Free Kindergarten

[PrincessFiona]

I was just wondering whether or not you all have all-day kindergarten and if it is free?

We have to pay unless we send the kids 1/2 day..

We have to pay here, too. And at the schools we are looking at in Portland. Some schools do offer all day K for free, but it is usually schools that have very poor scores and receive additional funding for all-day K.
I would like to find a school that offers it because Bryn is used to being in preschool from 9-3 and she would do fine with an all day program.

[SueC]

Most of the kindergartens here are all-day, and they are not free, unless it is a charter school. I imagine the public schools are pretty low-priced, private school runs anywhere from $4-10K for kindergarten!!!

[mommax3]

All-day kindergarten has been free in both of the public school districts I have lived in in Texas. All-day was the only option in the San Antonio district we lived in.....a huge district. Here, kids can leave after half a day if their parents want them to, but only a few do.....there was even an article in the paper about how half-day programs are pretty much a thing of the past. I had no idea that full-day programs weren't more common.

Sounds like y'all should move down here!

Sally

Kris, here in AZ my son is in all day kindergarten and it is free. Alot of parents don't like the hours and think it is much too long for a 5/6 yr old but I love it and my son needs it!!! ( I sometimes wonder if I need it more than he does) He is very active and has a late birthday so he was almost 6 when school started and oh so ready

[PrincessFiona]

Well, Alex is turning 5 today...he goes to pre-k 4 days a week from 9-12.30 right now. It costs $149/month, which is ok...His teacher feels that he is ready for all-day kindergarten...and I have to say that when I come and pick him up he is usually so entrenched in an activity with the other kids that he doesn't want to leave. Every Friday he asks why he can't go to 'school'. He really is very social and loves being there. Kindergarten is not mandatory in the state of MN and so 1/2 day kindergarten (which is free) would be from 7.45-10.05 8O or in the afternoon for the same amount of time. He has a longer program now in pre-k. My daughter did the 1/2 day thing and it was a complete waste of time in my opinion. I volunteered in the classroom and the entire morning was about moving as fast as they could to 'get done'. The talk about the all day program as having the same learner outcomes, but I see it as better because it is less rushed. Seriously, the morning Kindergarten was just go, go, go...and with little 5 year olds I just found it a bit overwhelming.

The thing is, the all day kindergarten actually costs double what we are paying now....we could almost enroll him in a private school.

I'm just blowing off steam here, but kindergarten in both PA and FL was free...and all day.

kris

Maybe there will be a trend toward all-day kindergarten. The half day programs just seem SO short. The all-day programs here and in Portland are free at a handful of schools with low scores. For the others, I think it costs around $250 per month. The schools in Denver also offer tuition assistance based on income. I've heard that these full day programs can fill quickly in some places so I really hope we are able to get into one.
I think kids would better make the transition to first grade and being in school all if they had all day kindergarten. I never thought about the half day being rushed. Good point!

[Phoebe]

Our school district offers all-day kindergarten in a few pilot programs and this year one elementary went to all day. The governor of Indiana just introduced legislation to bring all day kindergarten across the board, but it isn't receiving full support and people have problems with where the funding comes from. Hopefully something will be resolved by the time our first starts school.

Jennifer

[Rapunzel]

I know that the homeschooling community tends to lobby against requiring kindergarten (as well as increasing the amount of time per a day a small child must attend kindergarten) because it could lead to more government-intrusion into parental decisions (such as deciding when and if a child is ready for kindergarten). There are some places such as D.C. that have recently tried to lower the mandatory age for school attendance down to the age of 3. This would, of course, mean that preschool and kindergarten would be free at public institutions and working parents would not have to pay for daycare or private or partially-funded public programs. It also means that all parents who would want to keep their children home at the ages of 3, 4, and 5 would have to have government "permission". Scary thought.

Now, Texas does tend to have free public all-day kindergartens in all of the districts I am familiar with (which are many) and parents do not have to seek government permission or approval in order to make decisions regarding their children. However, Texas is a rare place with a culture that is much more libertarian than much of the rest of the nation. So, the fears regarding full-day kindergarten funding and the subsequent attempts at lowering of the age of compulsary schooling for tiny children are well founded in places such as D.C.

Anyway, there is a flip side to all of this is the point of my ramblings. And, we have to remember that the more we ask for government involvement in the lives of our children (ie in the form of increasing government funds in order to extend "free" kindergarten to a full day) the more we can expect to give to the government (in the form of increased taxes and decreased parental rights).

Jennifer

[peggyfromwastate]

Here in Maryland, the cumpulsary (excuse my atroshous spelling ) age for school is 5 8O which I could not believe moving from Washington where it is 8. Anyway, they do full day kindergarten here in all the schools in our county, and they even make you send your kids there as long as they turn 5 by December... This is all new to me, and I was a big fan of half day KG, but with twins, I don't think I'll be able to afford tuition to any private half day program. Oh well! I just hope they do well in it! I'm glad to hear that people have had positive experiences with all day programs-- all my friends "back home" just complained and what not about the long days...

