This school year is unlike the many, many years before it. Like most other families and friends, we are preparing ourselves to embrace new experiences, new people and new places, all the while moving through the unknown of this seemingly endless pandemic.

Fortunately for us at Kindertown, and for many of our colleagues in the field of early childhood education, we’ve had a bit of practice already this summer. So far, we’ve managed to navigate the changes, surprises and small bumps in the road, a task made easier by the cooperation of families and friends of the center, and the many organizations across the City of Hamilton.  

During the pandemic, we did what we could to keep up with the daily growth of our students and their families. For the first few months, our Kindertown Marketplace was a virtual Facebook space for our educators and parents to share quarantine ideas, chat to one another and/or lend a helping hand for other families in need.

During this time, we also kickstarted our annual KinderGarden. Typically, children and educators take time to learn about the garden, how to plant seeds, the importance of the environment and the need for water. This year, the process didn’t have quite the same impact on children (since no one was here!), but the kids are now able to enjoy the vegetables of that labour each day at lunch and snack!

For the last four or five months, the quiet classrooms were a difficult thing to process for our educators. Despite their best efforts to provide fulfilling experiences in the Kindertown Marketplace, the work simply wasn’t the same.

Despite the many changes, our Kindertown educators have adjusted accordingly, and have risen up to the challenge each and every day. Throughout the summer, we gathered to discuss what we’ve learned during this experience, new ideas for programming, and what Kindertown will look like once we returned to the classrooms.

This September, we enter the school year with a newly devised curriculum that still compliments the children’s skillset as they grow at Kindertown. Our focus on the individual child is set in the context of their classroom, their community and their city. More importantly, we have considered the impact that COVID-19 has had on our society, and we have built upon our existing programs to further embrace the outdoors. We will be spending many of our days in the playground and green spaces around Kindertown, while also continuing to explore the Eramosa Karst, our Kinder Garden and the local neighborhood for as long as we can.

Despite the great unknowns we all are still working through, we will ensure that despite the many changes we’ve experienced these last few months, we are still able to provide our children and their families with the experiences and adventures that makes every day at Kindertown, a special one.