DD returned to daycare this week after being home since March. She's 4.5 and in her last 2 months in the pre-k class before leaving for kindergarten in September. (As an aside, she is soooo thrilled to be back at school!)
She has been nap resistant for a while, but it has really ramped up at home in the last couple months. We insisted on quiet/nap time even though she was outgrowing it because frankly, we were WFH and we needed it to get work done. She would actually sleep maybe 1x/week. The rest of the time she was so bored she basically taught herself to read.
On day 2 back at daycare, the director called and said she's clearly not napping, but the rest of her pre-k class (the small # of kids currently attending) still does. I am sure DD is kind of disruptive in that setting. The director proposed having DD spend the ~1.5 hr./day nap time with the school age summer program instead, since she is almost to kinder anyway, and they are doing reading activities/etc. that she would be more interested in.
On one hand, sure -- she's going to drop nap in 2 months anyway with full day kinder, and she's currently very driven at learning to read better. It sounds like a good fit. OTOH, my understanding was that programs are really trying to keep cohorts of kids separate to lessen possible covid exposure. Kids are not allowed to bring backpacks back & forth daily, parents aren't allowed inside the center, but we're thinking of having her pass between two cohorts daily? Eesh. But back OTOH, both classes are small and currently <10 kids each. But back OTOH, who knows if they will stay that small all summer -- and once we let her give up nap, there's really no going back.
I asked the director about the cohort issue, and said I didn't want DD to make the change unless we were pretty confident we could maintain it for the summer. She's looking at numbers again and is going to get back to me. But in the meantime, WWYD? This is an otherwise minor decision that covid is making me 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th guess.
Eh i wouldn’t love that solution. In pre covid times sure. When ds1 dropped his nap they allowed him to read quietly or draw on a little pad while he stayed on his mat. Can she just do something quiet? After an hour or so i think they let the non nappers get up and color together or something.
I think in NY the groups can’t be more than 15. At first it was 10, but they upped it to 15 a week ago. How many kids in both groups combined? I’m leaning towards no.
I think in NY the groups can’t be more than 15. At first it was 10, but they upped it to 15 a week ago. How many kids in both groups combined? I’m leaning towards no.
Right now she told me the school age group is only 3-4 kids, and her class is... 5 or so? I think? It's hard to get a sense when I can't go inside.
Where the numbers are now, it seems reasonable, I'm just not sure how likely it is to stay at a comfortable level through August. It's also just an added risk that isn't strictly necessary, even if it's modest.
I’d leave her in her normal room. I feel like this is a solution to helps make it easier for them, and is less about your daughter. They can help her be occupied for 1.5 hrs, especially in a room of 5.
I would not be okay with it (during covid). I would not want to expose my family to another 4-5 families or more that I don’t know just bc the teachers don’t want to deal with her during nap time.
This would not be an option at my center. I’d offer to move her for the full day, but the back and forth is a huge issue and not part of our current procedures.
Post by patches31709 on Jul 2, 2020 7:28:57 GMT -5
I'm actually surprised all the other kids are still napping - at our center, there are no naps in pre-k. That said, I absolutely understand you having quiet/nap time for her at home while you were trying to work.
They can't have her color/read to her teachers quietly at a table while the other kids nap? I don't know that I would want her in with another class. We're in NY also (upper Mid-Hudson region), and my kids have been back for around 6 weeks now, but they are very much keeping classes and teachers separate still. And common spaces (the playground) are disinfected between classes.
I agree that this seems to violate rule number 1 of the cohorts - don’t intermingle the cohorts.
But at those numbers, it could be more like a single cohort, so maybe not a big deal - but I can’t believe the place would even be ok with the even the optics of it.
I would put her with the other group full time or tell them to set up a quiet area. I agree with the poster about this being an issue of making it easier for the teachers, which shouldn’t be the basis of the decision.
