Hi oj,

I'm sympathetic to your situation; many parents are in a similar boat juggling childcare and work, and it can be a challenge, doubly so with a new baby! (Congrats!!)

My answer will hinge on the degree to which you require childcare coverage for your work. When I evaluated kindergarten for my child a few years ago, my calculus was a combination of three goals. This thought process was helpful then, and I'd use a similar lens if I were to do it again.

1 - Childcare coverage so I could work
2 - Academic fit and opportunities for meaningful learning
3 - Opportunities for positive socialization

It sounds like item 1 is a fixed constraint for your family. Only you can gauge to what degree your family can juggle / stagger schedules (if you are partnered or have supports), and how the options available to you meet your needs. Your older DD seems like she's getting a rich experience at home - obviously thanks to a concerted effort on your part! Given how difficult conditions are in the pandemic, I hope you're giving yourself a pat on the back. What you're achieving is no easy feat. smile

In my own experience, childcare was my most intractable constraint for the kindergarten year. We achieved a tolerable, but not ideal, balance with my child attending public kindergarten for half-days to have opportunities to interact with age peers and sound off half my work day. The remainder of his time was with me - as my work was flexible enough to swing into morning and night shifts remotely to cover the remaining hours, and he spent about an hour with a family member in our home. His learning profile was similar to your DD's. For us, this arrangement served as a stopgap year, nothing more, until I could afford a more flexible private school.

We ultimately found a better fit in a mixed-age private school environment for the elementary years that allows considerable flexibility and individualization to reach ahead of grade level.

I hope this is helpful, in some small way. Know that there are many of us here who can lend a sympathetic ear and suggest things that worked (or caution about things that didn't). However, your knowledge of your own family is paramount.

Good luck! smile



What is to give light must endure burning.