Many people working with young children are reporting the same thing.
Children in our settings seem to be “behind” or have gaps in their development, particularly around language, social skills, or self-care. Or some children are fine developmentally, but are more anxious, or harder to settle – reluctant to try new things, or too fizzy to focus for long.
At the same time, specialist services, such as speech and language therapy, report higher levels of concerns and referrals, getting beyond what they can address individually.
What’s going on?
And should we worry? Well, there are at least four things going on:
- The lockdowns had an effect. This was different for every family and every child. But children all got less time in early learning and childcare settings, and had less chance to go out, do interesting things and chat about them.
- Children aren’t daft. They will mostly have picked up on what was going on – the stresses the adults tried their best to shelter them from will still have got through a bit. There’s lots of evidence that under stress young brains wisely prioritise development that promotes survival – so less language, more alertness to danger and stronger reactions to stress.
- Settings changed. We followed the proper guidance, but this means we couldn’t offer the same things – most experiences became more restricted and more controlled. Some disappeared altogether, such as parents coming in, or being able to have big outings.
- It’s not over. The pandemic has morphed into a cost of living crisis, and also a crisis of provision of some basic services to families. Our settings are not exempt, with staffing pressures and sickness. And we are human too, staff are also stressed by the same things as families are.
They are going to be ok!
That might sound overwhelming. Are the children irreparably damaged?
The science of child development tells us the answer to that – no!
Child development is all about adapting to the environment they find – it’s how humans can survive all over the world in very different contexts. We grow to match. It’s like the trees in the picture.
So during the pandemic, children adapted to what was going on. Their brilliant brains and bodies prioritised “survival development”. Relative to normal times, that means costs in terms of language, attention, social cognition and all the other things we see.
Our job is to help them adapt back. And we know how. It’s simple and powerful and we need to trust it. After the rain, what they need is some sunshine – literally, but also they need ….
Environments that are emotionally warm and supportive, where there are interesting things to do, where people help us and understand our wobbles, and where they have rich conversations with us about things we care about … you know what I mean.
A few years of this, and children’s brains will adapt back to the safe and happy world that we want them to adapt to, and be able to cope with the normal ups and downs that involves.
Every time you play, laugh, listen to and chat with a child you are bringing them out of the pandemic and into their future. What a thing to do each day.