Kindergarten chaos
14th January 2010
This afternoon I pre-registered my baby Lucy for junior kindergarten with a very nice woman with an English accent.
She will likely go Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday. Seeing as she already does three days a week of daycare, this will not be a huge transition for her. I will more than likely send her to daycare on the Tuesday and after school so I still get a full work day and work week.
(Even though Lucy suction cups herself to me upon pick up from daycare, she has informed me that when she goes to kindergarten, she will be a bigger girl and will no longer miss me. Or, only a little bit.)
There was much hoopla in the media, on my friends’ blogs and Facebook pages the past few days regarding the Province’s implementation of full-day kindergarten at select schools. See this list for public schools here, and Catholic schools here. Traditional introduction into the school system has been what Lucy will experience, and in the beginning, staggering kids in over several short days, as opposed to full days right off.
While five days seems like a bit much for a 3 or 4-year-old, the rather angry backlash has surprised me. I’m hoping y’all can enlighten me as to why some parents are so upset about this. I have friends on all sides of the spectrum: One is disappointed her son will not get the same amount of schooling as those kids in the full-day program, and will thus be behind his peers. Another is upset her daughter — having almost no formal daycare/large group programming/other kid exposure — will struggle to transition into full-day school. Another is thrilled that her daycare costs will come down and her daughter will not have to be shuffled around from school to daycare and more.
Thoughts? Whether your child is starting school this year or not?
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I am with you Carly, I am not sure whether it is a good thing or not.. Mya is not going all day everyday either… Like Lucy, she will be going all day every other day. That is fine with me, but I also think that going everyday would be good too… Cheaper on daycare thats for sure.. I am enjoying reading everyone’s thoughts pros and cons!!!
i think it depends on the the individual child…..carter has been in full time daycare since my mat leave was over and is going to SK in the fall – he is used to being in a full day environment – he’s there from 7:30am until 5:30pm most days….the same for easton (who’s 17 months) and they are both thriving.
for the kids who aren’t used to full time care, i can see how the adjustment may be different – however, i think kids can adapt easier than we think.
like i said, i think every childs situation is different and all we can do is help them adjust as best we can – we can’t change the gov’t, so we gotta roll with it!
I hope you didn’t read my post as “angry”. I was confused as to why this was being introduced in the first place. I was disappointed that my daughter’s school was chosen. I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t angry.
I read many, many articles in preparation for Tuesday. In all I read, I only found one tiny sentence, a quote in an article from October, that said that full day would be optional. So, I was also insufficiently informed, by no fault of my own.
I understand that some parents view this as revolutionary and completely beneficial. Think of the dollars saved in childcare! I’m not one of them, as my mom watches my kids, and I was worried that my choices were all or nothing – send her full day, every day or not at all (school in Ontario is not mandatory until the child is 6 years old).
I strongly believe that children should be transitioned into school. That is the whole point of kindergarten, and especially junior kindergarten. And I also believe this transition should take longer than a few weeks of gradual entry. This is just my opinion and I know people have differing opinions.
I now learn that we can opt out of full day, every day and I can send her every other day. In my eyes, this is much better for us. I’m not worried about what she might miss because it’s junior kindergarten. It’s not like they’re learning how to engineer a spacecraft. Whatever is taught when she’s not there, will be gone over ad nauseum on days that she is. And, of course, we can help her learn these new concepts at home, too.
I don’t know. This is getting too long (about three paragraphs ago). I just didn’t agree in this as a broad, general idea. Now that I know for a fact that it is optional and we can introduce her to school at an easier pace, I’m happy.
The end.
all day every day is too much for the little tykes. they’re expected to learn to read and write their names just like in grade one. they’re exhausted all the time. an alternate days is preferred in my house. our home school has mornings or afternoons only every day presently, but the school lexy goes to is every other day and alternate fridays. worked very well for her – her mind and body rested at daycare between visits.
oh and like I said in Jen’s blog, I’m from the generation where we took naps in kindergarten and coloured all day – didn’t learn our abcs until grade one … I think I turned out ok.
I can understand both sides of the argument I just wonder how the curriculum will be the same across the different types of kindergarten. Is it more play time for full day kids or more “learning”?
Ayven is still a year and a half away from starting jk, he’ll be one of the older kids in his class because his bday is in March but he can’t start at 3.5, so he’ll be starting at 4.5 and will be turning 6 while in SK, frankly I don’t think it’s that huge of a deal, but I do agree that it is way too much for them. I think long days like that at school are too much for 4 and 5 year olds, especially for 5 days straight. Maybe a few days a week is okay but for 5 days, that’s a little much. It’s much more intense for kids than daycare is, because it’s such a structured curriculum whereas I believe daycare is more for teaching them things, interaction, stimulation, which jk/sk is as well but it’s way more advanced.
To me I think it will save parents money, but who knows the cost of before and after school programs, and for your child to have to go to some centre in the morning, then switch into school mode then back to the centre again until the work day is over and they can be picked up…that’s going to make for some exhausted kids…and they’re only 4 and 5! Good grief!
