Member-only story
Preschool during the pandemic
How do young children fare during disruptions to school
My wife and I have two young boys, one entering kindergarten next year and another entering preschool. Or they were supposed to enter these classes. As of now, no school districts in my area have announced concrete plans on how schools will re-open in the fall. Private and parochial schools are waiting to see how public schools handle the COVID-19 response.
A year is a long time for a young child
In the grand scheme of things, as people say, what difference does a year make? After all, kids in Finland start school at age 7 — that seems so wrong compared to most people I know who put their kids in school at 3 to 4 years. But Finland’s educational model depends on strong in person learning done through play — both structured and unstructured activities. How exactly are very young children going to learn to play online in a safe environment?
I’ve turned to the authorities on weighing the risk of a contagious disease versus the developmental needs of my kids — and to no one’s surprise, the guidance sidesteps the issue. For heavens sake, even think tanks are just generating lists and parroting talking points that offer little useful information to work with.
