My PK3er (who'd 4 by then) threatened to go to the store, buy a phone, call the police and tell them I need to go to jail for making him log in to class ever weekday last April.

Fun times await you.

High chairs?

Anonymous wrote:My 3 yo just did preschool orientation virtually and he really only participated in an occasional song and when pictures of the kids flashed across the screen. It was actually easier than taking him to a class because I didn’t have to worry about him running around and disturbing others. The other kids were in high chairs, so they stayed in front of the screen the whole time. I don’t think the teachers cared that my son pooped in and out.

Serious question: people use high chairs for 3 year olds?

My 3 yo just did preschool orientation virtually and he really only participated in an occasional song and when pictures of the kids flashed across the screen. It was actually easier than taking him to a class because I didn’t have to worry about him running around and disturbing others. The other kids were in high chairs, so they stayed in front of the screen the whole time. I don’t think the teachers cared that my son pooped in and out.

You’re totally right, he probably can’t. That’s fine, stay in touch with the teachers and do what you can. Even my Zoom call loving extrovert was struggling after a few weeks last year. And the more introverted/younger kids couldn’t do it at all. Totally normal

Anonymous wrote:Log in and don't make them sit. Just put the computer in the corner where the kid can see it and turn the volume up.

+1

This is what I'm going to do. I might encourage him to sit and listen if it seems like a feasible ask in the moment, but otherwise we're going to go about our day and just log in to the live sessions as required. My main concern is that they are not scheduled in such a way that it makes it hard for just to spend a lot of time outside. I'd like to do as much walking/hiking/outdoor playing as we can this fall. No way am I going to skip that this year of all years.

Log in and don't make them sit. Just put the computer in the corner where the kid can see it and turn the volume up.

OP, it's not just you. I have extremely mixed feelings about DL for my PK3 kid. I don't think she's going to get much out of it, but I feel like we need to do at least the minimum just to stay plugged into what is happening with the school so that if/when there is in-person school, we are still enrolled and on the same page.

There is a "Parent University" session this Thursday for parents of ECE kids, if you are interested. You can register for it via a link on the ReopenStong page the district set up. I think a lot of parents have this specific concern.

I'm going to try it when the school year starts and see how it goes. If the sessions are short (like 5-10 minutes), I could see it being an ok way to structure our day and a way to get to know the teachers and maybe even a few of the other students. But like you, I do not want to be locked into a daily battle to get her to sit down in front of the computer screen for a 5 minute morning meeting if she's not having it. I would much rather save that argument for something that feels more worth it to me. I also don't want to create negative associations with school that we will have to overcome once she can actually go to school.

Our school doesn't have a waitlist, so if it doesn't work out, I could see us just bailing altogether, since we don't have to worry about holding our seat. But it would be great if DCPS would relax requirements for PK kids so that unenrollment isn't necessary. I don't want to deprive our school of money by dropping out either. There should be a middle ground.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this just me? I’m working on getting DS to sit through a five-minute FaceTime call with his grandparents.

The school principal stated kids last year “really did well” (when specifically referring to ECE).

I’m worried my kid is “just not ready yet!” Sigh.

I would not worry about this at all. It really isn’t a big deal and your kid won’t be the only one. I’m not sure why a principal would even be saying that as kids in PreK in August vs March are not even relatable.

+1

And the principal might have thought the ECE kids did really well because the ones who couldn’t sit in front of a screen stopped attending. And I don’t blame those parents at all.

PK3 isn’t even important to attendance numbers... everyone knows three years olds can sit like that

Anonymous wrote:Trust me- you don't need your kid to logon. Read & count with them. Find a pod safe playgroup. Find a group of parents to co-op with. Kids that age won't miss a thing if not online- in fact it will probably be worse. Now I am waiting for someone to tell me this for my 4th grader .

But we will want to keep the “spot” for when the schools actually reopen! (Fingers crossed for next year...)

Trust me- you don't need your kid to logon. Read & count with them. Find a pod safe playgroup. Find a group of parents to co-op with. Kids that age won't miss a thing if not online- in fact it will probably be worse. Now I am waiting for someone to tell me this for my 4th grader .

My kid was like this. We just gave up and stopped logging on. See what the requirements are for attendance and do the minimum.

Anonymous wrote:Is this just me? I’m working on getting DS to sit through a five-minute FaceTime call with his grandparents.

The school principal stated kids last year “really did well” (when specifically referring to ECE).

I’m worried my kid is “just not ready yet!” Sigh.

I would not worry about this at all. It really isn’t a big deal and your kid won’t be the only one. I’m not sure why a principal would even be saying that as kids in PreK in August vs March are not even relatable.

Is this just me? I’m working on getting DS to sit through a five-minute FaceTime call with his grandparents.

The school principal stated kids last year “really did well” (when specifically referring to ECE).

I’m worried my kid is “just not ready yet!” Sigh.