Having lived in other countries where a much more structured school life for young children exists (age 3), I applaud a system where children would go all day, everyday. They do so at no personal harm to them and are delighted to do so, it shows on their little faces. I am living in Korea right now, where children attend school all day, come home and are right out to language schools. I have witnessed this in Greece and in Romania also. Some will say all day is fine, some will say its too much, but by experience of my own son and the children I fostered, the children who had problems of a full day , were the children who where treated, babied along, rather than encouraged to spread their little wings. Its a parents hardship, usually not the childs.
I don’t have the much of an emotional response, because it doesn’t affect us (yet). I remember reading an article several months ago (I’m thinking it was Today’s Parent, but can’t find it now of course) that cited a lot of benefits of full day kindergarten, even for the young, young ones. They had allotted time/space for a nap/rest time should the little ones needed (turns out, they rarely did), they found they absorbed a lot more because of the consistency of the everyday schedule, and a great portion of the day was spent “playing” – it wasn’t all academics and homework. Sorry, I wish I could find the article because it was incredibly well-written looking at both sides of the issue and it brought up a lot of concerns most parents have and provided a bit of piece of mind.
In looking at the options in schedules, I really wish there was still the 1/2 day, everyday option. Why did this go away? Because of work schedules etc? I imagine it would be harder to manage, but seems like this would be the ideal set up for little ones.
Being an October baby, my daughter is going to a be on the young side when she goes in a few years, and I do kind of worry about it. The full days on an every other day or everyday basis just seems like a lot to me. But I also worried like heck about daycare and how she would manage that, and she’s absolutely thriving there.
Kids are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for usually, in my opinion…
I believe for our child, 5 days a week would be too much. He’s 4 years old and since he was 12 months old, he has attended full-day daycare but since starting JK this fall, I have noticed something. On JK days, he comes home exhausted. On daycare days, he is fine. Yet he spends the same amount of time at each. He is thriving in JK but to have to spend 5 days a week at 4 years old doing school work, it seems a bit much, at least for my child. He needs those days in-between to just play and be a kid. His daycare is still a very structured environment but it’s centered around play whereas Kindergarten is centered around learning.
We have thought about the financial side as well. We do spend quite a bit of $$$ to send him to daycare on the opposite days but honestly for me, it’s more about having a happy kid, not about saving a bit of money. If our school had been chosen, I would have opted out, even though it would have saved us money. We live paycheque to paycheque like many families do and it would be nice to save some money but Kindergarten only lasts 2 years and if I have to spend it for 2 years because that’s what is best for my child, I will spend it.
I would rather have the old system of 5 1/2 days a week. I know some schools still offer that but nothing in our area unfortunately.
My son (born in April) attends JK every day just in the mornings! I love it and he loves school. I was estatic to learn that my school was not switching over to the all day program… next year I will have my son in SK and my daughter in JK.
I am a part-time (for now) stay at home mom and love having Carson come home and staying home after lunch. He will be attending school full-time soon enough and I love being able to spend time with him all afternoon. He has learned so much already at kindergarten and I do not think that 3-5 year olds need a school program all day. But that is my opinion only and I am not opposed to having all day kindergarten as long as it is not until both my kidsa re past SK…lol
That being said I totally understand parents that work full-time and have their kids in daycare all day already.
My daughter started JK last September, M-W_ alternate Fridays and I have to say I think its important that she has these days in between to relax even when she has to go to my private daycare provideer, at least she has a chance to be a child and can play all day.. We do not made the kids in to little professors in kindergarten….
Then I doubt there will be a lot of learning going on with 26 students in a kindergarten class just imagine……they are 3/4 year olds
As a kindergarten teacher, I can see both sides to this argument. As a mom, it sheds a whole new light onto it as well. I agree with the comment that all kids are different and will have different experiences when it comes to Kindergarten. I teach a full-day/alternate day program and I have some kids that are alert and thrive for the whole day and others that I find asleep at their desk (or even once under a table – the poor soul!). Being an ECE as well, I understand these little guys’ developmental needs and how critical rest is to them. My point is, I know I’m rambling
, is that if full-time K is going to be implemented into every school (eventually) someone really needs to take a look at the physical needs of these kids (which I know they said they have). A lot of children (my son included) are 3 years old when they start JK (babies!) and the fact that they won’t be given some kind of rest period each day from this (pretty intense) curriculum is unfair to the kids! I worry about my guy making it through the day on alternate days let alone every day! I used to teach the half-day every-day K program and to me it best met the needs of all K students. They were in a routine of learning and being part of a learning community everyday, yet were still given time afterwards to simply play (because we know from research how critical play is to a child’s development and learning), absorb what they had learned and relax. Due to financial reasons, however, this program is no longer being offered. Personally, as a Mom I would not want to send my child to full-time K if a rest period was not offered. As a teacher, I see how it helps out a lot of families with childcare issues, and also reinforces the K curriculum, however, if I find one of my students asleep on the carpet I am going to let her have her much needed rest.
