Hi Deborah,
My centers are in Texas. We have 2 primary locations serving Infants to After-School age children and 4 offsite after-school locations that are on elementary campuses in our local school district. Students and staff have not been required to wear mask since late August either at our centers or in our public school programs. Public school students and teachers are not required to wear masks in the public schools. Our County reports a very high vaccination rate among the residents of our County and so the new covid case numbers in our area have been low and primarily related to people who are unvaccinated. Over the last 3 months we have had no new cases of Covid amongst our staff, parents or students. We started letting parents back in the building about 6 weeks ago.
What we have noticed is that we are seeing a big increase in behavioral issues amongst all age groups except infants and toddlers. We have 3 1/2 year olds and 4 year olds coming to enroll that are not potty trained and still in diapers. We are seeing an increase in speech and language delays in our 2 1/2 to 4 year old groups as well. Many of these children were kept home during the pandemic with parents or other family members and simply did not have the exposure or support they needed to stay on track with parents trying to work from home and take care of their children.
In our after-school programs we are seeing more students that are unable to regulate their emotions and are having a hard time following a structured routine and developing peer relationships. That lack of socialization and the consistency of a daily routine or schedule over the past year and half appears to be the main reasons for the increase negative behaviors.
Although we do not require masks, we do have some staff that choose to wear a mask during the day, but we have not had any parents request that their child wear a mask during the day, or threaten to leave because we are not requiring masks. Most new families that are coming in for tours, are also showing up without masks.
Hope this information was helpful.
Tim Kaminski
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Tim Kaminski
Director/Owner
Gingerbread Kids Academy
Richmond TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-14-2021 02:23 PM
From: Janet Bauer
Subject: Parent concerns about masking and child development
Deborah
We were masked since January of last year and this year, with the exception of this summer, when transmission levels were low. All staff are masked and children in 3 year old and 4 year old classrooms are masked as well. They are not masked eating, napping or outside play. Everyone who enter the building needs to be masked for drop off and pick up. Our toddlers 13 months- 3 are not masked. The children do not have any issues with the masks, though they are used to them by now. We prompt them, but they are responsible for taking off and putting on their own masks. Parents were asked to make sure their child's mask fit well and to provide extra masks. Parents knew before the beginning of our school year what our policy would be, so there was an opportunity for them to choose to leave if they were uncomfortable with masking. We considered it our responsibility to protect the health of all of the children and this, along with other mitigation methods has worked well for us. Most of last yeat we hardly had a cold, but this year because more families are out in public, we have seen some colds and flu sneak back in.
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Janet Bauer
Director
Windy Hill School
Colby-Sawyer College
New London, NH
Original Message:
Sent: 12-08-2021 07:11 AM
From: Deborah Erickson-Irons
Subject: Parent concerns about masking and child development
I'm interested in knowing how you all are mediating any possible negative effects of children wearing masks at childcare centers. Our teachers have been masked for quite a while now however we are just now asking children to wear masks when indoors, not eating or sleeping. We have a few parents who are considering taking their child out of our care.
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Deborah Erickson-Irons
Owner, Business Manager
Sweet Pea Childcare
Eliot ME
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