It has been one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, turning life as we knew it upside down. While a lot has certainly changed over the past 12 months, our team has been working tirelessly since the start to ensure that some of the most important things for our young friends stay the same.
The health and wellness of our children, families and staff has always been of the utmost importance. This foundation enabled us to quickly implement enhanced
health and wellness measures
� and make them a part of daily life that, while critical, don�t take away from the fun and excitement of school. Doing so has enabled us to:
Ensure Children Continue to Feel Loved
Love is and always will be the foundation for early childhood development. In fact, when children feel loved and have trusting relationships with their teacher or caregiver, the greater their ability to learn and develop.
Though masks now cover our faces, our teachers have hardly skipped a beat in connecting with our young friends. The positive tone in their voices, the language they use, the body language they exhibit, the way they read the needs of children, the warm hugs and cuddles, the trust they build, the family-like relationships they develop � they all boil down to making sure every child feels loved, safe and valued.�
Focus on Delivering Engaging Learning Experiences
We take our health and wellness precautions seriously and have adapted to ensure they don�t compromise the quality of our educational programming in any way. As college-degreed, highly skilled educators, our teachers quickly learned how to modify their approach as they continue planning and delivering age-appropriate, engaging lessons individualized to meet the needs of the specific children in their class.
In many cases, these activities (reading, art, science, music, movement, STREAM enrichment, etc.) don�t look drastically different than they did pre-pandemic. You�ll see masks, more distancing and cleaning/sanitizing, but you�ll also see just as many eyes light up with excitement and hear just as much laughter as you did before.�
Provide A Much-Needed Sense of Normalcy
Young children thrive on stability and routines. Their brains are busy making sense of the world around them, and when that world becomes unpredictable, both behavior and development can be affected. Providing children a sense of normalcy at school with their teachers, friends, familiar activities and routines (modified as appropriate) not only helps them thrive emotionally, socially and intellectually. It also offers consistency that can help them more easily adapt to other changes they may be experiencing, while at the same time providing a taste of �normal life� for parents working on the job or at home.
It certainly hasn�t been an easy year for anyone, but thanks to the personal devotion of our teachers, Directors and staff, our young friends continue to learn and thrive.
Interested in learning more about how your local Malvern School is managing through the pandemic? Contact your Director at a
school near you
today.�
