Parents turning to daycare for help with remote learning

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Anxious parents are calling daycare providers asking if they can supervise their children’s full or partial remote learning with school starting soon, daycare firms say.

It is a dilemma that many parents find themselves in as classes are about to start and they need to continue working to support their households, providers say.

School districts are either starting the year with a combination of some in-person learning and some remote learning (called a hybrid plan) or have gone completely to remote learning. Social distancing requirements often make it impossible for districts to return to complete in-person learning, districts say.

Many parents don’t know which days their children will be learning in-person and which days they will be learning remotely and can’t register their kids until they know their schedules, daycare providers said.

Melissa deSousa, one of the program administrators at Little People’s College, which serves about 700 children in 14 daycare facilities from New Bedford to Wareham, said many parents are “scrambling” with school right around the corner to sort their daycare needs so they don’t have to stay home with their child.

“There is definitely an interest. Many families can’t stay home with their children. They can’t afford to,” deSousa said.

She expects parents will be calling to register their children as soon as they learn which days their children will be learning at home and which days they will be learning in schools. “They’re waiting to see which cohort (the learning group) they are in,” she said.

For example, some districts have adopted schedules in which students will have in-person learning Monday, Wednesday and Friday one week, while a second group has in-person learning Tuesday and Thursday and then the students all switch the following week. Other districts have gone entirely to remote learning plans.

Right now, Little People’s College has available space and are doing their best to accommodate every parent who calls with a childcare need, deSousa said.

Little People’s College is developing programs that mirror the educational plans in the local communities in which they are based, she said. They will have “virtual learning areas,” where children wear a mask, maintain a physical distance, use a laptop or tablet and headphones and log-in to their district’s lesson plans as scheduled.

Staff will be available to help with log-in and technical issues as well as supervise the children, she said. “We’re working to establish our schedules so it mirrors what they do. It’s really no different. It’s just a longer day,” deSousa said.

Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order Friday, relaxing regulations to allow students to learn remotely in child care programs during a normal school day. The order gives after-school and out-of-school programs the authority to operate during typical school hours.

The Massachusetts Department of Early Education will allow child care programs to offer supervision for children while in remote learning. The rules apply to students to participated in kindergarten to 14 and special needs students up to 16.

At the West End Day Nursery, a nonprofit daycare in New Bedford, they have 10 first and second graders and three kindergarten students in remote learning, said Lee Frias, associate director. All their students are from New Bedford. New Bedford Public Schools start classes Sept. 16.

Frias said many parents don’t know their children’s school schedule yet and are also waiting to receive laptops and wifi devices from the School Department. “I’m sure there will be parents who need (child care) services,” she said.

She understands the need for remote learning, but “social and emotion” interaction with their peers is also important to a child’s education, she said. “With remote learning, you won’t get that,” she said.

Melissa Rioux, an education coordinator with West End Day Nursery, said the system will probably be receiving more calls from parents, perhaps by the end of the week, as parents learn their children’s schedules. West End currently has three children on a waiting list.

Team Works Somerset, an indoor sports and recreation facility on Lees River Avenue in Somerset is also gearing up to accommodate remote learning students, said Scott Gaetz, the owner.

He currently offers programs for school children during February and April school vacations and special programs on holidays like Columbus Day, he said.

He has 4,500 square feet of indoor space and feels he can accommodate about 40 children, while adhering to social distancing requirements, he said.

Gaetz said he is already getting calls from parents about Team Works’ daycare capabilities, although parents are being indecisive until they know their children’s school schedule.

There won’t be students from just one community in his remote learning program, he said. There could be children from Swansea, Somerset, Fall River, Westport and even Dighton.