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Are America's Covid Babies Ready for School?
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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The "COVID kids" are more than all right.
Five years after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the globe, the bulk of the 3.6 million children born in the United States in 2020 are starting kindergarten, providing many youngsters their first foray into a structured classroom setting.
The atypical early childhood these kids experienced also left an indelible mark on millions of stressed-out parents as they navigated the uncertainty of lockdowns, mask mandates and childcare during one of the most extraordinary periods in modern history.
Millions of children who were born during the height of the pandemic in 2020 are set to take over kindergarten classrooms.
Millions of children who were born during the height of the pandemic in 2020 are set to take over kindergarten classrooms.
Newsweek Illustration/Getty
But all that stress, upheaval and isolation also created some unexpected benefits, including quality family time spent together, a crash course in the benefits of independent play and fewer illnesses due to a lack of visitors, parents of so-called Covid babies told Newsweek in a series of interviews.
"I think they're more than ready," Dave Ruth, 44, said of his twin 5-year-old sons, John and James. "I am thrilled for them. I think they're going to thrive."
Ruth, of Stafford County, Virginia, said John already knows some Spanish, basic sign language and reads simple books — all before he has even set foot inside a school.
"They never saw a daycare class," he said. "Aside from playing with other kids at the playground and friends' birthday parties here and there, for the most part, they were home with my wife and me for the first years until they started school."
Ruth said his sons, who started kindergarten on August 11, benefited from workbooks at home and frequent sessions on YouTube, absorbing as much instructional material as possible.
Dave Ruth and his wife Lorraine with the couple's three sons, 5-year-old twins, James, left, and John, and 15-year-old David.
Dave Ruth and his wife Lorraine with the couple's three sons, 5-year-old twins, James, left, and John, and 15-year-old David.
Courtesy of Dave Ruth
"We would give them a little bit of screen time at the end of the day," Ruth said. "I read them books and stuff, but I didn't teach them any of that."
Ruth said he believes his twin boys may be better prepared for kindergarten than his eldest son, David, 15, ever was, due in part to the additional hours spent together at home during infancy and toddlerhood.
"I think it was massive," he said. "Some of the shows that they watched on TV, they just soaked up everything."
'All the Feels'
Lindsay Scouras, 40, said her 5-year-old son, Nico, has been anticipating the start of school for months. He previously attended preschool at a library outside Providence, Rhode Island, but September 3 will mark his first day as a kindergartner.
Scouras believes Nico is ready, but the mother of two still has "all the feels," she admitted.
"I find myself going back and forth between he's so ready and I can't wait to see him take this on," she said. "And then, like, oh my God, have I done everything to prepare him? He just turned five — he's a baby."
Lindsay Scouras and her son Nico, who starts kindergarten in Rhode Island in early September.
Lindsay Scouras and her son Nico, who starts kindergarten in Rhode Island in early September.
Courtesy of Lindsay Scouras
Scouras, who previously detailed her Covid-era parenting journey online at The Everymom, said becoming a mother during the pandemic offered unique challenges for caregivers and kids alike.
"It kind of shook us and made us always question if we were doing the right thing," she said. "And, you know, not being able to do the normal things that you would do when have a baby — going to the mom groups, going to playdates and putting them into school or daycare and getting them socialized."
Scouras didn't realize that her son needed speech therapy until he was 2 years old, largely due to pandemic-related seclusion, she said.
"He wasn't speaking and I thought it was normal because I was just at home with my kid all day," she said. "And it wasn't until I went to a pediatrician, and he said he should be able to say 50 words by now.
"When you don't have other children around to compare your kids to, you don't really know how they're doing."
Despite missing out on some typical early experiences, Nico is "totally ready" to start kindergarten, Scouras said.
Lindsay Scouras, 40, of Rhode Island, with her son Nico, daughter Sutton and husband Steven Scouras.
Lindsay Scouras, 40, of Rhode Island, with her son Nico, daughter Sutton and husband Steven Scouras.
Courtesy of Lindsay Scouras
"He talks about kindergarten all the time," she said. "He seems really excited about it, even though he truly has no idea what to expect."
Scouras said Nico is participating in a "reading challenge" at the family's local library, although he mistakenly believes that kindergarten will start once the initiative wraps up.
"He doesn't seem to get the concept," she joked. "He's like, 'When I finish this chart, I'll be in kindergarten.' And I'm like, 'Well, the first day of kindergarten is going to come whether or not you finish this chart, buddy.'"
Scouras, who works in public relations and marketing, said she hopes Nico inherits her devotion to education.
"I'm really excited to meet his teachers and see the school," she said. "I loved school as a kid, and I just really hope that he's also in a position where he loves it. I know people talk about school and how much it's changed, but my husband and I both went to public school. I had a great experience in public school. I'm excited for him to embark on this."
Creating Independent Learners
Like Ruth and his twin sons, Scouras said she thinks the pandemic-linked solitude might've actually helped Nico.
"He spent so much time with just adults for a long time," she said. "He is very good at independent play, I think because he was alone for so long. His sister wasn't born until he was almost 4 years old."
Nowadays, Nico doesn't need as much entertainment or supervision as some of his peers and hasn't stopped talking since undergoing speech therapy, Scouras said.
School buses in a storage lot on August 14 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
School buses in a storage lot on August 14 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
"He gets along with and can speak really well with adults," she said. "I feel like part of that is just because he spent his very formative years with only grown ups around — you know, people that we could trust in our bubble and not going to a lot of birthdays parties, playdates and stuff like that."
