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

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