by Allison Hickman

Created on: April 03, 2008

Is it common for people to go a restaurant, be seated, and in the middle of their brunch, be asked to leave because it is time for the afternoon shift of customers to come in and eat their lunch? Of course not, people finish meals at different intervals because it takes some longer than others to finish their meal. When kindergarten is split into two separate blocks per day, morning/afternoon, there are several obstacles that can hinder the production of a strong, consistent routine. It takes an adequate amount of uninterrupted time to introduce, teach and conclude crucial skills. This cannot be accomplished properly in a three hour or less time block.

One of the biggest disadvantages of half day kindergarten is the actual time spent in the classroom; three hours or less. Beside class time, other activities to that may take away from teaching time include; recess, snack time, art, music, library and special events that come up. Kindergarten age children do not retain information and require constant reinforcement in skills; therefore, requiring more time everyday being spent on regular skill development to enable them to retain the skills being taught.

Let's say phonics is being introduced and the students require extra time and assistance; the teacher can spend more time on it if school ends at the end of the day. This extra time alleviates unnecessary pressure on the teacher as well as the students to get the skill mastered due to extra time allotment. Kids require consistency and plenty of time when learning important beginning, reading skills and comprehension.

Kindergarten for some children is their first school experience. Full-day kindergarten is a more relaxed option because there is no need to hasten the student. Easing into this new environment can be introduced slowly to create a secure place for the child to feel at home and engage in their first school year successfully.

Unfortunately, we did not have the luxury of full-day kindergarten when it came time for our daughter to attend kindergarten in our new town. I had no choice but to opt for the half day program at her school and her schedule included all of the above activities mentioned on top of teaching time. It was a nightmare. The disorganization of the morning and afternoon schedules were poorly planned and our daughter lost half of a very important learning year because we took for granted the fact that the school system knew better.

That precious time when she was supposed to be learning the very basics for beginning reading was compromised as well as her self-esteem; she was now lagging behind her peers in first grade Reading. When she entered first grade we were all blind-sided by the work that was expected of her; some of which she had not even been introduced to in kindergarten.

Thankfully, she wasn't completely adrift due to the two years of nursery school she had experienced, but it took her entire first grade year and a specialist for her to reach an acceptable reading level. I can only hope that my lack of investigating on my own can help someone else avoid my mistake. Looking back now, we would have had her go to a private, extended kindergarten.

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