Anonymous wrote:My son's preschool carefully distances the kids during snack and lunch, when they take off their masks to eat and drink. They also space them out for circle time and story time (masked).

But they do permit the kids to come close to each other (masked) for certain small group activities and when playing at recess (also masked, even outside).

I'm genuinely curious about how your son has reacted to this - has he said anything about it, or has he carried on like it's a normal day at preschool?

My son's preschool carefully distances the kids during snack and lunch, when they take off their masks to eat and drink. They also space them out for circle time and story time (masked).

But they do permit the kids to come close to each other (masked) for certain small group activities and when playing at recess (also masked, even outside).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our preschool didn't even bother to put a child mask requirement in place, it's not worth it, the masks are going to come off half the time anyway. Teachers are masked, kids don't share supplies, parents aren't allowed in the building, we're happy.

Yeah that's how it is at our in-home daycare too, and I'm fine with it. By returning to daycare, we've accepted the risk, and I'm not convinced that trying to get a bunch of 2-3 yos to wear masks for part of the day would- in practice- reduce the risk any further.

Same for us, and I'm comfortable with it. It's been 5 weeks back and no illness reported. Keeping the classes small, with regular disinfecting and no outside contact is most important to me.

I work at a preschool and we just started back (half day program open Sept to May.) I'm with the older 4's, young 5's so they understand alot of what is going on. The children all come in with a mask but by the time they leave, only about 25% are still wearing their masks. Most come off when the children start running around on the playground. Of course they all take them off when we have snack, but again, a small group does put them back on.

As far as social distancing - we're trying. We have marked the tables so the children can see their space where they can color, do a puzzle, play with blocks, etc. We do not allow the children to share any toys. The toys are all in boxes and the children choose a box and sit at their space. We've had children start working together to build something and we have to tell them they can't do that and give them a box with the same building materials. Stopping he children from working together cooperatively goes against everything we've ever done in the past.

The playground is the trickiest part. We practiced today holding our arms out and making sure no one was standing close enough so that we could touch them. Some of the children are starting to say "Too Close!" to a classmate. I can't imagine getting the 3 year olds to social distance.

Anonymous wrote:Our preschool didn't even bother to put a child mask requirement in place, it's not worth it, the masks are going to come off half the time anyway. Teachers are masked, kids don't share supplies, parents aren't allowed in the building, we're happy.

Yeah that's how it is at our in-home daycare too, and I'm fine with it. By returning to daycare, we've accepted the risk, and I'm not convinced that trying to get a bunch of 2-3 yos to wear masks for part of the day would- in practice- reduce the risk any further.

Our preschool didn't even bother to put a child mask requirement in place, it's not worth it, the masks are going to come off half the time anyway. Teachers are masked, kids don't share supplies, parents aren't allowed in the building, we're happy.

Anonymous wrote:Depending on the mask, they may not be particularly helpful. Yes, they should be 6-10 feet apart.

Lol! Have you even been around kids before?

Depending on the mask, they may not be particularly helpful. Yes, they should be 6-10 feet apart.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't honestly expect a daycare to enforce social distancing, do you?

I don't, but they are doing circle time and standing in line on top of each other. I don't care really because it seems they are doing really good at wearing their masks. I'm just curious what the "rules" are for masks/SD.

As I said in an earlier post, the rules are a bit confusing, since Montgomery County has general rules for all businesses that go beyond the Maryland State Department of Education rules. However, as a practical matter, it does seem like daycare providers have been told by everyone to follow the MSDE guidelines. That says masks >5 year old (and recommended for >2 years old), and 15-person cohorts per room (providers and kids combined).

There seems to be no expectation for physical distancing within a cohort, which makes sense to me. Sure, you could plausibly distance during organized activities, but much of the time isn't particularly organized.

Anonymous wrote:You don't honestly expect a daycare to enforce social distancing, do you?

I don't, but they are doing circle time and standing in line on top of each other. I don't care really because it seems they are doing really good at wearing their masks. I'm just curious what the "rules" are for masks/SD.

Aim for both but recognize that kids are kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't honestly expect a daycare to enforce social distancing, do you?

Plus 1. All kids in my 4 year old daycare wear mask, but I can see from some photos that some masks are not worn properly. And, there is no such thing called social distancing at daycare, and they stand/sit/ play next to each other all the time. They take care masks at snack time & outdoor time. My kid does not wash hand properly after potty. To me, I think if one kid has covid, most likely it will be transmitted in his class. They are required to wear masks by state or county law to run the daycare.

FWIW, the mask requirement for small children is unclear. The general county order has requirements for masks for kids above 2 years old, but MSDE, which regulates child care in Maryland, says masks are required for 5 and up, and recommended for 2 and up. When MoCo DHHS officials communicate with child care providers in the county, they point them to the MSDE guidance.

Similarly, there's general county requirements for physical distancing, but MSDE guidelines pretty much ignore that in favor of creating small cohorts that aren't allowed to intermingle in any way.

Anonymous wrote:You don't honestly expect a daycare to enforce social distancing, do you?

Plus 1. All kids in my 4 year old daycare wear mask, but I can see from some photos that some masks are not worn properly. And, there is no such thing called social distancing at daycare, and they stand/sit/ play next to each other all the time. They take care masks at snack time & outdoor time. My kid does not wash hand properly after potty. To me, I think if one kid has covid, most likely it will be transmitted in his class. They are required to wear masks by state or county law to run the daycare.

You don't honestly expect a daycare to enforce social distancing, do you?

In pictures I see of our daycare, everyone (4) in our classroom is wearing a mask. But they are not social distancing. Should they be doing BOTH or is just one ok? This is inside.