34: age of ambiguity
This week’s
❓Wonder
Is it worth sending kids to receive early childhood education, when the risks of serious illness are high?
🌲 Speculation
While the answer has been revisited even after the third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, my own feeling is that the answer depends on (even on a month to month basis) your child’s development arc, your career, and the community prevalence of illness.
📱Application
All choices are built on tradeoffs and varying percents of risk toleration.
Sending kids to an early childhood education center can change their life trajectories, especially when you consider epigenetics.
The CDC has given guidance to childhood centers to provide the safest experience, but your kids can get sick because of the increased exposure to all types of germs.
The decision to keep sending children into centers for care involves resilience, adaptability to emerging science, toleration for nuanced risks, and focusing on the long run positive outcomes (e.g. children developing immunity, skills, and you preserving family income, career capital, and therefore opportunities).
🌹Thorns
I have read a lot about how unsafe it is and how daycares don’t care. I’d rather take care of my child at home - my child needs me.
As long as early childhood centers adhere to guidelines by the CDC, it seems reasonable to me to allow my children to access institutional care - however your own comfort will depend on the factors above, including your ability to tolerate risks in a nuanced and changing environment.
Whole💙ness
“Life lessons are not journeys traveled in straight lines but are crossroads formed years and miles apart.” - Gina Greenlee
To your health -
Soma
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