In my experience with half day KG for my oldest at a private school, it was more of the same, very similar to preschool at the same private school. She didn't know how to read when she started First grade, but I didn't push that and I figured she'd learn when she was ready. After 4 or 5 weeks of school, she was reading and hasn't stopped since-- reading now at a 4th or 5th gd level. Ultimately, I don't think that half day KG was damaging, but in retrospect I think it was too boring for her.... So I'm talking myself into giving full day programs a fighting chance, I guess!

[Rapunzel]

Sorry for all the editing of my post - I am having a Swiss-cheese-for-brains day and I had to fix a lot of my grammar and complete my sentences.

Jennifer

[SueC]

3 seems a bit young for required education. I had always assumed that full-day Kindergarten was more for the convenience of working parents, but I was talking to my mil (who is a teacher) and she said the kindergarten teachers she knew did feel the day was too rushed and that full day kindergarten was better for the kids. I have to admit, my 4 year old's preschool is 9:30 to 12:00 and frankly, it is fine for preschool, but it doesn't seem like it would be enough time for kindergarten (they really only have time for circle time and one structured activity) so I'm leaning more towards liking the idea of full-day K. My girls attend MDO from 9:30 to 2:30, and it really doesn't seem like too long of a day for either one of them (the younger one does take a nap in her classroom)--they are usually totally engrossed in an activity when I go to pick them up and don't seem like they were counting the minutes before my arrival.

[mommax3]

Rapunzel wrote:

Anyway, there is a flip side to all of this is the point of my ramblings. And, we have to remember that the more we ask for government involvement in the lives of our children (ie in the form of increasing government funds in order to extend "free" kindergarten to a full day) the more we can expect to give to the government (in the form of increased taxes and decreased parental rights).

I agree with you there about the taxes, Rapunzel. About the whole issue of full-day kinder......I am torn. Like many who have already posted, my boys both went to preschool two days a week from 9 to 2 for 2-3 years BEFORE kindergarten, so going back to half days felt like a step back. My oldest was clearly ready for kindergarten when he started.....actually, the first week of school the school contacted me about moving him to first grade. He was on the young side (mid-April bday) so I said no.....but it required a lot of extra time from his teacher to enrich him so that he wasn't bored/causing problems. I volunteered quite a bit in his classroom, and I was very shocked at what I came away with.....this was a solidly middle-class school with a good reputation, but there were kids that were really, really behind where I thought a kindergartener should be......not comparing to my son because I knew he was ahead, but just a baseline kinder expectation i.e. knowing most letters, numbers, able to write their name somehow, etc. There were a good number of kids who were NOT ready for this, nor did they seem emotionally ready to sit down and learn it. So would these kids have been better off spending their afternoons in the same situations that led them to be in the sorry state of readiness that they were displaying? I would have to say no. I think they were probably better off in school all day so they could have a stab at catching up by first grade. I realize that all of them did not catch up.....but what is the alternative for these kids?

On the other hand, I feel strongly about not putting my kids into "institutionalized" settings (although many times they act as though they are headed for institutions! ) before kindergarten and draw the line at two days a week, even when they are pre-K. So I wouldn't be on board with mandatory schooling at age 3 or even age 4.

Most of you know that I opted out of the public education system a couple of years ago, and I feel extremely blessed with the school my kids attend and that we can afford it......it is almost prohibitively expensive for us with the amount of debt we have, so I KNOW it would be out of reach for the average family......however, we will move again in a year and a half and I am already evaluating where my kids are, their strengths and weaknesses, and trying to get a feel for the schools, public and private, in the communities we are considering. It doesn't seem like it should be this hard.....maybe we have too many choices? But public schools are a LOT different than when I was in them as a student.

Sorry this is so rushed....does it make any sense at all? I have to leave to get my kids!

Sally

[PrincessFiona]

I think the main issue that I have with the 1/2 day kindergarten is that it is so rushed. I experienced it when I volunteered in my daughter's class. There was no time for free-play, socialization and experimental learning...it was just basically circle time, library or music and one hands on project each day....it was very rushed.

It doesn't matter to me from the perspective of him being home at 10.30...I'm home with the baby anyway. I just think it would be better for him.

As to govt. involvement...I don't know. It's stupid that you should have to get permission from the government to homeschool your children (though I supposed they are looking out to make sure that children are indeed getting an education. I'm sure that there are some parents that would the just do nothing with their children and this would be at a great cost to our society). On the other hand, you can't expect mothers that have no choice but to work to have to pay for childcare through age 5...at least that' s what I think. There are benefits to starting your education at age 4 (the compulsory age in the UK) or 5.

At the end of the day, I'd rather see that trillion dollar deficit going towards the education of our children than sending a man to the moon or a 150 million dollar marriage initiative

kris

Here in Ohio (Zanesville) we have al day Kindergarten 8:50-3:25, and it is absoluletly free! I have never heard of having to pay for public school, but I came from Texas so that explains that. If I had to pay tuition for public school, I would most definately put my kiddos in private. JMTCW.