Virtual program might help kids get ready for kindergarten
ANI
19 May 2021, 04:03 GMT+10
Washington [US], March 18 (ANI): With pandemic lockdowns still in place last summer, The Ohio State University couldn t host its in-person Summer Success Program to help preschoolers from low-income families prepare for kindergarten.
A study published in Early Education and Development suggested that a fully virtual program could work with these 4 and 5-year-olds, who had no previous experience with preschool.
Researchers found that the reimagined Summer Success at Home program was feasible to operate, was popular with teachers and parents, and had at least modest success in helping the children learn literacy skills, early math skills, and emotional understanding.
File photo
While the pandemic pushed all Ohio kids out of classrooms and behind computer screens, a big spike in digital device use by children from lower-income families is causing some concerns among researchers.
A new study from Ohio State University’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy says kindergarten students from lower-income households spent about 6.6 hours per day watching TV and using computers, phones and tablets in the early weeks of the pandemic when child care was shut down. That’s about double the amount of screen time reported in similar studies of lower-income kids before the pandemic.
Covid impact: Screen time tops 6 hours a day for kindergarteners
By IANS |
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New York, May 12 : Kindergarteners spent more than six hours a day in front of screens during two early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, a small study suggests.
That is nearly double the screen time found before the pandemic in similar children.
The results showed that children averaged 6.6 hours a day of media use. Contrary to previous research, weekday use (6.8 hours) was higher than weekend media use (5.8 hours). We found a high level of media use compared to what many experts think is appropriate for this age group, said lead author Rebecca Dore, from the Ohio State University.
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Pandemic screen time tops 6 hours a day for some kindergartners
Kindergartners from low-income families spent more than six hours a day in front of screens during two early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a small Ohio study suggests.
That is nearly double the screen time found before the pandemic in similar children, according to other research.
Caregivers from low-income households may have faced more difficulties than those from more advantaged families in managing the time their children spent watching TV and using computers, phones and tablets when child care was shut down, according to the researchers.
Still, the results are concerning, said Rebecca Dore, lead author of the study and senior research associate at The Ohio State University’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy.