Sunday, December 6, 2020

COVID-19 Means More Preschool-Age Kids Won't Be Ready For Kindergarten; Battle Brewing Over COVID-19 Testing Requirements in NYC Schools, and other C-Virus Updates

Jon Austria
COVID-19 means more preschool-age kids won't be ready for kindergarten:
Cheryse Singleton-Nobles knows her 2-year-old son is regressing.
While the toddler is getting the hang of colors, numbers and shapes, she says, “he’s back to the stage of ‘me, me, me.’” He doesn’t want to share anymore. He struggles to follow a routine and gets distracted by all his toys.
Singleton-Nobles, 47, attributes this backtracking to the COVID-19 pandemic, which recently forced her son’s free Chicago preschool to close its campus.
That preschool, an early-learning center that belongs to a national network of Head Start-funded programs called Educare, shut its doors in the spring but managed to reopen at limited capacity in the fall. The center had to revert to distance learning again in mid-November amid a surge in COVID-19 infection rates.
Now, her son – like countless other young children across the country – is sliding in his social-emotional skills. And those losses could be devastating for these children's long-term success. Preschool years are among the most formative of a child’s life. A student who starts kindergarten without preschool is more likely to repeat a grade, require special-education services or drop out. --->READ MORE HERE
J.C. Rice
Battle brewing over COVID-19 testing requirements in NYC schools:
City principals are set to clash with parents who haven’t submitted COVID-19 testing consent forms but still want their kids in class when schools reopen Monday.
The Department of Education has stressed that students who lack the document can’t participate in building instruction.
“In order to come to school in person, students need to have a consent form on file — there is no grace period for this rule,” DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer told The Post.
Parents who oppose the DOE’s in-school testing format are refusing to submit the forms and threatening lawsuits if their kids are barred from buildings.
“The decision by the Mayor and the DOE to force parents to consent to have their school age children tested for the Covid Virus as a condition of attending school is outrageous, immoral and a violation of their constitutional rights,” read a statement from a group called Parents Opposed to Mandatory Testing. --->READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to related stories and resources:

Nearly half of NYC residents not sold on getting COVID-19 vaccine, survey finds

Brits who refuse COVID-19 vaccine may be denied entry to restaurants, bars

USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

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