Our everyday choices have become minimal during the Corona Virus pandemic and its exponential growth rate. We are no longer supposed to gather in groups, we should stay in our homes and go out only if it is declared essential. We are forced to spend time with our families in an enclosed space for an unknown amount of time. In order to stay safe and healthy we refrain from any up close and personal interaction. The choices we have are limited.
Our kids are now forced to be at home with us instead of school with their friends. When they are young their ability to discover and explore are impacted and when they are older their ability to socialize(explore and discover- this never ends) is impacted. For us adults, well we contemplate life (and death), we choose for our family what is the most important thing to keep us surviving and thriving in a world of infinite unknowns. We learn and read the news as much or as little as we want and we try to wrap our heads around this Armageddon movie we are living through.
However, I'm going to stick with the importance of allowing our children to make more choices for themselves especially now. We like to say we know what's best for them and sometimes this is true but sometimes they know what's best for themselves and we should make sure we are listening.
Children need to be a part of their learning/play in a way that is meaningful.They need to have some control over the direction of their learning/play because like all of us we have preferences, things that we are attracted to, things that motivate us, things that we enjoy, and are specific interests.
Kids of all ages need to learn/play by doing and engaging their senses: through touch, movement, sound, observation, and feeling.
Children have relationships with other children and other materials. They must have the opportunity to explore those relationships
Meaning they need to have a choice. Make broad choice activity cards and dont stress too much about the academics. There are certain cards that have to show up during the day like outdoor play time, reading and writing but they can be at any point in the day. It can also take form in many ways. I read to them, they read to each other, to ourselves, an audio book, we write what we are grateful for or in our observation journals. Whatever it may be and how they want to do it is fine with me.