Well before infants can understand any words, for example, they find speech interesting to listen to, and prefer it to other kinds of sounds (Shultz & Vouloumanos, 2010).

Phonics, at its very core, is the method applied to teach people how to read and write an alphabetic language using sounds. 

Phonics has been around for a long time, and is one of the most recommended methods of teaching in schools, especially in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). In fact, American President Benjamin Franklin even attempted to create his own alphabet to replace the existing one.

This article answers the most common questions about phonics and related terms, its use in Indian schools, and how it can be used in the classroom.

What does the term ‘phonics’ actually mean?

Phonics helps teachers and educators develop reading skills in children by linking sounds in a language to the letters and words that represent them. Phonics instruction has a profound impact on young learners’ brains and studies have even shown its effectiveness over other teaching methods.

What are some common terms related to phonics?

Phonological Awareness: This is the awareness of the sound structure of any language. Children can recognise and work with any sound of the spoken language once they develop phonological awareness. For e.g., they can pick out words that rhyme, break up a sentence into words, and more.

Phonemic Awareness: This is the ability to notice and work with individual sounds (or phonemes) in spoken language. For e.g., blending sounds to make words, breaking up words into individual sounds, and more.

Why is phonics so important in early childhood?

Sounding out words becomes easier: Phonics breaks down words into components, helping children ‘read’. Over time, they can even recognise patterns in words and automatically learn to read them correctly.

Links sounds and letters: As the phonics method uses sounds to link to respective letters or letter groups, children know exactly which sound should be produced for each letter or letter group, making the reading process simpler.

Long words become easier to read: Unlike when children learn a language via complete words, phonics breaks down longer words into individual sounds. Young children eventually learn to break down (and read) any long word into sounds even if they do not understand its meaning.

Children gain secondary skills: While phonics primarily aims to develop the reading skill, children also simultaneously learn to think logically (as they read words they don’t understand), and pick up writing skills (during spelling-related phonics exercises).

Why must we ‘teach’ sounds?

Even as children automatically pick up sounds since birth, they are not completely equipped to process the information on their own. For example, children would not automatically know that ‘MAT’ and ‘MAP’ begin with the same sound, or that ‘PAN’ and ‘DAD’ have the same sound of ‘a’. This suggests that children need to know how sounds map to a written system, and for this, they need explicit phonics instruction.

Why not simply teach children to read? Won’t that help them map sounds to written words? 

Being read to is another crucial aspect of foundational learning, but it cannot replace phonics instruction. A study by Evans & Saint-Aubin in 2005 showed that as children were being read to from a storybook, they spent much longer looking at pictures than reading the words or text. It is not realistic to expect young children to learn much about mapping sounds and written words simply from being read to.

How does phonics work in Indian languages?

Most Indian languages are ‘pure phonic languages’, i.e., the word sounds exactly like it is written. Plus, every sound has a specific written representation which does not change. For example, Hindi and Marathi use a Devanagari script, and the sound of each alphabet in this language is distinctly different. अ remains the same pronunciation, whether the word is अनार or अक्षर.

While only a small percentage of Indian schools focus on phonics and related activities at present, this method of instruction has been highly recommended for ECCE in the recently released NIPUN document and the National Education Policy (or NEP 2020), for all languages.

Can phonics be included as a small part of each lesson?

Sounds are already a part of every lesson, and there are quick tricks educators and teachers can use to leverage this for a revision lesson. For example, after a story session, children can count the syllables in each word, they can rhyme with numbers (one-sun), and even simply sound out letters they have learnt previously.

Can parents also help with phonics instruction?

The home environment is crucial to develop holistic foundational skills, say experts. The role of parents in fostering their children’s development is twofold: they introduce children to sound, and play a crucial part in reinforcing teachers’ instructions. Parents can be given a list of words and stories introduced in school, which they can repeat with the children during daily chores and activities. Parents can also ask questions about further letter sound knowledge, like ‘What is the beginning sound of this word?’ or ‘What is the last letter in this word, and what sound does it make?’ Parents unfamiliar with the language can listen to songs and rhymes in the language of instruction with their children, and encourage their little ones to sing along.

What sort of activities can help children develop phonemic awareness? 

Simple letter identification activities can be turned into phonic games, by asking children to also sound out the letter. In the same way, sorting activities can be grouped as per rhymes, syllables, beginning sounds, and more. You can even group children in pairs for a ‘partner reading’ exercise, where one child reads a small text and the other closely copies the first. They can then switch roles, helping each other when they stumble.

Learn how to turn even the simplest of items into a learning resource for phonics and language development in next week’s Square Panda Thursday’s webinar. Join the live session on July 29, at 5 pm: https://squarepanda.app.link/e/2907b

Phonics teaches children to be fluent in a language while reading. To be more efficient, this instruction needs to work hand-in-hand with vocabulary instruction and other types of learning for a well-rounded development. From an educational perspective, being able to predict the pronunciation of words using letter-sound knowledge is better than rote learning the pronunciation of all words.

A year ago, the pandemic drove education online, with educational institutions embracing online classes and digital learning in all its forms to deliver learning to their students. Schools and states adopted different means of reaching out to students; some sent home learning materials, others delivered learning via common messaging apps.

Education moved online, but children across various levels and ages in India continue to experience learning loss, particularly in early childhood education. A survey showed most parents are very worried about their young children losing out on essential development in these early years, and thus they are in favour of online schooling. 80% of parents surveyed said online preschooling delivered clear learning outcomes, and 75% of these parents would recommend online learning to their friends and families.

However, remote learning poses challenges even in suitable settings. Add to that a class full of fidgety young learners – those who choose to come at all – and this type of learning becomes harder to sustain.

To be successful, remote teaching and instruction needs to follow similar ideas as regular instruction: clarity, review, and checking for comprehension. At present, the guidelines to conduct online learning are as yet a work in progress. Even so, based on their experience this past year, multiple early education experts and educators have offered pointers on ways to help remote education be as effective as possible.

1) Changing The Mindset (of teachers, children, AND parents)

The very first challenge to online learning is getting children to show up for classes. With several preschools closing permanently, those still active report almost an 80% reduction in enrollment for the school year 2020-21. Parents who were once convinced about the importance of early learning might give preschool a miss now.

What is needed is a strong reminder about the priority of early education, especially for parents. Plus, to effectively guide this conversation, teachers and caregivers must first understand the nature and science of early learning and how it impacts a child’s future. 

Once in the online classroom, teachers need to consider the socio-cultural circumstances of each student as they deliver instructions; they need to develop a structure, objectives, and teaching plans as per this. Establishing a routine and schedule can do wonders for children’s engagement. They learn to expect certain activities and games at certain times, and they feel confident because they know exactly what comes next.

Initiatives across Maharashtra, Odisha, and Chattisgarh have shown that dedicated efforts by governments, schools, educators, and Anganwadi workers can stave off some ill-effects of learning loss in early childhood. We can take inspiration from these efforts and replicate the same in our classrooms.

