5th graders home alone all day?
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Anonymous
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DH and I have twin daughters who are in the 5th grade. They are fully virtual in public school since last year. We both work full time and DH is an essential worker. I was working from home and supervising the girls until now. I’ve been called back into the office starting in March.
Would you guys just leave your 10 year daughters at home Monday-Friday and go to work? I feel that mine need some sort of supervision....they can’t really cook yet besides heat things in the microwave and make sandwiches. What are my other options? |
Anonymous
How about try to rustle up a college kid that is also virtual. Perhaps they could attend their virtual classes from your home and also be on duty for some supervision and meal prep. |
Anonymous
| I meeeean my divorced mom left me and my younger sibling alone all day every summer long starting around that age. Same with sick days. We had microwave breakfasts and lunches and knew how to make instant oatmeal. This was the 90s though and we lived in a somewhat rural area. Might be frowned upon now. And we also weren’t expected to be doing school work. Just stay alive and not burn the house down. |
Anonymous
| Maybe you could pay a high schooler to be there and do their DL from your house? |
Anonymous
| At least they’re together, it might work. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn't have left my 10-year-old home alone all day but he has ADHD and was a but unpredictable with his behavior. Could you find a college student who can come over for a few hours? |
Anonymous
| I would be fine with twins this age home alone at this point in the school year. If you’re able to stagger work hours with DH that might be a way to reduce the alone hours. Microwave or sandwiches for lunch every day is fine. Go over their safety plans of where to go/who to call if there is a problem. Talk through the rules: . Answer the door or leave it alone? Go outside and play? Stay in the yard or ok to go for a bike ride? That kind of thing. |
Anonymous
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I think 5th grade could go either way- depends on the kids?
I’ve been back in the office 1-2 days/wk, and we have 6th grade twins and a 4th grader (just turned 10). The 6th graders do 100% fine being home all day, distance learning. One of us comes home for lunch for about 45min (and often we bring them takeout for lunch as a treat) and check in. They do great, grades are good, all is well. My 10yo 4th grader is totally incapable of being home alone for extended periods- especially distance learning. No way would he get anything done. He actually goes into work with DH (DH owns his own biz and sets DS up in an unused private office and checks in on him etc...is not a covid risk to anyone). If we didn’t have that option, we’d have to hire childcare for sure. So basically...depends whether your kids are more like my 6th graders, or more like my 4th grader! I feel like kids can go either way at these ages- and girls tend to do better than boys IMO. You could also consider partial childcare of some sort...like leave them alone in the AM but have someone come for a few hours around lunchtime to fix lunch, answer any questions, just generally check in etc. But it would totally depend on the kids’ distance learning schedule, and what choices you have available. |
Anonymous
| I'm having the same issue with my 5th grade boy. He'll be going back to in-person school, but it's only 4 days every two weeks. We're in MCPS, so every Wednesday is virtual even if you go back in person - so I am still going to telework on Wednesdays. On the other days he is virtual, he's coming to work with me. Sometimes he has computer issues or gets frustrated with an assignment and I see this being a real issue (emotionally) if he's home alone. When I'm with him I can quickly fix the problem or explain the assignment and he's ok. I also think I will be able to leave work by 4pm and then finish my work from home in the evenings, so he's not in my office so long. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the suggestions. Where can I find a college age or teen? We live in a small neighborhood and the one teenager I know is not the nicest person, unfortunately! |
Anonymous
| I would hire someone. It’s NBD if it’s a one-off thing, but since it’s every day for the foreseeable future, I think you need to hire someone. For companionship and safety reasons. |
Anonymous
I’d try posting on nextdoor |
Anonymous
| There’s a huge difference between a day here and there and everyday Monday through Friday. Are there other families in the neighborhood? Can you talk with your boss about some flexibility to work at home a few days a week at least until the summer? What type of work do you do? |
Anonymous
| Is there an option for hybrid in-person days at the school? |
Anonymous
| No way. |