‘Where Are the Kids?’ School Is Back in Session, but Many Kindergarteners Are Missing

It didn’t take more than one day of virtual kindergarten for Ryan Greenberg’s 5-year-old daughter, Samantha, to break down in tears, begging to go back to regular school where she could see other kids face-to-face. “I’ll wear two masks,” she told him. But for Samantha, in Montclair, N.J., and for hundreds of thousands of other children across the country, school will continue to be remote for at least the first weeks of school due to the coronavirus pandemic. And while this school year has posed new challenges for students of all ages, it’s proving especially challenging for children as young as 4 or 5 years old to sit in front of computer screens for hours each day, learning how to navigate websites and how to mute and unmute their microphones during virtual lessons. Viral videos have captured the patience and energy required of teachers to keep young students engaged. Such obstacles could help explain why kindergarten enrollment has declined in many districts across the country this year. That may translate to less money for school districts, which often receive funding based on enrollment, and to long-term losses for children who miss out on a critical year of early education. In 2018, 84% of 5-year-olds in the U.S. were enrolled in preschool or kindergarten, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But most states don’t require kindergarten attendance, making it possible for parents to opt out if they&rsquo...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Source Type: news