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Should school systems move to full-day kindergarten programs?
Results so far:
| Yes | 49% | 725 votes | Total: 1486 votes | |
| No | 51% | 761 votes |
Yes
by K Bert
Created on: June 09, 2007
I've had a chance to experience both full day and half day kindergarten with my children. My oldest went to another school district in the same state we live now and only attended the half day program.Now looking back I wish he had a chance to go full day!
It seemed like I spent more time waiting for a bus to take him to school and back than he actually spent at school! I remember it being a snowy cold winter and due to a half day program instead of a delay his school day was canceled way too often. Frankly I believe now looking back that he did not learn much at all in his kindergarten year and the attitude at that school was that it did not really matter. He could hardly write his first name at the end of the school year!
If I would have known how much more some other schools teach for the children already in the kindergarten I would have been quite upset. I understand that 5-year-old cannot sit still for hours and listen and try to learn but thankfully that is not how my current school operates!
It came to my as a surprise how much children can learn and explore through play and fun and it seems easy for them to memorize things at very early age if not forced to do so but by making it all fun!
Anyway after moving to another area my son was already somewhat fallen off the wagon comparing to his class mates who attended full day kindergarten. He had to work very hard to play catch up and at times it all seemed unfair to me as a parent!
When my second son attended to full-day kindergarten I must admit that I was little worried at first. He was so young, how can he handle so many hours away from home? Is it all too much?
It all worked out just fine! At the beginning he was quite tired after school and even little cranky but after getting used to the routine he seemed happy and content and loved spending time with his friends at school.
They have a big outside playground and even the class room looks more like place for play than traditional old-fashion schoolhouse. Kids are grouped around tables and they get to create and learn together more than just by sitting in their individual desks. I believe it is important for the kids to learn how to behave around each other and our kindergarten is a wonderful place to educate and give each child a perfect start in life! At least that is what I believe.
I feel so strongly about the importance about the early childhood education that we even compromised about our income and my husband travels quite far to his job just to ensure that our children can stay in the same school they are right now.
This is a wonderful area to live in, every time I look around in the Little League baseball games and see all the families cheering their children and those kids being at their best and literally having the ball, I cannot believe that some say hat all younger generation kids are spoiled and have no manners.
I must give plenty credit to most of the teachers my children have been spending their days with in recent years. All my kids enjoy the school and my oldest daughter just finished her kindergarten year and seems very excited about her transition to be a 1st grader next year.
I've heard many parents saying that full day kindergarten is way too long for a little kid but I must disagree! It seems like in most cases it would be way too long for a mother who is still clinging on to her child. But let's face it, kindergarten is a great place for your child to spend time with other kids same age instead of staying home and maybe staring at the TV set or video game or just being bored and bugging the parents. Or in the daycare which can get quite costly.
I think funding for full-day kindergarten in our area is one of the most important things that have happened to education in decades. Daycare is not the same thing as the kindergarten. So let's keep the ball rolling and hopefully in the near future we have plenty young adults with a will to learn even more and skills to tackle any challenges they will face!
Learn more about this author, K Bert.
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No
by Lisa A. Goff
Created on: June 09, 2007
Should school systems move to full-day kindergarten programs? No, but many are. Eventually, all will. A reason given for full-day kindergarten is to get children used to full-days before they start first grade. It seems to me that at the age of five, half-days of school should be enough. The adjustment to full days the following year should be easy.
Five and six-year-old children get very tired and cranky. Tired and cranky five-year-old children are not attaining maximum levels of learning. They should be able to go home and unwind, be with their parents, take a nap in their own bed instead of on a floor mat with other children pestering them.
The argument I have heard from some parents is that their children are used to being in daycare all day so full-day kindergarten should be fine. They say they need them in school full-time because it is too inconvenient for them to make arrangements for transportation and daycare.
Isn't it too bad that parents have to be concerned about the inconveniences of transportation and daycare when it comes to the comfort and care of their children? For many families, there is no option but for both parents to be working outside of the home in order to make ends meet. The children don't have the luxury of being at home with their parents. Long gone are the days of Wally and Beaver Cleaver whose mother was at home when they arrived home from school or when school was not in session.
My piano students who arrive at my home studio right after school are exhausted and frustrated. They often use me as a sounding board before they can relax and settle into their lesson. They say they wish their moms had time to talk to them after school. These are older children. What must it be like for the little five-year-old kindergarten children who are still not much more than toddlers, themselves?
How much of the day of a kindergartner is actually spent in "learning" activities? I've been in kindergarten. I've also been a teacher's aid in kindergarten and preschool. Very short periods of time are spent on learning activities. Most of the rest of the day is spent waiting in line for bathroom breaks, hand washing, going from room-to-room, activity-to-activity . Play-time, snack-time, quiet-time and waiting around for unruly children to be dealt with take up a lot of the rest of the time.
How much time do children really need to spend in school in order to be socialized? As a homeschooling parent, the "socialization question" is always brought up to me. Why does my child have to spend seven hours a day in a situation where she is exposed to the dangers of bullying, and later drugs, sex, and alcohol. Why waste her time waiting in line or waiting her turn to read out loud? Why must she sit on a spot on the floor for story time when she can be at home cuddled in her mother or daddy's or grandparents' arms and be reading a story together. This leaves open plenty of time for personal discussions that come about from the story.
One-size-fits all full-day kindergarten does not allow for the wide variance in children's skill levels, abilities, and general exposure to life. Few kindergartens offer accelerated or gifted programs. No child left behind? What about the gifted? When the window is open for learning, why bang it shut and cause that opportunity to pass by? A longer day of boredom is not going to help the gifted or advanced children.
Once the child sets foot inside the public school, the child's education is totally out of the hands of the parent. Your child's education is in the hands of the government and the school system and teachers . . . both effective and ineffective. The choice of putting your little five-year-old in full day kindergarten will be made by the government. If your child is not emotionally ready, hopefully you will be allowed to hold him/her back an extra year in order to allow time for maturation. Otherwise, your child will be off to a dismal and frustrating start . . . all day long, every day.
Schools base some of their decisions on numbers. The higher the number of students in full day programs, the higher the number of dollars in support they receive from the government. Should government dollars determine whether or not your child is ready for full-day kindergarten? I think not.
Learn more about this author, Lisa A. Goff.
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