How are PK3-4 parents feeling about distance learning?
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Anonymous
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My child is starting PK3 this fall at a DCPS school and obviously we're still waiting to hear what the district decides regarding opening schools. I'm curious though about what other parents of PK students are planning to do for DL, and what your schools have communicated is the plan for DL. Are the charters that have announced DL-exclusive for the fall saying what that looks like for 3 and 4 year olds? It's really hard for me to imagine a DL program that would provide my kid with anything of value.
And, since the value of DL is likely to be negligible (what my kid really needs is socialization with peers and adults who aren't related to her), I question whether we will be able to participate. My husband and I both work (remotely for now), and I've had to scale back my hours a lot to make up for the loss of childcare starting in March. But at least I know that the time I spend with my kid is valuable, even if it means a decrease in income. That equation becomes really different if I'm giving up working hours in order to babysit unproductive DL sessions -- I'd rather just take my kid to the park or read books or do anything that might actually benefit her than crouch over a computer screen while trying to get her to "pay attention". I have no idea what the requirements for signing into DL sessions will be, but it feels like just an extra burden on parents of very small kids who are also trying to get by without childcare. If they are doing a hybrid schedule, my preference would be to just be on my own for the days she's not in school, because at least then we could sort something out that works for our family. What are other parents of PK3 and 4 kids (or even K or 1st grade, which I'm guessing has a lot of the same problems) planning on doing? I feel like the conversation around DL usually concerns older kids who are doing more actual academic work. In those cases, I get why DL isn't ideal, but at least it serves more of a purpose. But especially for PK3 kids who will never even have met their teachers in person and will have a limited understanding of what school even means, I just don't get how it's supposed to work. |
Anonymous
You are correct. DL for these kids is a cruel joke. You are homeschooling whether you like it or not. |
Anonymous
| We are in Prek3 this year with our middle one (our oldest a rising K). We are going to do enough to keep our spot, but I am not doing any real learning. Our oldest was not in a PreK program and left K reading at a 3rd grade level, so I am not at all worried about this. |
Anonymous
Rising First Grader. Point is PreK3 and PreK4 are unneessary. |
Anonymous
| I'm going to consider DL homeschooling lite for my PK4. I'm just happy we speak the immersion language at home! |
Anonymous
I'm guessing you are at one of the immersion charters that has announced DL-only for the fall. Have they indicated whether you will be required to participate in DL in order to keep your spot at the school? I could foresee this being an issue for people in PK3 and 4 at Stokes, LAMB, Yu Ying, etc., where those slots are really coveted. Especially for folks who don't speak the immersion language at home like you -- it's going to be a real placeholder of a year if you're kid is in French immersion and isn't actually going to get any French immersion this year. |
Anonymous
Was your oldest just at home with a parent or nanny before K? Or in daycare? Just curious what people do when they opt out of PK. |
Anonymous
Yu Ying -- I don't think they've announced any DL participation requirements to keep your spot. I know we zoomed up the waitlist because people are rightfully worried about immersion DL w/o home support |
Anonymous
Interesting. We have friends with multiple kids at Yu Ying and their youngest (K) barely participated in DL in the spring -- I think he skipped most of his own sessions and just sometimes sat in on his older sibling's sessions when he felt like it. Doesn't sound like there was any consequences, but they might be more vigilant in the fall when it's the "official" program. We are on waitlists for all four Stokes programs, and high up for both East End programs, and those lists haven't moved AT ALL. I've been surprised because they announced that they were DL-only for the fall weeks ago. Seems strange. |
Anonymous
With a nanny. We didn't lottery into anywhere and it just was easier to keep him with our younger one and nanny. |
Anonymous
People who get a spot at Stokes will likely suffer through DL to keep the spot. I’m sure in PreK the time commitment won’t be terrible. We did PreK at another language program and it was manageable. |
Anonymous
| I am a parent of a child who is supposed to be entering PK-4 in the fall. I hate to say it but I feel like they should just eliminate PK-3 and PK-4 completely this year (or maybe keep for Title I schools only?) and use that classroom space / those teachers to have more in-person school for K and 1st graders. Personally we are putting our daughter in 5 days/wk full day daycare because she was going crazy at home. While I'd love to hold onto our free DCPS spot it doesn't make sense to have her exposed to kids at two different locations. |
Anonymous
| Parent of a rising PK3 student also. Will wait to see what the Mayor announces, but we will likely keep our son at his current daycare/preschool facility. He has been home with a nanny since pandemic started, but his previous facility is open again. We will probably send him back there this fall rather than try and juggle some days in school, some days with nanny or other alternative care. |
Anonymous
| We will keep our spot because we like the school and don’t want to lose our place. We will elect full time DL and put him in day care full time. It’s a small home day care so they can manage the limited DL required for prek. |
Anonymous
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Rising PK3-- I'm not feeling good about DL at all- it's basically impossible for that age to keep their attention for longer than 10-20 minutes on a zoom call. If they do anything, it should be 2 days in person 3 days off so we don't have to pretend to log-in to DL 3 days a week.
I also hope they make an accommodation so that families who want to keep their kid home or get some other full-time care (nanny, preschool actually in session etc.) can do that without losing their spot and are guaranteed a spot at that school for PK4 the following year (if we're through this by then, which at this rate...who knows!) |