I guess if the total number of kids between the two groups is small and within the guidelines it would seem to be ok although not ideal. I think I'd try to push them for other options first. I'm not sure how our daycare handles that type of situation, but my nephew stopped napping at like, 2.5 and they just have him play quietly in another corner of the room. Did the director actually say she was being disruptive because it almost sounds like maybe she just offered this as an idea to help enrichment since there are so few kids to begin with.
No, she didn't come out and say DD was being disruptive, I was just reading between the lines on that. But then apparently she took a nap yesterday, so IDK. I'm glad at least to not feel crazy for thinking about this.
I don't think she can go with the older kids full time. She's only 4.5 and they're all 6+. Even next year when she'd be a 5 year old rising first grader, she'd be on the young end of the spectrum.
I worked in child cares from 2005-2006 and 2009-2012. For the kids who don't sleep we have them rest quietly on their mat for 30 min, read books/play independently with some quiet toys on their mat for 15-30 minutes after that. Then they can get up and go to the table to play playdoh, color, and do other quiet activities for another 30-45 minutes. With most kids it was no problem. For the few rowdy ones, no solution keeps them quiet for more than a few minutes without constant supervision.
ETA: let the staff figure this out w/o moving her back and forth.
I feel like this has to be so normal for this age group. I'd press to keep her in the room during nap. DS1 (turned 5 in March) was trending to not napping more often earlier this year before things shut down. A few kids in his Pre-K class were the same way. They'd make him stay on his mat during nap time with a book or two. I picked up up during nap for a doc appt once, and I could tell the teacher had sort of spaced the non-napping kids out so they weren't all clustered together getting rowdy. A handful of kids here and there in the room were just rolling around on their mats and popped their heads up when they saw me at the door. But everyone was quiet and the other kids were sleeping.
I'm actually surprised all the other kids are still napping - at our center, there are no naps in pre-k. That said, I absolutely understand you having quiet/nap time for her at home while you were trying to work.
I’m also surprised other kids are actually sleeping. I teach pre-k. None of my kids nap. State law requires us to provide 30 minutes of rest time a day. We usually listen to audio books. Even when I taught preschool (3 year olds) most of the kids didn’t nap. The non nappers had to rest for 30 minutes, then I had small busy bags for them with quiet activities (books, puzzles, etc).
I was her in pre-k at my daycare. Even reading on a mat alongside other kids is a bit disruptive, because the kids who are typically able to nap are distracted seeing one of their peers not being made to nap.
After about 15 minutes of laying down with everyone else, I was brought into the teacher's corner, which was half walled off. I could then draw, color, look at books, or play with a quiet toy.
Is there an office she can sit in while the other kids drift off to sleep? Front office? Nurse? Then she could go back into the classroom once the other kids are asleep and unaware that she's doing something else.
Otherwise I would ask if she could do the all day program with the big kids. When it comes to summer activities I don't think the age gap would bother me. 4.5 vs. 6 with a hose, water balloons, sprinkler, arts and crafts, etc. I think she would do ok.
I agree. Pre COVID no big deal. Now, I’d be a little more iffy on it depending on the number of kids in the school age program. Like 5 more kids isn’t a huge deal but 20 is, so that would make a difference for me. Also there are several kids who don’t nap in ds’s preschool class but they all lay quietly and look at books or hold their stuffie or listen to the music and relax. The teacher have magic powers to get them to lay quietly even if they don’t sleep.
I would decline doing this. I have no idea the rules in other states but in RI they are not allowed to have kids switching between groups? Also I would be shocked if all the other kids are napping. DD1 is about the same age as your daughter and hasn't napped at daycare in 2 years and no one has said anything to me about it.
Post by winemaker06 on Jul 2, 2020 14:02:03 GMT -5
I'm surprised they're placing so much importance on letting the other kids nap. Our daycare stops allowing the PreK kids to nap entirely starting in June, to help ease the transition to Kindergarten. With the importance of trying to keep the groups together I would definitely urge them to find another solution. With that few kids, the non-nappers could be at the complete opposite end of the room and not be that disruptive.