Preschool-age kids face learning gaps in wake of pandemic

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nationwide, and right here in Lincoln, preschools saw a dip in enrollment during the pandemic.

Now educators are working hard to make sure kids learn important skills they may have missed out on.

“Preschool is the foundation for higher learning,” said Sanine Beck, director of Little Learners Christian Preschool.

During the pandemic, many parents decided to keep their kids home, as preschool isn’t mandatory.

Even children who stayed in preschool had to deal with changes, like adding a mask to their wardrobe or learning virtually.

Now parents and educators are noticing some trends as those children get older.

“We are seeing some delayed potty training,” Beck said. “We are seeing delayed autonomous behavior where they could before handle things themselves, you know, put on their shoes or their coat.  Now they don’t feel like they can do it. They need direction or help more than before.”

Sarah Thomas, a teacher at South Gate Preschool, said preschool is a “crucial” age for development.

“So at this time, it is really crucial for them to learn how to read facial expressions and body language and learn these social skills because now we are expecting them to do more, but they kind of had a gap where they didn’t get all the input they needed to learn those things,” she said.

And masks may have caused some learning gaps for children.

“My daughter goes to speech and already struggles with being understood. You add a mask to that, you add her speech teacher wearing a mask, those are some big challenges for these kids,” Thomas said. “Then we see some children just have trouble reading facial expressions because for so long, they weren’t able to read facial expressions outside of their house.”

Beck said that because of masks, “students couldn’t see the teacher’s emotion.”

“If we are reading a book, the expression. If we are talking to them, are they mad at me? Are they happy with me? The children couldn’t detect that just by appearances,” Beck said.

To combat these learning gaps, some preschools are throwing out any assumptions about what students know and starting with the basics.

“We are hearing from the kindergarten teachers who are saying, don’t worry so much about the academics, we can teach that,” Beck said. “Really focus on the social-emotional development of the children right now, so that they can participate in group settings.”

Parents play a big role in detecting these learning gaps as well.

“Don’t ignore possible delays because this time is crucial for kids to catch up, to fix small errors, to learn new things,” Thomas said. “And you don’t want them to miss that part of their development.”