2) Remote Relationship-Building

Relationships are the bedrock of society, and, in early childhood education, are the basis upon which socio-emotional behaviour develops. Although physical bonding is ill-advised at the moment, educators can devise strategies that enhance bonding in online classes. 

For a social connect, teachers can structure lesson plans that involve the formation of groups, as much as the curriculum allows. Children can be paired up for games and activities, or even simply to lend a helping hand to one another.

To further enhance this social emotional development, it is recommended to connect with the families too, and share a child’s achievements via weekly messages or a phone call. Rotate this responsibility among teachers so one person is not bearing all the burden.

3) Let Simplicity Guide Your Lesson Structure

Online learning offers reduced opportunities to gauge how instructions have been received by students. This makes simple instructions even more crucial to the classroom. Keep the language direct, the instructions uncomplicated, the explanations brief, and the expectations clear.

For reduced hassle, stick to simplicity in all decisions, whether they are logistical (which edtech app is the best to use) or substantive (is the new learning material clear enough).

4) Make Learning Interactive And Engaging

Student engagement is a common requirement in any early learning curriculum, but planning for such engagement is less so.

Just as in a physical classroom, young children need opportunities to develop all the foundational skills — motor skills, cognitive skills, reasoning, socio-emotional skills, foundational literacy and numeracy — in online classrooms too. Avoid conducting simpler reading and listening exercises; actively pepper your learning modules with quizzes, puzzles, and interactive question-and-answer sessions. These sessions act as review lessons, helping children retain their learning. Some teachers across India have taken the initiative and started recording small lessons before class. They then pause these at key moments to incorporate mini-games and play-based activities for higher engagement.

5) Humanise The Digital Space

Child-friendly spaces always have a colourful and fun theme, so why should an online classroom be any different?

If you use an online platform like ZOOM or Skype to teach, you can check if the background is customisable. Or, you can simply add a few little toys, colourful hand paintings, and even letter and number cutouts for a ‘classroom’ feel. This can be customised as per the age of your learners. Invite questions about the children’s background too (in case of live video lessons), and involve parents in creating fun learning spaces for children, so they exhibit more enthusiasm for learning. 

Lessons via chat-messaging services can be enlivened by the use of emojis; recorded lessons can have some engaging anecdotes to add humour; physical resources for children can be repurposed (read: painted or reprinted) to add in pops of colour.

Are you a parent? If so, here are 4 tips that can help you balance schooling at home with working from home.

While incorporating each idea mentioned here might be challenging, bearing them in mind is prudent. As we learn more about how online learning works, these lessons can help us reach children in every corner of India, creating a truly literate future for our country.

See how Square Panda India can help you build a robust ECCE ecosystem in your state, district, or school: ecce.squarepanda.in

Touch. Sight. Sound. Hearing. Taste. 

A child’s experience in this world is one of multisensory stimulation. It is likely that evolution itself supports optimal functioning in such an environment. While all children reach their developmental goals at different paces, research suggests multisensory learning is one of the most effective strategies to enhance the learning experience.

*About ‘Multisensory’ And ‘Multisensory Learning’: The term ‘multisensory’ means using more than one sense at a time, while ‘multisensory learning’ incorporates learning techniques that use multiple senses at the same time. For example: Adding audio or visual aids into teaching and assignments. Not every lesson does (or needs to) include each sense, but such an approach does require more than one sense to be stimulated at a time for better learning outcomes.

Multisensory activities are based on the concept of ‘whole brain learning’, which is the belief that the best way to teach concepts is to involve all areas of the brain. In his book, the Theory of Neuronal Group Selection (1987), American biologist Gerald Edelman wrote that more elaborate brain connections are formed with multisensory learning as compared to single sensory learning, greatly enhancing comprehension and retention. To learn more about connections in the brain and how they help with memory retention, consider reading how to help children retain learning.

Multisensory learning also proves effective to different types of learners: visual learners, auditory learners, tactile learners, and physical or kinesthetic learners. This ensures multisensory instruction reaches every learner in the classroom.

To help children enhance their multisensory awareness, we curated simple multisensory learning activities that tie into early childhood education and can be easily incorporated into the classroom or home:

Note: Each activity can be used (and tweaked) depending on children’s learning levels and interests.

Activity Name: Handprint Birds

You Will Need:

• Paint
• Glue
• White paper
• Coloured pencils and/or crayons
• Kid-safe scissors

Method: Paint children’s palms with one colour, and their fingers multiple colors like red, yellow, and green. Guide them to place their hands, palms down, on a sheet of white paper to create a handprint. On the thumb area, help them draw a beak using colored pencils or crayons. Draw an eye, a pair of feet, and you have a handprint bird! You can cut this out and make a sign or card, too.

Learning Outcomes: Fine motor skills, colour identification, creative exploration

Activity Name: Colored Corn Art

You Will Need:

• Glue stick
• 1 cup of regular corn kernels
• Vinegar
• Water
• Food coloring
• Containers for mixing food coloring (bowls, plastic cups, etc)
• A sheet of paper

Method: Fill half the container(s) with water and add an equal amount of vinegar to it. Ask children to choose food coloring(s) of their choice, and mix them into the container(s). Then add in a small amount (about half a cup) of corn kernels and leave them to soak overnight. The next day, ask the children to dry the corn kernels with paper towels. Ask each child to get a glue stick, a sheet of paper, and some of the colored corn. Encourage them to use some creativity to make fun designs with the different colors! (Note: it’s easier to add glue to the sheet and then stick the corn to it.)
Learning outcomes: Fine motor skills, socio-emotional development (patience), creativity

*Not recommended for younger children as there is a choking hazard.

Activity Name: Apple Basket Word Sort

You Will Need:

• Red or green paper
• Colored pencils or markers
• A basket
• Kid-safe scissors

Method: On apple-shaped cutouts (created by children from red and/or green paper), write CVC (i.e., consonant-vowel-consonant) words like MAP and HAT. Write as many words as the children can identify at their age. Mix up these ‘paper apples’ and place a basket in front of children. Call out the words at random and ask them to pick the right apple cutout and place it in the basket.

Modification: Repurpose this to enhance foundational numeracy skills; switch out the words for numbers.

Learning Outcomes: Vocabulary, colour identification, sorting, creativity, fine motor skills

*For online classes, you can ask parents to help you. 

