With the COVID-19 pandemic, the learning process which is usually done face-to-face with teachers and students directly has to turn into distance learning. Inevitably, teachers face new challenges in order to further improve their abilities in terms of online learning but still be able to meet curriculum standards according to the competencies to be achieved. Parents are also more pro-active and “literate” information from schools and the latest developments in online learning.
The main purpose of early childhood education is to facilitate the growth and development of children as early as possible which includes the physical, psychological and social aspects as a whole, which is the right of the child. With this development, children are expected to be more prepared to learn socially, emotionally, morally, etc. in the social environment, which is the main goal ( primary goal ), while readiness to learn (academic) at school is the nurturing goal of the school. early childhood education programs.
In accordance with the stages of child development, the characteristics of the way children learn, the concept of learning and meaningful learning, then learning activities for early childhood should be carried out with thematic learning. Thematic learning is integrated learning that uses themes to link several subjects so that they can provide meaningful experiences to students. The themes in PAUD learning have characteristics that are close to children’s daily lives and are easy to understand and find in everyday life. Likewise, in learning activities using the method of playing with media that are easily found by children, for example objects around or objects that are not used.
In online learning activities, teachers and parents are expected to work together so that learning objectives can be achieved optimally. 6 aspects of development that are optimized for early childhood development are related and can be carried out in a variety of games at home according to the activities of the classroom teacher. Aspects in early childhood development include cognitive and language aspects, namely indicators of symbolic thinking. These two aspects can complement each other, in this case, I as a class teacher in group A (aged 4-5 years) plan online learning activities that focus on the goal of developing symbolic thinking and expressing language using materials that are around the house.
Online activities that will be carried out by children on the theme of water, air, fire with the sub-theme of water with the following learning objectives:
1. Children can know the process of boiling water
2. Children can recognize the symbols of the letters a, i, r, with natural materials
3. Children can describe the process of boiling water
4. Children can count objects
5. Children can learn the uses of water through singing
6. Children can be grateful that God created water
Based on the learning objectives above, there are 5 online learning activities, namely:
1. Write the word water with pebbles
2. Counting the number of pebbles used to write “water”
3. Boil the water and observe when the water starts to boil
4. Make a drink with warm water (milk/tea)
5. Sing the song “flowing water”
With online activities that use objects around the house as well as daily activities at home and interpret them, it is hoped that the learning objectives can be achieved optimally with online teacher monitoring and active communication between teachers and parents. It is hoped that teachers and parents will provide flexibility for children to be more creative in learning and getting to know their natural surroundings and their application through meaningful learning.). The meaning of learning as a result of teaching events is characterized by the occurrence of a relationship between aspects, concepts, information or new situations with the relevant components in the child’s cognitive structure. The learning process is not just memorizing concepts or mere facts, but is an activity of connecting concepts to produce a complete understanding, so that the concepts learned will be well understood and not easily forgotten.
Through online learning, parents can better understand that all activities have meaning, teachers and parents should always try to find out and explore the concepts that children already have and help integrate these concepts harmoniously with the new knowledge to be taught. In other words, learning will be more meaningful if children experience directly what they are learning by activating more senses than just listening to people/teachers explain, because the nature of learning is not only in school but can be carried out anywhere.