The pandemic has deeply affected our homes. With social isolation, the household was taken over by many different external environments: parents’ workplace, children’s school setting, leisure and play spaces – all of them happening, often at the same time, inside the household, which is still the place where the family comes together. That is precisely why it has never been so important for us to focus on the household with special care.
When it comes to the children, organizing the house is crucial for the remote learning process, as explained by the Early Childhood Education coordinator at be.Living, Camila Maia. “It is important for the space where children will study and carry out synchronous and asynchronous proposals to reflect and to be somehow connected to the studying process at school. It must be a pleasant space that promotes concentration, engagement and curiosity. The surroundings must be well planned out and organized to facilitate children’s access to school materials during the livestreams, preventing unwanted noises or interferences from others around them, ensuring they are seated in a comfortable position with good access to the iPad or the computer, and have a good view of the content being broadcast. This space must ensure a higher sense of concentration, since it is where the children will dedicate most of their cognitive development.”
According to Camila, in order for children to get organized in this new routine at home, it is crucial to separate the “study space” from the “play space”. She also says that the play space, where the children will carry out their investigations, creativity and contact with playfulness through free play can also be thought out and organized to ensure optimal use. “The teachers have included in the Classroom some free play proposals with recommendations on how to organize play areas. They suggest make-believe scenarios with kitchens, banks, markets and, for older children, games with some of the challenges that may already start to appear. So, even the play space can be planned out with proposals and ideas that invite children to play, organized in a way where children can access toys and play independently by themselves while their parents work, for example.”
The coordinator, who is also a mom and, just like all other working parents, is now dealing with this new concept of “home”, understands just how big this challenge really is, but underlines that no matter how hard it is, it is important to keep this goal in mind and try to put it into practice as much as possible, because it can make a huge difference in children’s development during this childhood learning stage.
“I know that it’s not always possible, but I think it’s important to keep trying. The household used to serve a single purpose. But now, with this invasion of different parts of our lives, it has several different purposes. If we don’t organize these spaces in our home, favoring the development of these different experiences, it will be very difficult to live in harmony. When the environment is messy and disorganized, this ultimately affects the children’s learning process. Organization and routine are essential to survive with children during this period, and they help promote a more prosperous existence and development for our children in such troubled times.”