Activity Name: Popsicle Scarecrow 

You Will Need:

• Glue
• Popsicle sticks
• Pens/pencils/crayons
• Buttons, beads, threads, ribbons (for extra ‘decoration’)

Method: Ask children for help in protecting the garden. They need to make a popsicle person to scare away pests like crows and mynahs. Glue the narrow sides of 4-5 popsicle sticks side-by-side, to make the body. Break one popsicle in half to make the arms, and glue them lengthwise. Use two popsicle sticks as the legs. Draw on some features, and even stick cotton or thread for the hair. Add to the multisensory approach by putting this scarecrow into a real garden, if you can access one. If not, you can even put it into a potted plant.
Learning Outcomes: Fine motor skills, creativity, environmental awareness

Activity Name: Road Trip

You Will Need:

• Toy vehicle (car, truck, etc) OR you can use any random object as a ‘vehicle’
• A plain sheet of paper
• Pen/pencil/crayons
• Tiny popsicle people
• Matchboxes
• Small cotton balls/balls of paper

Method: Take your little learners on an imaginary road trip. Draw a winding road on the paper. Decorate the sheet with matchboxes (for buildings and houses), add in some cotton/crushed paper as rocks and boulders. Drawn fields that are guarded by scarecrows or farms with scarecrow people in them. Place the vehicle at the start of the road; ask children to move it along the path. As they travel from place to place, ask them to create stories, identify the elements, and gradually make their own little roadmap.

Modification: Improve early literacy skills by writing names on buildings (school, hospital, etc.), and asking children to read, and later spell it themselves.

Learning Outcomes: Imagination, creativity, fine motor skills, storytelling, early literacy skills

Activity Name: Button Tree

You Will Need:

• Multicolored buttons (red, yellow, orange, brown, green)
• Colored pencils, crayons, and markers
• Glue stick

Method: Trace out a tree trunk and branches together with children. Give them glue sticks and ask them to glue buttons to the branches to make a colourful button tree.

*You can use cotton balls, rolled up bits of paper, actual dried leaves, or anything else to make this tree.

Modification: In later levels, you can ask children to group particular colours together, add fruits, little hand painted birds, and anything else they can think of.

Learning Outcomes: Fine motor skills, colour identification, sorting and grouping, environmental awareness, creativity, exploration and imagination, observation.

To drive their intrinsic motivation to keep coming back and learning, children need to engage with the learning process. This is where multisensory activities and instructions fit in; they present information through more than one sensory system at a time, encouraging optimal learning.

At Square Panda, we understand the value of multisensory learning. Our programs — for children and for educators — include content that uses all the learning pathways in the brain (auditory/visual, kinesthetic/tactile) to enhance multisensory exploration for robust educational outcomes in early childhood education. Learn more about our holistic NEP 2020-aligned programs: ecce.squarepanda.in

Share a video of your little learners working on the above activities, and we’ll make sure to mention you on our social media.

Think someone you know will benefit from this article? Forward it to them.

Over the years, India has seen a wonderful trend emerge. 

First, Amazon India’s Reading Trends Report released in 2017 showed book sales picking up across all levels in India – English books in Metro and Tier I cities and translations in rural areas. Later, they also claimed a steady growth of book sales over the past five years, with adult non-fiction growing by 22.8% and young adult (fiction) book sales rising by 21.4%. 

Then, in 2020, Nielsen released a report on the Impact of COVID-19 on the India Book Consumer and found that reading time has increased from nine hours a week to 16 hours a week.

This trend is not a surprising one, given that India has been a seat of learning, literature, and knowledge since ancient times. Reading is a prime source of information and knowledge, and these past book sales show us just how much Indians love this activity.

This trend has even touched the lives of children in India, as Scholastic has found. This independent publisher regularly surveys young children aged 6 to 17 across India to provide insight about reading habits among this population. Their latest report – published in 2020 – found that 92% of the surveyed children read books for fun at least one day in the week. Their survey further found that younger children love reading short stories with pictures, and their interests leaned towards comics, fairy tales, books that made them laugh. Slightly older children (aged 9-11 and 12-14) want books that tell the truth about life, and have smart, courageous characters. 

The young Indian reader is well on their way to becoming a literate adult who reads for fun. However, much of the data collected so far only reflects certain segments of the population. The popularity of this activity needs to reach even the hinterland before we can say that our children are developing a reading habit.

Why Reading Is Important, Especially In Early Childhood

• Kids that cannot read, cannot learn. Reading is the basis of learning; geography, history, and even math problems require good reading skills. Additionally, studies by UNESCO in 2012 show that kids who cannot read according to their level by the time they are in the third grade often drop out of school altogether.
• Reading makes you smarter. Reading helps enhance the learning process. Each page opens up a new world; new words enhance an ever-increasing vocabulary; even childrens’ confidence gets a boost. This is why we require more people who are learning to read right from childhood, and developing reading skills, to build a more literate India.
• Research into reading often talks about how it enriches minds, imparts wisdom, and even helps shape readers’ personalities to a certain extent. In fact, Harvard Business Review publishes that having a good reading ability and a regular reading habit makes you better placed to be a business leader.

As a nation of readers, we need to bring these emergent literacy skills to our young children and inculcate a strong reading habit in them.

Inculcating A Reading Habit In Young Children

The reading habit — like the reading trend itself — is constantly evolving. Reading does not always have to be on paper anymore; there are other means to access books for children: ebooks, edutainment apps, and even audiobooks can be leveraged to deliver content to young readers. 

Reading needs to be treated like a favoured friend and given constant and devoted attention. This learned activity can start with quick word-of-mouth stories and move to other mediums that children are comfortable with. 

See how much effort it really takes for the brain to learn to read.

Book Recommendations For India’s Multilingual & Multicultural Children

📒 The Gopi Diaries by Sudha Murty
Available In: English
Who can read it: Anyone aged 2-4
What is it about: This three-book series is told in the voice of the main character – Gopi the dog. The series follows Gopi as he gets adopted into a brand-new home, and then describes the world and the people around him.
Where to get it: Amazon, Flipkart

👣 पायल खो गई or Payal Is Lost by Maheen Mirza and Shivani Taneja
Available In: Hindi
Who can read it: Anyone aged 2-6
What is it about: Exactly what the title promises.
Little Payal is lost, and the children of her basti are searching near and far to find her. Until finally, they find her in the most unlikely place…
A sweet tale written for children who are just beginning to read, Payal Kho Gai is a simple tale filled with animation that is intentionally vague to further engage target readers’ imaginations.
Where to get it: Amazon

🦠 Germ Academy by Rea Malhotra Mukhtyar
Available in: English
Who can read it: Anyone aged 3-8
What is it about: Written by a teacher, this book is geared towards helping adults explain the pandemic to little kids, in a way that does not seem overwhelming at all. The author states that this book has something for everyone, from “pop-culture references and scientific formulae to cleanliness tips and silly sounds.”
Where to get it: Amazon, Crossword

🧆 Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji by Farhana Zia
Available in: English (Hindi words interwoven for a multilingual experience)
Who can read it: Anyone aged 4-8
What is it about: Aneel is an excited little boy…his Dada-ji is coming to stay with him all the way from India. 
This multi-cultural tale effortlessly weaves in Hindi and English terms into a warm family tale with incredible illustrations. At the heart of it is the relationship between grandfather and grandson, and a lesson on how food fills your tummy and warms your heart.
Where to get it: Amazon

👩‍🦱 I Hate my Curly Hair by Diyva Anand
Available in: English
Who can read it: Anyone aged 5-7
What is it about: It’s never too early to start teaching children about body positivity and self-acceptance. Diyva Anand’s poem aims to do exactly that, in a humorous tale about a little girl and her hate for her long curly hair.
Where to get it: Amazon

