Education

Creatas

A sharp drop in the number of youngsters in Arizona kindergartens this year due to COVID-19 could have ripple effects on their education for years to come.

While enrollment in public schools is down 5% from the same time a year earlier, the preliminary figure is about 14% for kindergarten, said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman.

She said parents are telling her that their concerns about the coronavirus are causing them to keep their children at home. That’s allowed; kindergarten is optional.

This video offers some pros and cons of online education, as many schools and universities have suspended in-person classes due to the spread of the coronavirus.

But Hoffman, who as a speech therapist worked with young children, said there are major implications to skipping this stage of organized instruction. Those who do not attend could end up with issues, not only when they go into the first grade a year from now but even further down the road, she said.

β€œOne of the greatest benefits is the social and emotional learning and being able to play with other kids,” Hoffman said. But she said parents also are worried about the spread of the virus in classrooms.

The schools chief said she remains convinced the best bet is to get those kids into kindergarten for at least a few hours a day.

β€œSome of the most important skills that they’re learning are the letter sounds, the name for the letters and the alphabet,” she said. Kids also start reading simple words.

β€œThey’re learning to count objects, and they’re learning what numbers look like and how to name numbers,” Hoffman continued. β€œSo those are very important foundational skills as they go through the grades.”

The failure to pick up on those β€” and early β€” could come back to haunt those kids later on, Hoffman said.

Central to that is Move On When Reading. That law says students cannot be promoted from the third grade if they score β€œfar below” that grade reading level on the statewide assessment.

Hoffman’s not a big fan.

β€œOur kids come from so many different backgrounds,” the Democratic elected official said. β€œThe kids that are struggling readers are typically coming from disadvantaged homes.”

More kids starting regular school without the benefits of kindergarten teachings, Hoffman said, could lead in a few years to more children being told they’re not going on to the fourth grade.

β€œAnd it is a huge social and emotional impact on students to be held back a grade,” she said.

But it remains the law.

Then there are the less measurable but also equally important social skills.

β€œThey’re also learning how to be a student,” Hoffman said.

β€œThey’re learning to get in line, they’re learning to take turns, to share, to problem-solve,” she explained. Even learning how to have social interactions with other kids is β€œvery critical.”

β€œI think all the impact of what we’re seeing right now is yet to be seen,” she said.

Hoffman isn’t the only one worried about children missing out on what they learn in kindergarten.

Christine Thompson, president and CEO of Expect More Arizona, an education advocacy group, said if youngsters don’t learn the basics in kindergarten, especially of letter recognition and reading, it’s going to β€œtake a lift” to ensure they are not held back in third grade.

For parents who do not want to send their kindergarten students into classrooms, there are online options. But Thompson doesn’t see that as a realistic option for picking up reading skills.

β€œWhen you think about how technologically savvy you have to be in order to navigate the web, it’s really falling on parents to help them,” she said.

Thompson said she is sure there are programs that can help young children learn their letters and sounds.

β€œBut you really need those educators with kids, helping to identify what the challenges are, or what things are going to get a kid hooked on reading, or really understanding the contents that are so incredibly important, especially in those really early years,” she said.

And there’s a more practical concern.

β€œBeing online can be really exhausting, especially in these really little kids,” Thompson said. Pediatricians have stressed the importance of young children having only limited screen time.

β€œTo go from that to having school online is a massive shift,” Thompson said. β€œSo we’re going to have a lot of ground to make up.”

Hoffman said her message to parents planning to keep their kindergartners at home would be to reconsider.

β€œAs far as we can tell from the research that’s been done this year, the spread of COVID-19 is extremely low for the K through eighth grades,” she said.

β€œMissing out on a whole year of school can have detrimental effects in the long term,” Hoffman continued. β€œAnd school provides such amazing opportunities and wrap-around support for our kids, not just academically but also socially.”

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