Full day or half day kinder?

We have the option for either but have to pay for full day.

I felt like my daughter was ready to be there all day and she likes the social aspect of school. I'm sure if she went half day I would be asked all the time why she couldn't stay for lunch. As you said, some of the additional time was taken up by lunch, recess, PE, and one more music class per week. My perception was that her class had a slightly more relaxed pace than the half day class. I also preferred the full day teacher (one of them anyway).

My friend's daughter did full-day but she will do half-day for her son. I think it is nice to have the option. It's just too long a day for some kids.

[Vanquisher]

I think for most kids full day is fine. You would be suprised. They started an all day program the first year my oldest was in school in New York, and there were a lot of apprehensive parents. I can tell you though that at the end of the year, NONE of those kids continued to go half day. They had two dates during the year to change their minds because it was a new program - October and at the beginning of January.

The kids just loved being in kindergarten so much, and felt that they were missing out when they had to go home, but all the other kids got to stay.

I absolutely loved full day kindergarten for my oldest. He was the type that really thrived with it. I know some kids would have a harder adjustment, but he did wonderfully. They had snacks and nap time, and it was a very low-key but structured day. Better than any play and learning than I could have given him at home. The teacher was able to focus more time on the kids individually for reading instruction and other things. I thought it was fabulous, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again for my daughter if we have the opportunity.

I think more than the kids not being ready, parents aren't ready and think their kids aren't. I do know that each child is different, but I think it is a lot scarier on paper then it actually is.

The kids just loved being in kindergarten so much, and felt that they were missing out when they had to go home, but all the other kids got to stay.

I think that is something to consider.

Our school only has 1/2 day, but other schools in the district have full day. We were told it was due to space availability (truth be told, the schools w/full day are in the areas where there are fewer affluent families / more of a childcare issue). I think Jacob would have been fine

SueC's girls go to an all day kindergarten (MO side - different schools). It starts at 9AM and goes until 4PM which is one long day IMO. There are kids there as early as 7AM until 6PM w/the headstart stuff, etc.

[Phoebe]

It is funny you should ask this. We are debating this same issue in our home. Our governor is pushing for all day kindergarten in IN. Our school district offers both like Nellie's where you pay for the all day. The half time kindergarten runs two full days and one half day getting on the bus at 7:45 and off at 2:45 on the full days. I personally like this option over going everyday for half the time.

Like someone else said the full-day kindergarten curriculum is spread out more than the half time, but they are supposed to be the same. Our school district charges for the full-day because it is essentially child care. My daughter would do fine in the full-time kindergarten, but I am opting for the half-time because she has the rest of her life to go to school.

Jennifer

[mommax3]

Kindergarten was full day in TX, so preschool programs were, too....usually 9 to 2 or something like that. So with preschool under their belts, my boys were fine with stepping up to an 8:30 to 3-ish schedule. Here in IN, we still have half-day kindergarten, but at our private school, kindergarten is full day MWF and half day TTh, which is a nice compromise, imo. Currently, DS #3 is in pre-K 8:30 to 11:30 three mornings a week, in extended care (at the same school) the other two mornings, and at extended care three afternoons a week until I pick up everyone at 3. On the days that I am able to pick him up at noon (I give voice lessons one afternoon a week and use one or two other afternoons to run errands or do planning at school) he consistently tells me he wants to stay until 3. Next year, I am hoping that he won't have to be in extended care at all (except for early care....we drop them all off every morning around 7:15 so DH and I can get to work). I had a neighbor in Wichita Falls whose daughter (youngest of four girls) was in the *one* remaining class in the whole district that was on a half day schedule. All the parents in the class had switched to full day by the end of the year because the kids didn't want to go home. My neighbor was a little chagrined at having changed her opinion about full day kindergarten, but she admitted to me that once she had a taste of the freedom of not having any kids at home, she liked it more than she thought! I think you should just go with your gut. You know your child better than the school!

Sally

K is full day here. I think the schools in this area go from 8:30-2:30. Tara, can you sit in on a 1/2 day class and a full day class to get a feel for the differences?

[Flynn]

DD won't go until fall of 2008 so she has one more full year of pre-school after this year. However, being the school research fanatic I have looked into things here.

The private schools have full time kindergarten as a choice, and yes you pay for it. They stress that the full curriculum will be taught during the morning secession and there will be extra art and "fun educational" projects and games in the afternoon.

The two public schools I would consider (there is open enrollment here -- not sure how "open" it is though) have a similar option. You don't pay for half day, you pay for full day...I'm not sure what the cost is. Again, they both have stressed that the full educational curriculum is taught in the morning.


I spoke to all three teachers and one principal. All four basically said that over half of the kindergarten would be in daycare if they only went to morning kindergarten anyway. Having full day kindergarten is more of a service then something educational. The kids get to stay in an environment they are safe and happy and not take a bus to daycare. The parents have peace of mind until 3:00 when these kids go to "latch key" until 4:30...an after school program for kids of working parents.

Basically without saying it, this is a way for some of the schools around here to increase their funds. They get more money -- the daycares get less.

I have no idea what we will do but we have a year to decide. Here you make your decisions after Christmas for the following year.

DD could probably handle a full day when she goes to kindergarten and I do think she'll be bugged if she is the only one who has to leave in the afternoon. The flip side is that's a very long day for a 6 year old -- and if the afternoon is just "for fun" maybe I can work out where she stays late a couple of days a week....that probably isn't an option but I'll look into it.