👡 Phani’s Funny Chappals By Sridala Swami
Available in: Hindi, Oriya, Gondi, Kannada, Tamil, French, Chinese, English
Who can read it: Anyone aged 5-9
What is it about: Phani’s footwear causes all the trouble in this book. All he wants to do is be an obedient boy and a good student, but his chappals won’t let him!
Where to get it: StoryWeaver

🐬 Putul and the Dolphins by Mariam Karim-Ahlawat
Available in: Bengali, Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu
Who can read it: Anyone aged 5-14
What is it about: Introduce children to nature and the environment with Puchku, a girl who lives by the Ganga river in Bengal. Her chance meeting with two dolphins sets the stage for a lovely folksy tale about life in a village, and the close relationship people share with animals.
Where to get it: Amazon, Flipkart (in certain languages)

🧑‍🦯 Kanna Panna By Zai Whitaker
Available in: Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati
Who can read it: Anyone aged 5-14
What is it about: When the lights go out and his family cannot get out of the cave temple, little Kanna comes to the rescue. The presence (or lack of) lights do not make any difference to Kanna, as he cannot see anyway. The author changes the common perception about ‘disability’, creating a warm, strong, and funny protagonist to teach children about visual impairment.
Where to get it: Amazon

🐆 Leopard in Mumbai by Lubaina Bandukwala and Allen Shaw
Available in: English
Who can read it: Anyone aged 6-15
What is it about: A new tourist is in town, and she’s causing quite a stir! Why, though? All she wants to do is everyday touristy things in Mumbai, but she can’t figure out why everyone is so nervous? Maybe it’s because she’s a leopard? 
What is it about: A new tourist is in town, and she’s causing quite a stir! Why, though? All she wants to do is everyday touristy things in Mumbai, but she can’t figure out why everyone is so nervous? Maybe it’s because she’s a leopard? 
Supported by hilarious illustrations by Allen Shaw, Lubaina Bandukwala’s funny take on the leopard sightings in Mumbai are a breath of fresh air, and make you see wildlife (and conservation) in a different light.
Where to get it: Amazon, Karaditales

👹 Moin and the Monster by Anushka Ravishankar
Available in: English
Who can read it: Anyone aged 8-10
What is it about: Moin was sleeping peacefully in his room until he heard a noise under his bed. Now, he has to share a home with a monster that loves to sing, eat bananas, and create new hairstyles. All this while trying to keep this a secret! Award-winning author Anushka Ravishankar crafts a wickedly funny tale that reviews rate as ‘laugh-out-loud.’
Where to get it: Amazon, Flipkart, Google Play Books (audiobook)

If you are looking to engage beginner readers, why not try out the Square Panda Early English Learning App, which you can download for free on the App Store and Play Store?

Want to develop your students’ foundational literacy skills or learn more about the programs Square Panda India has to offer? Visit ecce.squarepanda.in.

Early childhood education is the core of all future learning, and early literacy is its foundation. 

Educators, parents, and other stakeholders in the ECCE ecosystem know that one of the most critical tasks they face is developing fundamental language skills in children. This needs to be supported in the curriculum, which itself needs to work holistically, nurturing language, early numeracy, social, emotional, and cognitive development.

Fortunately, we have the perfect guide to help you navigate this task.

Our Roadmap To Early Literacy Development

Phase I: Understanding Foundational Skills

Phonological awareness: This is the ability to recognise and work with sounds in the spoken language. For example, a child that understands sounds of a language would know that PAN was made up of three sounds from P/A/N. Phonological awareness is the foundation for learning to read and is an important component of both reading and spelling. It is the ability to recognize and work with sounds in spoken language. This skill comes naturally to some young learners, many do need help honing these skills. This can be harnessed by increasing activities like singing and rhyming, and focusing on a few sounds at a time.

Print awareness: Children also need to learn that spoken words are represented by written symbols. Print awareness translates to alphabetic understanding. As children understand how to map individual sounds to the respective letters, they gradually begin to decode words. Young children should always be encouraged to scribble their thoughts down, whether they know how to write yet or not. They can represent their ideas via pictures, or even practice certain letters repeatedly. This exposure is crucial to developing a strong grasp of print awareness skills.

Vocabulary and concept development: This stage is predictive of future academic behaviour too, and is the most critical step on the foundational literacy pathway. Constant and regular exposure to reading material in their surroundings will benefit children; they face future years of schooling armed with a larger vocabulary and well-developed language skills.

Phase II: Creating Learning Environments

Language-rich environments: A groundbreaking study by Hart and Risley (1995) showed the amount and kind of language parents use with their young children is a strong predictor of important educational outcomes. Learning centres too can adopt this language-rich environment, providing frequent verbal interaction between young learners and their educators. For instance, simple storytelling sessions can serve multiple purposes. Reading stories out loud can teach children new vocabulary and sounds, they can be given opportunities to predict what comes next, and teachers can ask questions to extend children’s verbal responses. To enhance this experience, children need to connect their own background, culture, and experiences with the learning. They need context, and the learning needs to be localised to fit these needs.

Print-rich environments: A high-quality learning environment is, by its very nature, print-rich. Children have access to an array of different literature at all times. Schools and Anganwadis can increase exposure to print by:
– creating a schedule of the day on the board and encouraging children to read and follow it
– labelling everyday objects like the desk, blackboard, and walls in multiple common languages
– creating a library of multicultural books for children to read and even take home
– investing in multilingual and multi-modal digital tools that help children develop foundational reading skills

Scheduled Reading Time: This is one of the most important components on the road to early literacy development. Daily schedules should set aside at least 15 minutes a day for reading and reading-based activities. Books—digital and physical—should be read, then re-read for better comprehension. To increase engagement, children should be encouraged to participate in lively discussions, activities, and games based on the books.

*Stay tuned for a very special reading-themed article, complete with children’s book recommendations, coming to you next week.

Phase III: Developing Adult Literacy

Responsive skilled educators and Anganwadi workers: Our guidelines would be incomplete without our teachers, educators, Anganwadi workers, and their influence on early childhood education. Responsive caregivers are key components of a literacy-rich environment, engaging children in a variety of ways and adjusting their content delivery and communication to fit their learning needs. Such educators are well-equipped to deal with 21^st century classrooms and turn their students into the citizens of tomorrow.

Involved parents: Interventions at any level across the educational landscape need the support of parents. Partnerships with parents and guardians improve learning outcomes, and support in-school learning. As parents understand their role in their children’s education, early learning initiatives become stronger and much easier to conduct. At-home initiatives can then be undertaken to extend learning opportunities beyond classrooms and into homes. For instance, parents join hands with educators and Anganwadi workers to help children work on activity sheets, at-home activities, reading practice, and more.

