While social distancing during the pandemic is a smart move to help keep everyone physically healthy, social isolation can lead to feelings of loneliness. According to the Mayo Clinic, this can be especially hard for children. Reasons why can include the following:

• They can have a harder time than adults when it comes to expressing feelings.
• They can’t simply go visit friends as a way to cope with those feelings.
• “Friendships with other children can give kids crucial support, build a sense of belonging and help them to develop personal identities”—and now those friendships must be enjoyed in different ways.

How do you help your child cope with feeling lonely as a result of this situation?

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Do you want to make a difference in the lives of children? Horizon Education Centers is committed to providing enrichment and educational opportunities to children in our communities, but we couldn’t do it without dedicated professionals like you.

We’re hiring dedicated professionals who love working with children to join our team. If this sounds like you, take a look at our open positions and apply.

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“The environments infants and toddlers encounter, the relationships they form, and the activities they engage in before age 3—both inside the home and out—are key to healthy and positive growth, development, and learning outcomes that can last a lifetime.” (National Association for the Education of Young Children)

A strongly recommended practice for children, from the infant stage and up, is a community of care—or COC—which means that children have consistency in their caregivers for a length of time, perhaps two to three years.

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“Students who attend high-quality preschool programs reap benefits that can last through school and their lives, according to a review of research.” (Learning Policy Institute, 2019)

Optimizing the size of a preschool class can play a key role in the quality of the program. That has long been true, but appropriately managing preschool class size is more important during COVID-19 than ever before to create a safe environment where children can learn, socialize and grow. In response, the state of Ohio temporarily modified the teacher-student ratio, but that has since been returned to normal.

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11.3 million children are unsupervised after school in the United States. Afterschool programs help keep kids safe, allow them to develop skills and help working families. 

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“As schools reopen, they must balance the educational, social and emotional needs of their students along with the health and safety of students and staff in the midst of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.” (Mayo Clinic)

Schools are reopening in a variety of ways, ranging from 100% distance learning to 100% in-person schooling with safety precautions or a hybrid solution that lies somewhere in the middle.

If your child will be with other students and teachers, then these five tips can help.

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When your child comes home from a day at Horizon Education Centers, you might expect to hear about an entertaining book that was read, fun times spent with friends, and a snack that was enjoyed—but, Star Wars?

Yep! Star Wars characters came to Horizon. (photo source: The Morning Journal)

As The Morning Journal reports, the characters who came to our centers in Lorain spread “cheer and joy” as they handed out a total of 350 free water bottles and drawstring bags to the children.

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A significant percentage of children will be attending school online this fall, either in full or in part—and, for many of them, this is a brand-new experience. Fortunately, there are plenty of things that parents can do to help their children transition to online learning.

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From a practical standpoint, quality programs allow parents to work while knowing their children are in a nurturing environment outside of school time. That by itself is quite important, so we’ll delve more into that benefit, along with four other valuable ones connected with high-quality afterschool programs.

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