Poll: if you have FT childcare are you sending to pre-K?

[Anonymous]

If you SAH or have a FT nanny for a younger child, are you sending your older one to pre-K for the socialization and kindergarten readiness? Or keeping out due to Delta? Curious where everyone’s head is on this.

[Anonymous]

I'm not in this situation this year, my kids are older, but I might do a very part time masked preschool with lots of outside time, if one was available. I wouldn't do a preschool in a larger school community, or a full day program where the kids ate together indoors.

I was a SAHM when my kids were in PreK and we did a small part time program and they thrived. I think they would also have done well with homeschooling and some playdates, so if I didn't have a preschool program that felt safe I'd be fine with that as an option.

[Anonymous]

We have a FT nanny but it's hard for her to do a lot of activities with DD3 because of DD0's naps and generally being a baby. So I signed DD3 up for a small morning preschool that's mostly outdoors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in this situation this year, my kids are older, but I might do a very part time masked preschool with lots of outside time, if one was available. I wouldn't do a preschool in a larger school community, or a full day program where the kids ate together indoors.

I was a SAHM when my kids were in PreK and we did a small part time program and they thrived. I think they would also have done well with homeschooling and some playdates, so if I didn't have a preschool program that felt safe I'd be fine with that as an option.

Yes, we are in a half-day program with 1 hour spent outside. But I’m sure the kids won’t be perfect with their masks, so there’s still risk. It sounds like you would go for it if you were in my place?

[Anonymous]

We have a FT nanny and are sending our older child to PK4 this year. He missed out last year and needs to be around kids his age in a more structured setting. Still debating whether or not to send the younger one to playgroup. Might not be worth it during this wave, but also realizing we’re going to have to learn to live with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in this situation this year, my kids are older, but I might do a very part time masked preschool with lots of outside time, if one was available. I wouldn't do a preschool in a larger school community, or a full day program where the kids ate together indoors.

I was a SAHM when my kids were in PreK and we did a small part time program and they thrived. I think they would also have done well with homeschooling and some playdates, so if I didn't have a preschool program that felt safe I'd be fine with that as an option.

Yes, we are in a half-day program with 1 hour spent outside. But I’m sure the kids won’t be perfect with their masks, so there’s still risk. It sounds like you would go for it if you were in my place?

I'd probably make that decision based on both how well I thought we could pull of the homeschooling thing, and how high risk our family was.

So, like in my family, where I was a SAHM of just 2 (e.g. not struggling with triplets or something), educated and able to do some homeschool stuff, we live in a neighborhood with access to the outside and friends to play with, and we have a high risk household member? I wouldn't, because while my kids liked preschool, it didn't add anything that they couldn't have gotten another way, other than a break for me.

But, lots of things would have tipped me over. If I was really stressed with both kids at home. If we lived in an apartment where getting out was hard. If my kids were home with a provider who didn't feel up to homeschooling. And most of all if we didn't have a high risk family member. Then I'd probably have sent them. I think that a small masked preschool is very low risk.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and I did last year as well.

[Anonymous]

Yes, absolutely. MY kid definitely needs the socialization.

[Anonymous]

We are switching DD3 from an inhome daycare with 6 kids to a preschool with 61 kids. The preschool is a nature school and even pre-covid spent the vast majority of time outside. The eat snack and lunch outside but nap inside. We live in an area with mild winters-not DC- so even during the winter than spend a big chunk of the day outside.

[Anonymous]

I am. I SAH and pulled my kid out of morning church preschool in March 2020. He’s finally going into a different program (we moved) this month. Just 3 hours a day, masks required, and both his teachers are vaccinated. He needs the socialization especially as an only child. We were not in a pod or anything so it’s been a very isolated year. He is also very attached to me, so I want him to be ready for daily school since he will be doing 5-6 hours of K next year. We did summer camp and he was a little anxious about separating but hasn’t shed any tears so I’m relieved.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the minority. We are not sending DS2 to preschool. DS1 will be going to school full time, and our nanny will care for DS2. We're planning on homeschooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you SAH or have a FT nanny for a younger child, are you sending your older one to pre-K for the socialization and kindergarten readiness? Or keeping out due to Delta? Curious where everyone’s head is on this.

Absolutely sending. There will always be a variant. No guarantee a pediatric vaccine will be available any time soon. Even if it is, it likely won’t be a game changer given the Moderna efficacy for 12-17 year olds was only 55% and most pediatric cases are mild to asymptomatic.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2109522?query=featured_home
“In the mRNA-1273 group, systemic adverse reactions were reported in 68.5% of the participants after the first injection and in 86.1% after the second injection; grade 3 events were reported in 4.4% and 13.7%, respectively. The most common systemic reactions were fatigue, headache, myalgia, and chills. Headache was reported in 44.6% of the participants in the mRNA-1273 group after the first injection and in 70.2% after the second injection, as compared with 38.5% and 30.2%, respectively, in the placebo group. Fatigue was reported in 47.9% of the participants in the mRNA-1273 group after the first injection and in 67.8% after the second injection, as compared with 36.6% and 28.9%, respectively, in the placebo group. After the second injection, among the mRNA-1273 recipients with available data, grade 3 fever occurred in 46 of 2477 participants (1.9%) and grade 4 fever occurred in 1 of 2477 participants.”

“ The vaccine efficacy of mRNA-1273 according to the less stringent CDC definition of Covid-19 with an onset of 14 days after the second injection was 93.3% (95% CI, 47.9 to 99.9) in the per-protocol population and 92.7% (95% CI, 67.8 to 99.2) for cases with an onset of 14 days after the first injection in the mITT1 population (Figure 3 and Fig. S2). For the secondary objectives of prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection with an onset of 14 days after the second injection (in the per-protocol population) and 14 days after the first injection (in the mITT1 population), the vaccine efficacy estimates for mRNA-1273 were 55.7% (95% CI, 16.8 to 76.4) and 69.8% (95% CI, 49.9 to 82.1), respectively (Figure 3).
The vaccine efficacy of mRNA-1273 was 39.2% (95% CI, −24.7 to 69.7) for asymptomatic infection with an onset of 14 days after the second injection (per-protocol population) and 59.5% (95% CI, 28.4 to 77.3) with an onset of 14 days after the first injection (mITT1 population).”

So no, not waiting around for a vaccine to get my daughter to preschool.

[Anonymous]

Yes. We have a brilliant nanny who engages and teaches my nearly-three-year-old and he’s miles ahead of his peers in “academics” but sadly so far behind in socialization. I mean... really far behind. He needs preschool.

[Anonymous]

absolutely - I am a sahm and am sending my 2.25 year old to a 3 days/3 hrs per day program. Didn't think twice. He needs the socialization.