A network of stakeholders: Quite like the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” an entire community of people must interact—and do it well—so children across grassroots in India have access to quality early education. A learning community where each stakeholder – parents, teachers, principals, administrators, Anganwadi workers, and more – can share and access relevant information at any time cultivates equal partnership between each person in this community. Eventually, an active learning community can help India build a robust and healthy early learning landscape.

Square Panda India is helping early readers and pre-readers transform into holistic learners using a multi-modal foundational literacy program backed by the latest neuroscience research. Learn more about us: ecce.squarepanda.in.

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Memory plays a key role in building a solid foundation for learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Retaining what they are taught helps children excel academically, score well on tests, and stay cognitively engaged throughout their lives. However, remembering everything we have learnt is not an ingrained skill, and it is something ECCE educators and Anganwadi workers need to develop with certain teaching strategies.

Why does the brain find it hard to remember?

How The Brain Is Wired To Forget

How Memory Works

Think of your mind like a spiderweb, with multiple connected neurons. 

Each time we learn something new, like when a child is introduced to a sock puppet for the first time, the brain turns this experience into a memory. The same neurons involved in making a memory are the ones involved in forgetting it. Once we understand this process, we can devise simple strategies to help us retain important pieces of knowledge. Each time we revisit a particular memory, our synapses are strengthened. Think of it as painting. Apply one coat of paint, and the colour is light. Another coat of paint makes it darker, and stays longer too. This phenomenon is called synaptic plasticity and explains why some memories stay for a lifetime while some fade away. 

Different memories are created differently. For someone literate in English, the word ORANGE is more memorable that SMAPTFIN. That is because our brains connected oranges to the smell of the fruit, the colour, and perhaps some distant childhood memory. That means the more connection you have to an experience, and thus your neurons, the stronger is the memory you make.

The Research Into Memory And Forgetting

Rote memorisation leads to a superficial grasp of learning and is quickly forgotten. 

This is something psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered in the 1880s. His studies showed that without reinforcement or connections to prior knowledge, information is quickly forgotten. He called this the forgetting curve, which was a measurement of how much we forget over time.

We lose roughly 56% of information in one hour, 66% after a day, and 75% after six days.

An article by neurobiologists Blake Richards and Paul Frankland counters Ebbinghaus’s theory. They purport that the goal of memory is to evaluate the purpose of each strand of memory, evaluating and potentially discarding information if it doesn’t promote our survival.

A scientific way to retain learning, then, is to increase children’s connections to as many things as possible. So, we are effectively widening the spiderweb in their minds. The following are the most effective learning strategies:

5 Teacher Strategies To Help Children Retain Learning

*can be repurposed for learning with parents too

• Regularly revisit learning: According to research (Carpenter et al., 2012; Kang, 2016), children perform better academically when they are given multiple opportunities to review learned material. Instead of moving on from a topic once your teaching is complete, recap the topic after periodic intervals. Another smart way to reinforce learning is to connect old topics with new ones. For example, the way Square Panda’s sequenced curriculum revisits key topics while adding layers of complexity to make sure learners are revising while learning.
• Break information down into bite-sized pieces: The shorter attention spans of your little learners means you have to space out the information you share with them. Teach them in small increments throughout the day, weaving learning with interactive games and active play. This way, children process the information much faster without having to sit still for longer periods, something that causes the dreaded ‘b’ word: boredom.
• Use multiple modes to deliver information: Use images to support the text you teach. Bring a plant to show colours of leaves, throw a ball to explain motion, collect pebbles to familiarise children with shapes and textures. It is easier to remember information when it is presented in different ways, and particularly so when visual aids are involved. Rather than rely on one mode of instruction, mix it up by adding multiple modes together.
• Use rhymes and songs: Human brains are wired to remember music, patterns, and sounds, and so, using music to teach can help increase recall in children. Create little songs and rhymes about the topic you are teaching, and encourage your students to do the same. For example, if you are talking about frogs, you can bring in an element of maths too by singing Five Little Speckled Frogs.
• Make learning fun: Using entertainment and games in learning has always been encouraged by early childhood education experts. Such instruction makes use of the child’s interest to teach them new concepts. Theoretical subjects are easier to follow, their creativity blooms, and they are actively engaged in learning. Educators and caregivers can take the aid of child-safe educational apps, finger puppets, musical instruments, stories, and more as they teach.

Even as we learn that children start to forget almost as soon as learning happens, there are certain evidence-based strategies to help reinforce learning and increase memory.

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“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” – David Warlick

As educator and author David Warlick reminds us, technology is permeating every sphere, and it has the potential to revolutionise learning as we know it. Bringing Information and Communication Technologies (or ICT) into the classroom can lead to greater developmental outcomes. Research shows structured exposure to thoughtfully constructed and well informed choices of technology supports young learners in many aspects of learning – language development and development of mathematical thinking. It also provides an opportunity for children with special needs to explore information on their own or with a little support from adults.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Technology In Education?

To keep up with the changing pace of education and to gain 21^st century skills, technology needs to be interwoven into the early curriculum. As children live in a world dominated by technology and digitisation, we need to adapt our teaching styles to how they want to learn. Here are some key advantages to using ICT in education.

• Increased student engagement, as evidenced by research
• Technology can penetrate far-flung geographical regions, increasing access and promoting equitable learning
• Educators and caregivers find it easier to track and monitor children’s performance when they are using technology
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have taken ICT to a new level; adaptive, personalised instruction enhances technology offerings
• Taking certain manual tasks online means teachers spend less time on paperwork
• At its core and used effectively, ICT builds a bridge between students of different learning levels

The History Of ICT In Indian Education

June 1923
India’s first brush with ICT in education came with a radio broadcast by the Radio Club of Mumbai.

The 1930s
The BBC aired educational and cultural programs in India through broadcast radio.

1937
All India Radio broadcasted educational programs for school children.

1961
Educational Television (ETV), a pilot project by UNESCO and the Ford Foundations, was introduced in secondary schools in Delhi.

1984
For the first time in India, computers were used for education, in the Computer Literacy and Studies in School (CLASS) project.

2002
Gyan Vani, an educational radio station for all learners, including adults, came on air.

December 2004
The concept of ICT is introduced in schools.

2010
The Central Government revised this concept to include secondary school students too.

2020
The National Education Policy highlights the need for a dedicated unit to develop digital infrastructure and digital content, and increase India’s ICT-based educational initiatives.

*sources: Agrawal, 2005; Mohanty, 1984; NEP 2020

Leading early childhood experts have been studying the effect of the pandemic and subsequent disruption in learning. According to the UNESCO-UNICEF-World Bank survey on National Education responses to Covid-19 school closures, television-based remote learning policies have the potential to reach the highest proportion of students (62%), which amounts to almost 930 million students worldwide. Stakeholders across the Indian educational ecosystem have been tapping into this opportunity, leveraging technology like TV and radio to reach a larger subset of the student population.

A UNICEF report on India mentions, “School closures have impacted 247 million children enrolled in elementary and secondary education and 28 million children enrolled in pre-schools and Anganwadi centers. This is in addition to the more than 6 million girls and boys who were already out of school before the Covid-19 crisis.” 

