LEARNING FROM HOME FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ERA: CASE STUDY IN INDONESIA

Abstract

The Covid-19 (C-19) pandemic has occurred in all countries in the world since 2020. Its rapid transmission and the deadly impact forced efforts to adjust the way of human life, including in the world of education. One of the efforts to prevent the spread of this virus in Indonesia is to implement the Learning from Home (LFH) policy. Communication between the teacher and the child during LFH is conducted with technological intermediaries. This LFH policy must also be conducted at the level of early childhood education. What form of LFH can be done while still based on the principle of early childhood education, namely Learning Through Play? This paper aims to get an overview of the implementation of LFH in early childhood which was conducted in 2021 in one of the kindergartens in South Tangerang, Indonesia. The method used is a case study involving teachers in kindergarten, namely three teachers at level A (for children aged 4-5 years), three teachers at level B (for children aged 5-6 years), and a teacher in playgroups (for children aged 3-4 years). This study's results describe the planning, implementation, and evaluation of LFH in kindergarten, as well as opportunities and constraints from the teacher's point of view. LFH planning is carried out by teachers every month to anticipate policy changes. The daily activity plan outlines the monthly plan, with flexible activities from morning to evening to accommodate the working parents. The implementation of LFH is carried out by teachers with the help of Zoom for synchronous meetings and WhatsApp for asynchronous communication. Evaluation of the implementation of LFH is carried out by teachers, including daily evaluations and comprehensive evaluations carried out every week to two weeks. LFH opportunities perceived by teachers are that parents become more intensely involved in their children's education and opportunities for teachers and parents to improve their skills in using information technology. Meanwhile, the obstacles of LFH that are felt by teachers are that LFH relies heavily on technological devices and adequate internet access which is not necessarily owned by every family, and the lack of readiness of parents to accompany their children in conducting LFH activities as directed by the teacher. The suggestion for this research is that it is necessary to conduct an in-depth study of the ideal implementation of LFH for early childhood in Indonesia, following the character and needs of the diverse regions of Indonesia.