It's a HUGE decision. It will be interesting to see in a year what we decide.

What he gets now that he didn't before are all the "specials" - music, art, gym, enrichment.

Somehow Jacob gets all of those even in the 1/2 day. I'm amazed they get the kids to focus on anything. 20 minutes in the computer lab, 20 minute PE ... they have one "special" a day + a 15 minute "recess". If you ask me, it probably contributes to a shortened attention span.

I would love the additional 5 year old program you mentioned Tara. Quinn's birthday is 24 days after the cut off here, so he's got another full year before starting kindergarten. I'm in no hurry to get him out of the house, but my concern is that he's going to be bored stiff once he gets there. He already does a lot of Jacob's work with him ... I guess I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I do understand your concern as to "why" we're pushing them to go / do more earlier. And I agree (in contrast to what I wrote about Quinn). Perhaps if the funding were put towards more quality / useful education in the later years, more options for advanced kids as well as the kids who need additional help - then we'd close that gap where the US lags behind other countries in education.

[SuzySunshine]

There was just an article in the paper here that MN is thinking about making full day mandatory as well - there is one school here in town with full day and their research shows their kindergarteners are more prepared for 1st grade.

[Sheherezade]

I enjoyed the full day Kindergarten with my son more than the half day with my daughter. My daughter was always rushed and had no "free play" time anymore. The teacher said it was because they were required to do a certain amount of academics and the specials (music, art, computers, library) also take up time. Half day was 12:30-3:00. My son's full day in Boston was 8:30 - 2:00 with a one hour lunch/recess. (So, 4 1/2 hours in class =full day there and 2 1/2 hours = half day here) DS always had 45 minutes of free play in the morning and 15 minutes during the day, so the instructional time was similar but the social/break time was longer. The teacher also only had the 20 students. Here, each K teacher has a morning and an afternoon session-- so 40 students (80 parents!!) That is tough on the teachers I think.

I don't think the full day option should be pushed if it's just daycare. In our experience, it wasn't. There was no afterschool program for children until first grade. (Most jobs also don't have 9-1:30 hours. I wish!!)

I think the lengthening of the school day is also daycare in disguise. I am totally against it. In Boston, 80% of the school age parents worked, but the "daycare" needs were accomplished through a paid afterschool program with clubs, sports and activites run as a co-op. About 40% of the kids participated with the remaining kids leaving for elsewhere after school. The school day there is shorter than here and you can definitely feel it. Here, we go from 8:30-3:30. Most kids ride the bus, which is on average an other 35 minutes. (We don't. I hate bussing.) In Boston, the school let out at 2:00 and everybody walked home with parents if they were leaving (5 minutes tops - with a stop by Starbucks. *sigh* )

I miss my afternoons with the kids and would never tolerate them getting of a bus each day at 4:15 and on a bus each morning at 7:30 am (that's the norm now). Lengthening the school day seems tragic to me - and obviously worked to accomodate the parent's schedules. One hour later and a job is a real possibility. (The kids would be out the door to the bus at 7:30 and off the bus at 5:00 ish? )

That is a lot of time on the bus, Angie. We're just on the edge of the bus zone and the ride is about 8 minutes. One downside of the bus is that I miss out on socializing with the parents who pick up. I'm picking up more in the afternoon to get in on that.

My daughter was always rushed and had no "free play" time anymore. The teacher said it was because they were required to do a certain amount of academics and the specials (music, art, computers, library) also take up time.

This is my perception of the difference between full-day and half-day here. The pace for the full-day is a bit more relaxed and they have more wiggle room in the schedule. Also, the half day here is M-Th so that the day can be a little longer. I think it is 8:00-10:50 whereas a 5 day schedule would be 8:00-10:20 or something like that. It would have been a shorter day than the preschool she was in. Not that length of time indicates quality but 2 and 1/2 hours seems like just enough time to settle in before turning around to go home.

[Sheherezade]

Totally off topic, but the bus here is insane. There is no bus zone and everybody rides the thing. That's why the rides are so long. Lots of kids. Also we live about 5 minutes from the school, so we get a 5 minute ride on one side....but to make things "fair" they drop you off last on the return trip. That's a 45 minute afternoon ride. No thanks.

[diggitydot]

Our district recently switched to full day Kindergarten. When my daughter began, I asked her teacher what she thought about it. I was a little surprised when she said that she absolutely LOVED it.

Her reasoning was this: With half days, by the time they're able to really get into a groove with the kids and they're learning stuff, it's suddently time to clean up and go home. They can keep going with full-day K.

Personally, I don't mind it. My kids absolutely love going all day. Yes, they're tired when they get home for the first week or so, but they just enjoy it so much.

The other reason I can see why they may want to make full-day K mandatory is that the schools are a way to kind of keep tabs on kids who could possibly be in abusive situations. I sometimes wonder if that's the reasoning behind all the push for preschool when all the studies done on it have shown that it has little to do with how successful a student is in the future.

[Phoebe]

I think it would be hard for kids who are in half day in the same class as kids who attend full-day. I wouldn't want to leave school early either. I like how our district does it by going two full-days and one half-day. The half-time kindergarten and full-day classes are separate.

I have to register my oldest for kindergarten in three weeks. :huh: Where has the time gone?