Recognising how the school closures could lead to a devastating learning loss, pandemic-driven ICT initiatives took learning from the classroom into homes around India.

ICT-Driven Initiatives Across India

BY GOVERNMENTS

Chhattisgarh: The state’s dense forest cover impedes its ability to digitally connect with all young learners. To overcome this, the state launched multiple initiatives during the lockdown. They started local classes called ‘Padhai Tuhar Para’, during which study material was shared via Bluetooth. They even crowdsourced content from teachers, NGOs, and other content development firms at zero cost.

Kerala: This government launched virtual classes through their educational television channel called Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), which had launched in 2005. This government had already digitally linked classes – even primary classes – well before the pandemic hit, and transitioning online was relatively seamless.

Maharashtra: The Government of Maharashtra partnered with the Department of School Education and UNICEF (only technical support) to keep learning going. Their program – named The Learning from Home Package – comprises educational content from various technological platforms like TV, radio, and the internet, and is shared daily with parents and children to ensure even the most vulnerable receive educational support. 

Madhya Pradesh: This state envisioned a new learning initiative called DigiLEP, integrating digital learning with classroom teaching in the post-Covid era, using one of the most widely used phone apps – WhatsApp. 

*These initiatives make these states the perfect launching pad for the World Bank’s STARS project, which will provide USD 500 million to the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan, to support and strengthen the quality of school education.

BY ORGANISATIONS, NGOS, & INDIVIDUALS

SmarterED Platform by Lenovo: The technology company partnered with Vidyalaya, a non-profit, to enable volunteer teachers to educate young students from grades 5 to 12.

School-to-Home by Square Panda India: Square Panda’s ‘School-to-Home’ program recognises the importance of keeping the learning going and is extending education beyond school boundaries. Using blended learning and AI based technology, our system allows children to learn and improve their literacy skills even when they are physically distant from schools. Additionally, teachers can stay connected to students’ learning and build a partnership with parents too.

Individual Efforts By Educators And Anganwadi Workers: Adding to the national, international, and local efforts are the bravehearts fighting to deliver learning – our educators and Anganwadi workers. Meet some inspiring folks innovating during the learning crisis, here.

Challenges To Integrating ICT In Education

• Usage of technology is subject to its availability. This digital availability is intermittent at best across multiple regions in India, although measures have been taken to shore up these access gaps.
• Integrating technology into preschool and early education requires the presence of skilled educators and facilitators who can deal with issues as they crop up. Training teachers in ever-evolving technologies, regularly upgrading their skills, and keeping them informed of the latest developments and best practices is a Herculean task.
• Learning centres need the latest hardware and software for effective integration of digital technology. Setting up such facilities needs large investments on the part of the educational institutions and governments.
• Without guidance and effective integration, ICT has the potential to turn active engagement into passive use, affecting children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development.

3 Strategies To Incorporate ICT In Early Education

1. Continuous Training & Assistance For Educators: The involvement of educators and caregivers is critical to the success of technology integration in early learning centres.  Teachers need skilling in ICT to understand how technology can be used as a lesson delivery platform to present information to children. Additionally, regular training can overcome the initial resistance to technology in the classroom, and constant support serves to give educators more confidence as they use technology to drive learning outcomes.
2. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): Leveraging private organisation funds and technology in public schools can solve accessibility issues and raise infrastructure support across grassroots. The public sector will also benefit from the constant innovation and security protocols that are in place in such private entities.
3. Create Blended Or Hybrid Learning Centres: This model combines new-age technology with traditional methods of learning to get best results out of both. For example, traditionally, a teacher would use flashcards, story books, and puppets to tell a story. New dimensions can be added using a digital drawing board, or even by an app that makes sounds to enhance storytelling time.
   *Read our expert suggestions on how to set up blended classrooms easily.

Square Panda India & ICT

At Square Panda, we recognise the importance of equipping educators with technological know-how. Our educator empowerment programs include basic training about ICT, where we include topics about cyber safety and age-appropriate digital tools too. Our aim is to empower educators and help them use various tools and platforms effectively for teaching and learning, which in turn improves their professional development. Our programs are built to shape the future of our nation by transforming the way educators teach.

Square Panda India MD, Ashish Jhalani, remarks that “Many young children are first time technology users. Even before the pandemic increased edutech usage in schools, we saw how digital literacy improved over just a short time with our program. Children went from having no exposure to digital tools to being able to use tablets and mobile apps with ease. All this apart from the foundational literacy skills these children picked up.”

How do you use technology for teaching and learning in early childhood education? Comment below.

Did you know that becoming literate in any language does not come naturally to young children?

A study done by UNESCO in 2012 states that approximately 250 million school-aged children across the globe hadn’t learnt how to read. Studies also show that the ability of kids to finish their education successfully is highly correlated to their ability to read proficiently by third grade. If this is not achieved, it is very difficult for children to catch up in later years.

As the internet revolution sweeps the world, developing a reading habit has never been more important. Inculcating this reading habit starts early on, and is often taught alongside other essential cognitive skills. The surface understanding is simple. Young learners are introduced to letters and their sounds. Their exposure to the language grows in complexity as they move from one level to the next, learning words, then sentences, and finally developing some level of literacy in that language.

We recognise the efforts educators make towards this goal, and have done our best to deliver a deeper understanding of the neuroscience behind developing foundational literacy skills in early childhood. We researched reading and its effect on the early brain, and this is what we learnt: 

Neuroplasticity And Its Impact On The Reading Brain

• One of the most important findings in neuroscience research has been ‘neuroplasticity’, which is the ability of the brain to change and form new connections as it learns new things. These very changes are responsible for people learning to read. In fact, neuroplasticity is said to be the basis of all learning.

How It Begins:

• As a child is born, their brains form small connections with each new experience, which gradually turn into neural pathways. If unused, these connections soon disappear. However, this little learner’s brain does not automatically know how to read, because from an evolutionary point of view, the writing system is relatively new (the first writing system came about only around 5000 years ago, which is ‘new’ in evolutionary terms; the brain never needed to adapt to the task of reading). The reading skill is, as a result, an acquired one which requires many years of practice. This is where neuroplasticity kicks in, by helping teach a brain how to read. That is also why early education experts recommend reading stories to babies as young as six months of age, to enhance their neural connections.

To Preschoolers…

• Studies conducted on the reading brain show that the best impact happens when reading instruction is given to learners at the preschool and kindergarten level. 
• In fact, focusing on the phonology of a language before teaching early learners the language has a bigger impact on their future education. When educators teach children to recognise letters and words, they are helping them grow new functional regions in their brain.

And Finally, To Practiced Readers:

• When a child is learning to read, what he/she is trying to do is, taking sounds of the language represented in the auditory cortex (the part of the head above the ears), and mapping it to symbols in the visual cortex (the lowest part at the back of the head). This joins together to connect and form a word. That’s why reading is a circuit; it is not a specific area of the brain. When the brain does this again and again and again, it begins to behave like a muscle. Thus, today, when you are able to read effortlessly, it is because your brain has mastered how to map these symbols and sounds together. As a consequence, over a period of time, children might start out as being auditory learners, but eventually become visual learners.

