It’s Covid. I don’t want it.

It is partly the money. I didn’t send my 3 and 4 year olds back because we can both work from home and manage them, we are saving money, and I’m not interested in socially distant daycare. I also didn’t love their preschool to begin with, so this was a good excuse to leave.

For us it’s neither a financial nor safety decision but rather emotional well-being. This was supposed to be our 3 year old’s first year of preschool. We went and took the tour of the new COVID adjustments last week. They’re taking amazing precautions and are very prepared. Class size is small. I truly believe she’d stay healthy. BUT she’d eat lunch “alone” instead of at a communal table where conversation is encouraged and daily helpers get to pass out napkins and water. She’d wear a mask most of the day and these teachers and peers who are total strangers at the start of the year will be masked most of the time too. (All of the “get to know you” activities before school starts were canceled.) More than half the toys have been removed from the classroom so that only easily sanitized items are left. They have a “anything you touch must go in the bin to be sanitized” policy. So instead of working together and learning to share, kids will be encouraged to get a “workmat” (ie a bathmat) and pick a toy to play with alone. We can’t enter the building and must say goodbye on the first day from the parking lot. I could go on but I think we all get the picture.

I’m crushed that she’s missing out on real preschool this year but since we don’t HAVE to send her for childcare purposes I just don’t think we can justify pushing her to do this when we already expected “normal” preschool would be a big adjustment for our sensitive, slightly anxious kid.

I would not sent my preschooler and I probably would redshirt my kindergartner.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money is definitely a strong factor. Plus they can get work to agree right now that they can have kids at home.

There is no way this was written by a parent with a 1, 2 or 3 at home. Not a single working parent prefers to have NO SAFE CHILDCARE just because it’s cheaper. Not a one.

+1. I would bet my life it was not written by a mother of young children at all - just an idiot trump supporter.

Anonymous wrote:No, it is not about the money for us. It’s 100% safety concerns.

I can’t imagine any parent who took the time to research preschools, visited them, went through the application and interview process, would withdraw for any reason other than safety.

+1.

Anonymous wrote:Money is definitely a strong factor. Plus they can get work to agree right now that they can have kids at home.

There is no way this was written by a parent with a 1, 2 or 3 at home. Not a single working parent prefers to have NO SAFE CHILDCARE just because it’s cheaper. Not a one.

No. Not at all about money. I loved my two year old’s daycare and she was so happy there. It just didn’t feel safe to me when they reopened.

Kind of, in that I don’t believe the socially distant preschool experience, with potential closures or risk of getting Covid, is worth the $$$ of the expensive preschool I was planning to send to. If there was no Covid, then I’d happily shell out the money for a normal experience as planned.

Money is not a factor as we’re paying anyway to keep our spots in both preK and first grade (1st grader has DL offered but preK doesn’t).

It’s only about wanting the kids to be as safe as possible.

Money is definitely a strong factor. Plus they can get work to agree right now that they can have kids at home.

No, it is not about the money for us. It’s 100% safety concerns.

I can’t imagine any parent who took the time to research preschools, visited them, went through the application and interview process, would withdraw for any reason other than safety.

Right now we are paying for a spot while we kinda see what happens. We have an elementary aged kid too. But if the older one isn’t going in person at all, we won’t send our younger one.

I’m not seeing how it safe. At some point, you’ll be exposed. We’d rather keep our older relatives in our lives (2 are helpful w child care!) instead.

So for now we’re paying and not using it. We’ll see in a few weeks where we are. Leaning towards pulling the 3 year out entirely for now.

I really think that its' the safety concerns - #s are rising in the area and Moco and DC have just instituted a required quarantine if you travel internationally or to domestic hot spots. So sending your child to a center can seem foolhardy.

Is it because they are motivated by the amount of money they can saved? Yes, there is the pandemic but could money be a contributing factor Our preschool has reopened since June and I was surprised to learn that the majority of the parents are not sending their kids to school in summer AND fall. The school has taken extraordinary precautions and the class size is much smaller. Do you think money could be a factor? I admit, not sending the kids to school has been great for us financially. We have saved $10k just this past 3 months.