As a mom (of a November baby, so she will be 3 when she starts JK) and an Elementary teacher I am against 5 full days of K especially JK. I think that the transition has to be gradual. JK should continue to be 1/2 day and make the transition in SK. I know that many people are happy with the $$$ savings of childcare but employing more teachers is expensive too (not that I am against more teachers getting hired)and that money has to come from somewhere (ummm…taxes). Regardless of cost, I really feel that 3-4 year olds are too young for a full day of school (there really is a lot of curriculum to be covered) and really they have their whole lives to be in school ALL day. Let kids be kids just a little longer.
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I’m on the side of absolutely thrilled with the option of full day kindergarten. My daughter is already used to going to daycare 5 days a week and although our provider is fantastic, her home is also nowhere near our local school. Half days or even alternate days make things much more complicated in that scenario because it’s a lot of shuttling around for her. I also have a child who, at not quite 3, either refuses to nap and goes to bed at a normal hour or has an afternoon nap and then happily stays up until 9pm or later. And her days start at 6:30 in the morning, so I don’t think a full day of activity will be too much for her when the time comes.
I have only taught sk once, but their days were jammed packed trying meet the curriculum, student needs, and demands of the school board and ministry. All these things are expected in only having them 1/2 day, 5 times a week. If I were to teach it again with a full day everyday there would be more time to spend on concepts and more time for exploration, story time and free play. I hope that if my daughter’s school has all day kindergarten when she goes there that her teacher takes the same approach.
I started school at 3 in England. When I moved to Canada, I was 6 and put in grade 1. The kids were reading to me because I could already read. They moved me to grade 2 and I still was one of the top in my class. I have a January birthday so really, there wasn’t much difference between myself and kids born in November/December. I think I turned out just fine. I had lots of ‘down time’, I enjoyed reading and school. Yes, I think it varies from child to child but my son is in JK – half day every day – and thriving. He can’t wait to be in SK and have homework and his excitment at learning math was great. We live in Brooklin. Not one school in Brooklin was picked to go all day. My question is how far behind will my son be compared with kids going all day every day next year? Yes he’s almost 5 and in the long run it will even out but what about my daughter starting in 2011? Will she miss out of 2 years of learning? At this age, they are sponges and a love of learning is developed. School isn’t horrible and working at a university where I see parents call the Dean because their child – now an adult – failed a midterm makes me believe a little independence isn’t a bad thing.
I think we don’t give our kids enough credit. They are resilient. My son is in SK and will be 6 in February and goes to school T/Th and sometimes Fridays. I think he would have been fine to go everyday all day. Some of his classmates do fall asleep and the teacher will let them rest for about 30 to 40 minutes and then they have to rejoin the class.
My second son will be 4 at the end of September and our school was chosen for everyday and I think it’s great. He’s ready and will be able to handle it and I know that if he needs a rest he will be aloud to have one. Having them in school everyday for a full day will allow the teachers to spread things out and not have to jam pack the days.
The only thing I will miss is the programs my son does during the day instead of after school when it is so much busier, but I will survive.
Too many children are not very independent and can’t and don’t do a lot of things for themselves that they should be doing. Independence is good for them and something we should encourage.
What a great topic and I am loving all the responses. Just as we all parent differently there is definately no perfect answer to this hot debate.
In our household we don’t participate in JK at all. We wait until SK to introduce our children to an environment outside the home. I was very happy when I found out that our school is not on the list for full day (our third of four is starting SK in the fall). Now, I have spoken with a couple teachers and it is my understanding that the full day program does not involve a teacher there for the full day, the remainder would have someone else there with the children??? If we had had the full day program at our school we either would have waited until grade one to send or more likely participated in the actual “school” part of the day and come home afterwards (if my sources of information were correct). It will be interesting to see how this new system unfolds… we will have our fourth little starting up in 2012 (hoping that our school will still not be up and running full days).
P.S. Our school has had full days three days a week for SK and 2 full days one week and 3 the next for JK.
My son will be attending school this Septermber. 2010. He is december born. So he will be on the younger side. We are actually enrolling him in a private school. Which is 5 days a wekk from 8:30 – 3:20. It offer 2 breaks, 1 Lunch break and 1 1 hour Nap time from 2 – 3:00. Me and my husband had all the concerns about kids going to school full day. After visiting the school and going over their routine schedule and the structured of the classrooms, our fear sort of subsided a bit.
I personally think that kids can adapt to their environment. It is also very important to give them a healthy exposure at this age. Because they can absorb a lot more in themselves than we think.
yes I am worried about a bit about his eating etc. But I also believe that in a month time kids can adjust well.
I personally had a very tough time finding a nice day care and finding a spot in before and after school program.
I think we as a parent should give this full time schooling a little chance in spetember and see how things goes.
I am pretty sure it will be good.
Hello
i live in barcelona can my four old get admision
in kindergarn in english speaking reason in canada?
My daughter is 4 and both the Catholic and Public school near us has gone full time. I think its too long of a day for a 4 year old. I work from home so that I didn’t have to put her in daycare. We’ve enjoyed parent and tot programs together, swimming, gymnastics etc. I think kids need time to be kids. I can’t see her in full day JK, and rushing her off to activities on nights and weekends. It’s just too much (for us anyway). Kids are in school long enough. Let them be kids for a while. I do feel that full day SK is fine. I’ll be keeping my daughter in private school for JK.