Connecting Speech To The Written Word

Before we learn how to read, words are just meaningless scribbles on a page. They are objects we don’t naturally know or come into contact with, unlike the spoken word. Every child learns to speak before they can read. He/she is exposed to vocabulary by the adults around them on a constant basis. Unfortunately, there is no link between the spoken word, and the written word (or print concepts). So far, words were the initial mode of communication for kids, and when schooling starts, suddenly, they are told that these little symbols (individual letters) are the new mode of communication. They now have to reorganize their brain to match the words to a writing system. What children try to do, as they begin to read, is figure out how to connect the words heard with the written symbols they can see.

Note: Like muscle memory, a young child’s brain slowly makes the connection between the auditory form and the visual form, and the child is now reading. That is also how an auditory learner turns into a visual learner.

Reading And The Indian Brain

• Early learners in India are the only ones in the world who learn two writing systems simultaneously–the Roman/Latin writing system (for e.g. English) and the Devanagari (for e.g. Hindi, Marathi) writing system. As a child becomes a practised reader, a specific part of their brain becomes associated with recognising letter strings, often called the ‘visual word-form area’. In adult Indians who are skilled readers of two writing systems, we find two ‘visual word-form areas’.
• Children take longer to read Indian writing systems than they do English, because of the challenges these systems pose for them – complex script, multiple writing systems, and more. Additionally, when children learn a language, in the beginning, it is the spoken word that communicates meaning. Once they start formal schooling, they are told that they have to use little symbolic representations (a.k.a. letters); now those are the relevant units for communicating.

In a study conducted by cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh, a school whose primary mode of instruction was Hindi saw much better overall results in its students than a school which taught primarily in English. This is because the early exposure of understanding word sounds in Hindi transferred to English. Her study found that gains from teaching children their native language first might be slower, but has a much bigger impact.

The above evidence proves that an Indian educator’s job is doubly hard – they are trying to inculcate lifelong reading skills into just-developing brains; plus, evolution has not caught up to them yet. Additionally, their students are being introduced to two or more languages simultaneously. 

Now that you know how much of an effort reading takes and what an achievement it is, how proud will you be when your students learn new words? Stay tuned for new articles on early reading, early literacy, and Square Panda India, and visit ecce.squarepanda.in for information on our teaching-learning programs that focus on building a more literate India.

Children’s futures are shaped by those who teach them. In many homes across India — where parents often lack access to appropriate educational resources — caregivers and educators are the primary source of learning for young children. For a chance at a better future, however, we believe the responsibility towards learning should not rest solely on these educators and caregivers, but must also lie with the children themselves. Our efforts should concentrate on making children more independent while learning. 

Why Focus On Creating Independent Learners?

Research driven by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) shows independent learning has immense benefits to children, and is a high-impact, low-cost way to improve learning outcomes.

The advantages of inculcating independent study skills are far-reaching. A report named ‘What is Independent Learning and What are the Benefits for Students? (2008)’, stated the following benefits of independent learning for children:

– Develop more self-confidence
– They feel in control
– Creativity increases
– Increased social inclusion
– Ability to complete varied tasks set by teachers and caregivers

Encouraging such independent learning can happen from a very young age, but educators and caregivers need to understand how much guided intervention is needed, and when children are expected to be self-reliant. Here are five simple strategies to help turn young children into independent learners.

1.  Partner with parents

“In a 24-hour day, eight hours are the school’s time, eight hours are the child’s own time of sleep, and eight hours are the home time. Any learning that is happening in early childhood education, 1/3 rd of it is happening at home,” says Dr. Jawahar Surisetti (Advisor to Government, TED Speaker, Smart City Consultant, Start-Up Mentor, Psychologist, Bestselling Author, Speaking Tree Columnist).

Studies indicate children’s learning outcomes improve when they have the right guidance and instructional support even outside the classroom. Build a looped early learning ecosystem by increasing parental involvement in their child’s learning. Higher parental engagement supports learning even outside school hours and increases the likelihood of children wanting to learn without guided instruction.

For example, Square Panda India’s learning program for children has an in-built adaptive engine that reads individual children’s digital activity and provides real-time data to adults (parents, teachers, district administrators), whether the child is at home or is in school.

2.  Build special learning spaces

A key step to inculcating self-learning habits is designating a special space to learn. Set aside one corner of the classroom/home as a ‘learning corner’ filled with fun learning props. Partnering with parents comes in handy here; recruit them, or better yet, ask your students to help in creating their own learning spaces. Some examples of such spaces include:

• Reading Corner: To turn your pre-readers into independent readers, you will need to give them easy access to books, both physical and digital. Hang a basket or set a colourful bucket within easy reach of your kids, and fill it with books of all kinds. This gives them an opportunity to read a book of their choosing.
• Creative Corner: Fill this space with child-friendly creative tools like paint, crayons, art paper, magazine cutouts, colour pencils, and more. Let children doodle, finger paint, and express their ideas in any way they choose.
• Free-play Area: Grab different toys and trinkets you think your little learners would play with, and let them enjoy this space.

3.  Offer children a choice

Choices reflect preferences and interests. Children that are given a choice are encouraged to take a bigger role in their own learning. Asking them to make a choice on something simple (which colour do you want to use) or more complex (what items do you want to add in this learning corner) empowers children and gives them control over varied aspects of their learning.

4.  Assign groups

Children should be able to identify the people around them as potential resources to solve problems. Build teams and groups of children for projects and play-time as well. Letting them learn from their peers can benefit their independent learning as well. Working with others not only develops their social emotional skills, but also helps them solve problems on their own to get answers rather than rely on the teacher/educator.

5.  Identify and understand problem areas

Diverse classrooms with diverse learners mean educators and caregivers are faced with a diverse set of problems. Not every learner adapts to free expression quite the same way. In fact, multiple research studies into independent learning models prove some children do struggle with aspects of self-learning. Our task is identifying what these stumbling blocks are, and working with our early learning partners to solve these problems.

Some children could be more introverted than others and avoid speaking up, allowing others to take the lead. Caregivers need to monitor and address such issues, taking care to let everyone take a turn equally, in a safe, non-judgemental space.

Square Panda India’s Foundational Program Encourages Independent Learning

To show the efficacy of our foundational literacy program, we conducted projects across the states of Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Pune, with children aged 2-10. A comparison of results pre and post implementation showed us:

– Children across all three states could independently use words we taught in brand-new sentences.
– Children explored concepts and skills independently without guided instruction, at schools and at home.
– They learnt to use digital devices without guidance.
– The utility of Square Panda as an exploratory platform for independent learning.
– The high level of effectiveness teachers can achieve with it if used as a method of instruction.

Learn more about Square Panda India and our NEP 2020-aligned teaching-learning programs at ecce.squarepanda.in

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With what do you equate early childhood education? 