Scouras believes some of those skills will translate well for Nico as he enters kindergarten.
"I can't think of any experience more unique than being born during a pandemic," she said. "Although I guess it's not that unique because there's literally millions of them. But we'll see how this affects them as adults. We have no idea what's to come."
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Map shows states with best—and worst—early education systems
Map shows states with best—and worst—early education systems
Scouras acknowledged having prior concerns about Nico's future, but believes he's ready to tackle kindergarten after conversations with his pediatrician and preschool staff.
"When he was less than 2 years old and we were still trapped inside and not knowing when the next wave was going to hit, there was a lot of those nights of, like, 'Oh my God, is this going to stunt his development forever?" she recalled.
"But I also kind of remind myself: Are they all going to be OK? They're all in it together."
Scouras noted another upside for those born into the teeth of the pandemic: they didn't have to endure missed milestones, like proms or graduations, that older children dealt with.
"I felt more for those kids who were older, who knew what was going on," she said. "You see a lot of kids who I feel like now have been affected by having to do all their stuff online and they're so reserved now. At least he still had a chance to kind of grow and be born into a world where it's going to be a few years before he recalls anything of this, so let's just try to make this as happy and as supportive environment as we can while he's little."
The additional solitude with Nico also allowed Scouras' family to create a "really good foundation" for his future, she said.
"We're all very close, and I love that," she said.
Social and Behavioral Concerns
Casey Peeks, senior director of early childhood policy at the Washington-based liberal think tank Center for American Progress, said educators should expect to spend more time regulating the behavior of some kindergarteners this fall compared to prior years.
"Teachers can always tell the very first day of kindergarten which of their students went to preschool or some other high-quality early childhood education environment," Peeks told Newsweek. "With these children who were born during the height of the pandemic, I think the social and behavioral issues will be a much larger focus this kindergarten year."
Preschool, childcare workers and other early educators have experienced a significant uptick in challenging behavioral issues in recent years compared to pre-pandemic terms, Peek said, citing surveys from federal Head Start programs and other data.
A back-to-school section on August 12 at a Walmart in Dallas, Texas, as millions of kindergarteners prepare to enter classrooms, many for the first time.
A back-to-school section on August 12 at a Walmart in Dallas, Texas, as millions of kindergarteners prepare to enter classrooms, many for the first time.
AP Photo/LM Otero
"And I would imagine that would continue in kindergarten," Peeks said, adding that more early educators have also reported being burnt out from managing their post-pandemic classrooms.
"I think it's the fact of dealing with these challenging behaviors, but the adults themselves were also having high levels of stress during the pandemic," the former kindergarten teacher said. "So, their own mental health, their own stress, combined with having to care for these children who were having really big behavioral and emotional challenges ... that is something that these educators have had to deal with more so than pre-pandemic."
Peeks also cited researchers at Columbia University who conducted a study of 255 infants born between March and December 2020 that revealed they scored slightly lower on a screening test of social and motor skills at six months compared to their counterparts just before the coronavirus outbreak.
"Yes, they might've still gone to preschool in higher numbers, but those are still delays that are going to have to be addressed over time," Peeks said. "It'll be really interesting to see the data and do surveys of kindergarten teachers of this cohort on what they've noticed compared to other class years."
The Covid Generation
Dr. Dani Dumitriu, the lead investigator of Columbia's ongoing study, said it's too early to understand exactly how being born in the middle of a pandemic will impact those children into adolescence and beyond.
"These kids are just aging into 5, we are just starting our assessment," Dumitriu told Newsweek. "I will be able to answer that question in a couple years, but right now, I can tell you with certainty that any academic who tells you that they know something about this generation at age 5 is flatly wrong. You just simply cannot."
Within the next year, Columbia expects to finish collecting data from approximately 500 4- and 5-year-olds and then spend another year analyzing those key outcomes, according to Dumitriu, an associate professor of pediatrics and director of Columbia University's Center for Early Relational Health.
"In that initial paper, we showed an effect of the pandemic — not an effect of the virus, but just pandemic stress," Dumitriu said last week. "I also really want to stress the fact that six-month data does not predict five-year outcomes. The brain up until about three years of age is so plastic that you simply cannot make any inferences about the future from six-month-old data."
'Kids Are Resilient'
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman accompanied her daughter Evelynne to her first day of kindergarten on Wednesday and acknowledged having a tough time processing the bittersweet milestone.
"She's fine," Coleman wrote on X. "Mom? Not so much."
Coleman, a Democrat who took office in December 2019, gave birth to Evelynne in February 2020, just weeks before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic and states began issuing stay-at-home orders.
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman attends the first day of kindergarten with her daughter Evelynne on Wednesday.
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman attends the first day of kindergarten with her daughter Evelynne on Wednesday.
Courtesy Jacqueline Coleman
"There is no question that babies born during COVID, and their parents, faced very unique challenges during an already challenging time for families," Coleman told Newsweek in a statement.
Similar to Nico, who was born in July 2020, Evelynne had issues with delayed speech, Coleman said.
"Which made sense because she didn't have peer interaction and she was surrounded by adults who were often speaking to her through masks," Coleman said. "But once she was enrolled in daycare, she rebounded, and pre-K helped even more so. Now, we cannot get her to stop talking.
I say that half-jokingly, but it also proves what we already know: kids are resilient."
