Our intention as a community of educators has always been to provide our students with rich learning experiences and constantly evolve our understanding and thinking about how they learn best. This intention is rooted in our own experiences with children over decades and keeping ourselves informed of the current research in Developmental Psychology, Neuroscience and education. With the launch of Khaitan Virtual Learning, we have also been mindful of how our decisions on the structure of virtual Learning is getting informed by research and what seems the most effective direction to take for our students.
As we consulted the experts in our community and referred to research in this area, we found some very common principles that have defined the structure of our virtual learning endeavour:
- Continuity is the Key: Children at a young age absorb more as the brain is growing rapidly and so continuity in learning experiences is paramount for their development. We can all recall from our own school days, the impact of the long summer break had on learning. In general, the older the child was, the more impacted they were for fact and procedure based knowledge. For younger children, where the scaffolding of larger concepts is being laid, an impact is sensed in their connections to classmates and teachers in addition to their understanding.
- Rhythm and Routines are the Building Blocks: Children are more comfortable and secure; less anxious and moody, when they have routines to follow. Consistency and habit-building are imperative for brain development. When children can safely rely upon what will happen during each part of their day or morning, through repeated activities with their own rhythm, their sense of security and well-being is dramatically affected. All of this impacts their ability to learn and retain information. “This balance in their schedules and rhythms is vital as these consistent, repeated patterns of their daily lives in childhood and adolescence shapes their brain architecture, future learning, behaviour and physical health too.” (Susan Gray Weber; Some Thought on Rhythm).
- Managing Recovery of Learning Interruption: We, as educators, need to ensure that the significant building blocks of literacy and numeracy continue uninterrupted. Teaching is a relationship-based profession. This has been clearly demonstrated in the response of the teaching profession, supporting children through online teaching during the crisis
The Khaitan Public School Virtual Learning Program recognizes these important factors. Instead of filling the child’s day with tasks, it aims to strike a balance between overcoming learning interruption, whether it be CBSE or Cambridge Assessment International Education. Another priority for us, as one of the top schools in Ghaziabad, is supporting our children’s emotional and social well-being.
Essentially, the approach of any educational institution in these unprecedented times must be to think of our children’s all-round development: physical and creative by providing them with opportunities for skill development.
