By KRISTIA POSTEMA
Capital News Service
LANSING — Early education is essential for child development, but the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for preschool children and early education programs.
Erica Willard, the executive director of the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children, said the COVID-19 pandemic forced many preschools and early education centers to shut down for extended periods, disrupting children’s daily routines.
“If children are not able to access high-quality early childhood education programs, that can have an impact on their development and learning now and later in life,” Willard said.
Early childhood education programs are struggling to reopen and provide the same level of quality education as before, Willard said.
“Unfortunately, one of the things that has been exacerbated because of the pandemic is the lack of staffing,” Willard said. “Many of the programs we work with were closed down, but now as they’re trying to reopen they’re really struggling to get high-quality staff in those programs to support children and families.”
According to Willard, early education staff were forced to get other jobs when their programs closed, and many of their new jobs paid more, making it difficult for early education programs to bring former employees back.
“We do a lot of work advocating for higher wages for teachers that are working in these classrooms or childcare centers,” Willard said. “A lot of people working in the field are unfortunately on assistance themselves because the wages are so low.”
“Many of them have the same credentials as their kindergarten counterparts, but the public investment in early education isn’t as strong as it is for K-12 education,” she said.
According to the Society for Research in Childhood Development, based in Washington D.C., early education staff are paid wages that are near the poverty level, despite their expertise and education levels.
Sarah Cooper, the director of Ludington’s Pere Marquette Early Childhood Center which teaches about 100 students, said the pandemic has placed additional responsibilities on preschool teachers.
“There are so many expectations for staff. They had to do virtual teaching and it took a lot of time to try and organize it,” Cooper said. “A lot of them aren’t full time so they are working around the clock but don’t get benefits.”
During the center’s virtual period, teachers had to find engaging ways to teach preschoolers online while working around parents schedules, she said.
“When children couldn’t be here they might have to go to daycare, so teachers would have to do some Zoom meetings at night,” Cooper said. “They would have to plan around when it was convenient for the parents.”
According to Cooper, when her center went back to in person instruction, teachers were given another task — making sure students were adhering to the pandemic safety guidelines.
“There are a lot of expectations and things keep changing. Even just being in charge of a classroom with little ones who aren’t used to wearing the masks has been difficult for the staff,” she said.
Cooper said that the center has divided up the playground and rearranged schedules to reduce interaction among students in different classrooms. Teachers monitor those measures and adjust their teaching methods accordingly, which can be more difficult when working with younger children, she said.
Cooper said, increased funding would help preschool teachers continue to provide the best education possible.
“I would love it if we had a preschool that was funded how the elementary schools are,” Cooper said. “Everybody would be getting the same type of services.”
The Society for Research in Childhood Development says that “pandemic stresses have led to increased behavioral and emotional needs among children,” putting more responsibilities on teachers.
According to the society, “additional funding to stabilize child care programs and cover increased costs should be a part of a coordinated approach that acknowledges and addresses identified financial challenges.”
Despite the lack of funding for preschools and early education centers, “the staff that teaches preschool really has a heart for preschoolers,” and their dedication is reflected in the resilience young children have developed, Cooper said.
“One positive thing is that (children) seem like they’ve developed resilience,” she said. “They’re okay with wearing masks, they’re interacting with peers in new ways and they’re laughing and smiling.”
“I think that’s a really good quality to instill in children, it will serve them well in the future to remember how resilient they were during a pandemic,” Cooper said.