Most people would likely relate this term with academics. While the primary focus of ECCE has always been academics, this is but one component that makes up the whole. Research tells us that social and emotional development is as deeply woven into the fabric of early education as academics. For example, a 2015 study by Jones, Greenberg, & Crowley linked higher social emotional skills in kindergarten with important outcomes like education, career, and social success by the age of 25.

Comprehensive programs that enhance foundational learning and include a component of socio-emotional skill development are perfectly geared towards delivering the best results for young learners.

Defining Social And Emotional Development

A child is considered to be developing socially and emotionally when they start to understand who they are, what they are feeling, and how to interact with others. They are able to:

• Forge and sustain positive relationships
• Experience, manage, and express emotions
• Explore and engage with those in their environment

Technology And Social Emotional Skills

While there is research about the usage of technology while developing socio-emotional skills, this does not take into account the scope of edutech as we know it today. Companies that provide digital learning tools for their young learners are more concerned with holistically empowering their audience. Their research takes into account each developmental domain and is increasingly focused on providing the best overall foundation for learning, with a special curriculum for developing social emotional skills.

When children work together on computers or other types of technology, they learn to negotiate and take turns. Conflicts may arise while working together, and young children will need to solve problems. Technology is very prevalent in young children’s lives. Some advocates state that, since this is true, children should begin using technology at an early age, when they are motivated and fearless to learn.
(McCarrick & Xiaoming, 2007)

Supporting Social And Emotional Development In Early Learning Centres

A 2014 UNICEF Study put enrollment in preschools at around 70%. Of these, about 36 million children (3 to 6 years of age) were enrolled in Anganwadis (Ministry of Women & Child Development 2015). Anganwadis, part of the ICDS scheme, form only a part of the early learning settings children are exposed to; the rest involve public and private learning centres with enrollment skewing towards private schooling centres. This makes professional caregivers who care for and teach young children the most important partners in supporting their social and emotional development and building their readiness for school.

High-quality education is critical to maintaining positive socio-emotional development. Not only does a quality education promote active learning and engagement in children, it also mitigates the effects of other risk factors and builds resilience in children. This is partly due to the positive relationships young children form with their caregivers in a high-quality learning centre. Read our thoughts on quality in early education. When children perceive at least one supportive adult in their life, they are less likely to experience the effects of an adverse experience, and be more socio-emotionally developed individuals.

Well-trained early care and education professionals are critical to the creation of such quality learning centres, and to supporting the social and emotional development of their charges. Their expertise enables them to weave social and emotional skill-building into daily activities, routines, and even their own behaviour. They know to implement targeted curriculum with games, stories, and activities.

Supporting Social Emotional Learning At A Higher Level

Leaders and policymakers play a higher role in fostering and promoting positive environments across learning centres. These typically involve strategies, policies, or structures related to the teaching-learning climate and support services, like establishing a team to administer structural changes in working environments and developing clear guidelines for adult behaviour in learning centres.

8 Activities To Build Social And Emotional Skills

*note: these suggestions can be repurposed for at-home learning, by parents and other educators.

1. Build A ‘Feeling Box’: Help children put their feelings into words by labelling emotions in this little ‘feeling box’. Make your own feeling box, and model for children how to communicate their emotions to others.
2. Move To Music: Pick easy songs with lyrics and beats that encourage movement, like Square Panda’s letter-dance song. Make the motions with children as the song plays. Point out how good their dancing is getting, and credit their listening skills for it.
3. Play Board Games: Board games (specially those requiring teams) increase emotional intelligence by teaching children to take turns, think ahead, be a good sport about losing, and learn that actions have consequences. Here’s a fun little board game created for your little ones especially by Square Panda India, to get you started. 
4. Make A Share Box: A study from Duke and Penn State followed over 750 people for 20 years and found those who were able to share and help other children in kindergarten were more likely to graduate from high school. Teach children that sharing is caring (and fun); decorate a box and fill it with things children choose to share with their friends/family, like playdough, crayons, music boxes, soft toys, and more.
5. Use Hand Puppets: You can get these online (see the one Ms. Sonia Relia uses during our Square Panda Thursdays sessions), or ask children to make their own, using random picture cutouts glued to a popsicle stick. These help in acting out stories and exhibiting various emotions.
6. Read Stories: Use stories to talk to children about different social situations. Reading and playacting stories aloud (using hand puppets as props) provides a great opportunity to discuss the connection between behaviour and emotions. For example, “The panda is running fast! He seems scared.”
7. Sing Songs: Take children through the gamut of emotions while singing songs like ‘If You’re Happy And You Know It‘, or ‘Looking In The Mirror’. The wordsmith in you can even come up with lyrics to the tune of popular songs, which talk about sharing, being kind, and other social messages.
8. Use Daily Activities To Develop Social Skills: Activities like snack time, digital time, and recess can be used to develop social skills like taking turns, sitting together, and engaging in conversation. This helps children build positive peer relationships and foster healthy social and emotional development early on.

Key Points To Remember While Developing Social Emotional Skills

• Children Learn By Watching: All children automatically mimic the behaviour of those closest to them, which in many cases are adults. Let them see you model appropriate behaviour and exhibit patience, kindness, and helpfulness throughout the day. Explain what is appropriate behaviour and what is not, and make sure you recognise their positive behaviour and praise it.
• Diversity Plays A Major Part: India’s multicultural heritage translates into a diverse classroom full of children with unique sets of experiences, abilities, and learning needs. Such diversity also brings rich cultural and linguistic differences. Being aware of and adapting to each child’s specific needs can be the difference between a socially aware and competent future citizen or one unable to cope in challenging situations. In classrooms, for example, teachers can encourage expression in the language children are comfortable with, and assign ‘helper buddies’ to children who are struggling socially.
• Connecting With Parents Is Important Too: Establishing a link with parents and caregivers of children is extremely important for success in a school setting. Increased parental engagement, and an awareness of the importance of social emotional development helps children, particularly those struggling with behavioural problems. Schools can figure ways to reach out to the parents regularly, and encourage them to visit or volunteer in the classroom.
• Maintaining A Daily Routine Is Critical To Social Emotional Development: In any setting, adults need to stick to a regular routine each day so children can predict what comes next. This helps them feel safe and in control. In case of any adjustments to the schedule, make sure they know changes are coming, so they are well-prepared for it.
• Encourage Early Friendships: Young children often play next to each other rather than with each other. This has only increased with online learning. What educators now notice, is that children are beginning to show empathy to peer problems even online, giving rise to early friendships. Encouraging more interaction between groups of children, assigning buddies, and drawing out quieter children are some more ways to increase positive peer relationships from an early age.

Early childhood is a critical period to develop social emotional skills. The quality of experiences in this stage can have a lifelong impact on children. Adults are mainly responsible for developing strong socio-emotional skills in early childhood. The early learning programs that prioritise children’s social and emotional health are rewarded by highly engaged little learners who express and use emotion in productive ways.

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