For families who receive early childhood education from Youth In Need, life already has some challenges. The organization offers early childhood development programs, education and resources for families who qualify based on income or other life circumstances.

The new challenge being faced by these families, along with many others, is how to provide a head start for their children while dealing with the fallout of COVID-19. To continue meeting that need, Youth In Need has moved its programs online.

“The first week or two, we were just calling in to families and checking on them, seeing what we could do,” said Amy Nichol, director of operations for Youth In Need’s Warren County Head Start program. “We were focused on setting up our structures and supporting families... Many families lost their jobs or had reduced hours.” She said the program serves about 150 area children.

Staff are now finding ways to provide at-home activities that can create the same learning experiences children would normally have in classes or in-person visits. Sometimes that means providing instructions or videos for a learning activity, sometimes it means turning normal household activities into a learning opportunity.

Making breakfast becomes a math and measuring exercise. Doing laundry is a chance for the pre-schoolers to sort, match and count.

“It’s really empowered our families to work with what they have in their house and how they can make it a lesson,” said Nichol. “You don’t have to plan all these extravagant things throughout the day. Just do what you normally do, and make it a learning opportunity.”

For families who would normally get weekly visits at home, Youth In Need is still doing virtual check ins, she said. That could come in the form of a video call, or text messages reminding about important developmental activities.

For children who were signed up for pre-K classes, staff have been creating Google classrooms with activities that families can access on their own time, along with weekly virtual class sessions.

In fact, Youth In Need for the first time is providing summer activities for children who would normally only be in the program during the school year, Nichol added.

Receiving additional services are children with diagnosed disabilities, who don’t have access to normal services right now. Youth In Need has been providing special instructions to their families to help meet their individual educational needs, Nichol said.

Sarah Briddell, manager for home-based services, said not being able to meet in person has highlighted one of the program’s core beliefs for families.

“It’s really put emphasis on parents as a child’s first educator,” Briddell explained. Staff are working with parents to provide services at a time and method that works for their lives right now, she said.

To that end, Youth In Need has been expanding social media engagement and online video posting, Briddell said. They’re also looking for ways to make new families aware of their services, since in-person contact is restricted.

Parent Hilary Goodwin said she’s grateful Youth In Need has kept its services active through video calls. Her son, Conrad, just turned 3 at the start of the COVID-19 response.

“His teacher that used to come to our house once per week has continued doing meetings with Zoom, and then either she’ll read to him or I’ll read,” Goodwin said. In-person visits used to include reading, activities and singing. They’ve tried to replicate that through videos and games that can be played just by talking to one another.

Having that continued interaction helps Conrad develop his language and social skills until he’s old enough to go to school.

“Being able to interact with people besides his brother has been really beneficial for Conrad,” Goodwin said. “(Youth In Need) worked really hard to continue to reach out and support families. ... They had to almost completely revamp their program to continue it through Zoom.”

Nichol said Youth In Need will begin gradually resuming in-person services in July or August, and is enrolling for the fall. But it will be slow going, with feedback from various agencies to make sure everyone stays healthy.

“We’re taking lots of safety precautions, switching how we do classroom sizes, activities, meal prep, just to make sure we’re being extra cautious when they come back,” Nichol said. She added that virtual learning will still be an option.