Full day kindergarten?

[albreda]

Hi folks -

Just wondering what folks' thoughts/experiences are/were about full day kindergarten. I promised myself that I'd go take a look at the program the girls would be in if we went the public school route, and they are only full day.

Anyone? I'm leaving this post public, if folks know others who might want to comment here.

Thank you!

Comments

[raving_liberal]

I'm not a fan. I think it's too much time away from home, too much academic pressure, and just overall not a great idea for kids. Now, some people (like my MIL) will try to quote studies that show how great full-day K is for kids -- failing to note that those studies only compared full-day K to half-day K plus daycare. The kids in the studies were still away from home for the same period of time, just moved halfway through. If the choices are full-day K or half-day plus daycare, full-day is better. If half-day and then home is an option, I'd pick half day every time.

[albreda]

Well, our choice is full day or homeschool, since our school doesn't offer half day. I was more willing to be blown away by a half day, but this is what the option is.

Thanks for the feedback!

[raving_liberal]

Well, we switched from half-day, three day a week preschooling to full-time homeschooling with Donovan. He'll do home-K next year. Obviously, my personal choice is homeschooling. :)

[albreda]

I think it is mine, too, but I'm not the only one who gets a vote. ;)

[albreda]

I don't know that I think not napping + wanting playdates = good for a full day of kindergarten, but maybe that is just me hearing not napping + wanting playdates = opportunity for lots of cool adventures with cool people and a whole afternoon free to enjoy them. ??

One of my girls is reading three letter words now, and the other is definately ahead of where the current kindergarten class is now: the letters 'x' and 'y'. The program here also only has one 30 minute recess and one 'free choice' time of 30 minutes. That leaves a lot of hours of doing what someone else is telling them what to do.

[albreda]

I'm worried about too many academics that are boring for them, and too little time to do anything they find interesting with all the people they find themselves in class with.

I don't think my kids are ready to follow directions for that much of the day.

[madrun]

I agree with raving liberal, with the caveat that it depends on the kid. I will also add that it took me two years of homeschooling to undo the damage that 6 months of public school kindergarten did to my oldest, and the damage was caused because I did not recognize early enough that he was just not ready for that environment at all.

[albreda]

Yeah, I'm nervous about negative socialization myself. It just doesn't take long for a young girl to get infatuated with stupid pink crap, or to decide that math is for boys, or other dumb attitudes.

I also just don't think they would do well following directions for that long, esp if they get bored.

[stringgeek]

Speaking as someone who taught in full-day and half-day Kindergarten programs, I can't say enough good things about full-day for kids, from both an educational and a socialization perspective. I know a lot of parents were worried about the length of the day--our program had a built-in naptime/rest time (1/2 hour). At the beginning of the year, they always welcomed the break--by the end of the year, most kids didn't need it anymore. It's possible that your school has a similar rest period built into their day

[albreda]

There is no down/nap time in the kindergarten day at our local school. One 30 minute recess, one 30 minute 'free choice' period, but that's it.

How did I not know that you had taught preK/K? All this time I had it in my head that you taught music!

[freya46]

Frankly, given what's happening in the education system these days, I'd skip public school altogether and just homeschool. If you have the option, I think it would be the best for the kids.

(((((HUGS)))

[albreda]

STRONGLY leaning that way, Grandma Freya, but I don't want to act like my mother, and not know *precisely* what our options are.

>:)