YOUNG LEARNERS IN THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC

By Dianne O. De Villa

The pandemic has brought a lot of changes in everyone’s lives. Even the education system
has changed drastically. Everyone is putting an effort to ensure continuous learning, from teachers
creating and giving out learning modules to parents trying their best to teach their children and
students trying to cope with the sudden change. The quality of education they are receiving is not the
same.
As an educator, I have tried my best to ensure that the students are still learning. For young
learners, who are still developing, it is important that their enthusiasm towards learning will not
wither. I have been open for questions 24/7 for parents who are having a hard time teaching their
children. The parents can contact me through phone calls, Facebook messenger, and texts, whenever
they need to clarify the lesson; this ensures that the students are learning accurately.
Aside from giving modules, I also encourage starting online classes. I implemented a
schedule for their online classes every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Parent-
teacher consultation are also held in-between. These classes aim to bring the learners a sense of
normalcy. They can see their classmates and friends. They can learn together as what they are used to.
The parents also benefit from it since they can learn the lessons with their children and teach it to
them easier.
The online classes seem to be effective since the learners are excited and actively
participating in class. The parents are also beside the students ensuring that they are listening and
participating. Even with online classes, parents will still be their first-hand source of information so
the communication with them are still open.
Although we are facing though times, we can never deny their resilience even though they are
still young. Even with this small effort, we can give them the sense of being in a classroom; thus,
ensuring that they still learn, their enthusiasm is learning is maintained and the quality of education
they receive. A time will come when we can all go back to our classrooms and learn together but for
now we must do everything we can with the resources we have.