to young or early learners, the research predicts significant gaps in both reading and math skills, with an approximate reading loss of two months across the K-2 grades, most acutely felt in kindergarten.

NWEA research predicts a 30% loss of academic progress in reading skills compared to a typical school year.  It’s worse for math skills acquisition, with a predicted 50% loss. It’s suggested that early learners may fall behind a whole year because of this learning loss.

Behind the Learning Loss: School Closures

In Canada, this has been a difficult year for many students. Parts of Canada endured school closures for more than 31 weeks which, according to UNESCO, compares to countries such as Italy, Romania, Ethiopia, Cambodia and Afghanistan. How and if kids learned depended partly on where they were living. The school experience varied widely from province to province.

For example, students attending school in British Columbia and Nova Scotia had a relatively normal year as school largely stayed open after September 2020.   Whereas students in Ontario had the largest disruption—many schools, in Toronto and surrounding areas in particular, were closed for more than 20 weeks, plus an indefinite shutdown for the last 3 months of the school year.

The Impact on Marginalized Students

According to UNESCO, COVID-19 affected approximately 1.5 billion children across 195 countries due to school closures. But some were more affected than others.  Researchers have recognized that recent school closures widened existing gaps in learning needs for many marginalized students, when compared to their peers.

Those students who were struggling before the pandemic, have been set back even further.  The shift toward remote learning at home during the pandemic exposed long-standing inequities throughout our education system—highlighting divides between socioeconomic, geographic, and racial cohorts.

Early in the pandemic, researchers used data from summer learning loss to predict potential learning gaps caused by closures.  As recent studies that use data from the 2020-21 school year have shown, the actual impact is much greater.

A recent study out of the Netherlands indicates that students in remote schools “made little to no progress” while learning from home due to COVID-19. The study further suggests that longer school closures will lead to bigger learning gaps.  Students that are most impacted with the shift to virtual and hybrid learning are those from marginalized communities and lower-income households.

The Impact on Kindergarten

COVID-19 and school closures are having a significant impact on young learners. Across North America, there is a noticeable number of kindergarten students who did not enroll or attend school during the pandemic.  As students were forced online, many families decided to defer their attendance in formal schooling and chose to homeschool their child.

Schools and education leaders are preparing for an increase in kindergarten and grade 1 enrolment this school year and planning how they will meet the increasingly diverse needs of these young learners.

Some education experts are predicting a “kindergarten bubble” of four-, five- and six-year-olds who may be more unprepared for formal schooling compared to cohorts from previous years.  Typically, preschool and kindergarten focus on play-based, experiential activities that not only develop early reading and math skills, but also introduce pivotal social and emotional skills such as conflict resolution and sharing.

According to the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, even before the pandemic more than 25% of students started Grade 1 without the necessary reading skills —which puts them at risk for falling behind in school. There is a strong correlation between early literacy and numeracy with high-school graduation rates and overall success in education.  The coming years will determine the impact of those students who deferred their kindergarten years on the overall education system.

What Can Schools and Educators Do?

This school year will bring a lot of exceptional challenges for educators. Many students who find themselves behind their peers now require extra support from their teachers as well as their families at home.

In a class full of 20 to 30 students with an increased gap in learning needs and abilities, it’s going to be more challenging than ever for teachers to support each and every student – especially those who require extra support.  Schools should look to address the following:

Holistic Assessment

Identify early and often the learning needs and abilities through the use of formative assessment in the classroom. Take the opportunity at the beginning of the school year to conduct assessments, while students are in-class:

• Be mindful of direct and indirect cultural biases that arise from the existing assessment tools you may use in your classroom.
• Look to adopt holistic assessment approaches (like Sprig Language) that take a more comprehensive approach to understanding learning beyond the classroom, and that also supports learning in the home and community.

Personalized Learning

Schools and school districts will need to support teachers with innovative tools that will support the delivery of personalized learning for each and every student. Going back to school will require more differentiation than ever before—we need to look at technologies to support this:

• Use data gleaned from early assessments to help inform differentiated instruction to ensure individual learning gaps and needs are addressed immediately;
• Our Sprig Learning AI helps teachers to do this at scale to ensure no student is left behind.

Support Parents at Home

In the early years, parents are pivotal to a child’s educational success, and this has never been more true than it is today. Given the reliance of at-home learning leading up to this school year –  and increased dependence as the pandemic continues – schools and teachers need to dedicate time and resources to provide the necessary support for all parents, but especially those who need it most:

• Educational apps, tools and resources should include simple, easy to follow instructions for all parents.
• Parents need help navigating curriculums and in understanding their child’s learning needs, which requires consistent communication between teachers and parents.
• Look to Sprig Home as a tool that can provide parents of young learners with access to simple, easy-to-implement learning activities turning everyday moments into learning opportunities.

Learn and Reflect on the Road to Recovery

The 2020-21 school year was one that should have provided educators and researchers with an enormous amount of information and data about the efficacy of new approaches to learning (i.e. hybrid instruction and virtual learning).

• Educators must look to analyze the information collected from the past two years to support crucial decision making and improve the quality of education in Canada, especially for our most vulnerable students.
• Within the focus on ‘learning loss’ and ‘learning recovery’, recognize and identify that there were many ‘learning gains’.  Teachers must look to embrace and integrate the importance of the new technology skills acquired, as well as build up and foster the newly developed aptitudes and attitudes (i.e. independence, persistence and adaptability).

It’s a new school year, and as schools reopen everyone must be prepared to support students, especially those who may be behind academically. Every early learner is truly unique. In order to adequately support them, we need to understand their individual strengths, challenges and interests across a multitude of learning environments.

Support is essential in all areas: their school, their home and in their community.  We need to work collaboratively to determine the best way to assess and utilize data to help us mitigate the potential impacts of this pandemic.  This new school year also brings an opportunity to learn from the past and improve our classrooms, schools and broader education systems to support every young students’ ability to learn and succeed.

About Sprig Learning

Sprig Learning is a Canadian-based, purpose-built education technology company that believes all children should have what matters most: a fair shot at success. Sprig Learning provides early learners, educators and parents with the tools and resources needed to build a foundation for lifelong learning—both at home and in school.

Sprig Learning’s unique approach to assessment and learning considers each child’s entire learning environment—their home, school, and community. Our early years programs uncover new insights into students’ strengths, challenges, and interests which personalize a learning pathway for each and every learner. Winner of best Language Learning App, Sprig Learning is becoming known as a leader in early years programming.