Our school board just voted for All day everyday kind. to start this fall. Up until now our school dist. has done 1/2 day every day. My 5 year old starts kinder. this fall and I (at this point) am not convinced that it is a good thing to go all day every day! I am in fact quite againsed it. My niece went all day everyday this year and my sis said there were A TON of problems with sending little kids all day every day like: some kids are TOTALLY not ready for such a HUGE change, so they are very needy and take up most of the teachers time...when they don't get it, they throw fits, get into trouble and do what ever it takes to get attention. Another reason is because I (along with many others) believe that kinder. in itself if a huge change for kids- some may not be mentally, physically or emotionally ready to be gone ALL DAY (here it's from 8 am-3:22pm).
I know that my child will do well, she is excited about going. I really wish they were doing 1/2 day every day AND I DO REALIZE that it is better for families who have both parents that are working full time, but I think that the kids should be put first (not parent scheduling conflicts!) Maybe I am alone in these thoughts, but I wanted to get some other points of view.
Also, our Kinder. program here does not have a set amount of things they need to accomplish through out the school year (curriculum standards don't start until 1st grade here) so there will be a ton of review...all of the extra time they add to the second half of the day ends up being things like: lunch, play time outside, nap/quite time and a review of the main lesson that day. They will not be getting smarter because they go that extra 1/2 of a day every day!
We have considered the home schooling option, even though it works for some and I am not putting it down (it is a good thing), it will not work for our family.

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One happy wife and mommy!!!

Good!!! None of my kids have had it yet, but I had been wishing for it since my 21 yr old was in kindergarden! My oldest 2 did 1/2 days, my 3rd did not do kindergarden at all, and my next 3 did all day every other day. I am so excited that where we live now has all day every day and year after this, my youngest can go!!! Almost all kids go to some kind of preschool/daycare and are more than ready for the step. 1/2 are so short, it makes it hard to get much accomplished, and every other day is just a pain and they have too many days inbetween learning concept.

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~Happiness is a large family~

Our district went to an optional full day program the year my son started. If you wanted to stay at half day your child got bussed to another school in the district. I was very happy to have my son go all day, he was no longer napping and was starving for some peer interaction. He was babysat by my SIL who had 3 girls, he was the only boy

I never had any problems with the all day schedule. They had a rest time after lunch, the mornings were more structured with learning activities, the afternoon was more laid back with playing/fun activities. He loved school.

There were only 3 mothers who protested the full day switch - they were both SAHM's. They didn't want their kid on the bus for the 20 minute ride to the school that had the half day program, felt that their child was not ready for all day, felt they weren't ready to hand him over all day etc etc. They ended up keeping the kids at home (allowed in Pa) and sent them the following year. The full day program was successful so they expanded it to all the schools and eliminated the half day option.

Luckily both of my kids only went half day. I know lots of people push for all day, but I think lots of times it's so parents don't have to pay for childcare. I just feel children are little for such a short time and don't feel it's neccessary to push them so early. Now for some disadvantaged children who have parents who don't work with them, they could probably use the extra time. But if parents are taking their kids to the library and reading to them, taking them to museums and zoos, talking to them about colors, numbers, etc. I think a half day is enough. I'm sorry you're being put in this situation. I would not have been happy.

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We have all day kindergarten & my dd just finished it & she did wonderful!! She was in all day preschool which really helped her to get out of her shell & prepared her for kindergarten. Our kindergarten has a curriculum that they follow to help prepare them for when they go to 1st grade. IMO I think that it is good for kids to be in all day kindergarten to help them prepare for 1st grade. If a child is not in a preschool program & only 1/2 day kindergarten what are they going to do when they have to go all day in 1st grade? Some kids have a very hard time adjusting to this especially if they don't have parents that work with them. I support all day kindergarten.

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Mommy to Ariana 8/11/01 & Davis 4/11/05
I love my kiddos!

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We had a 1/2 day this year, but next year two of the elementary schools are doing a pilot all day class. If it works well my second might be in all day when he starts. They throw so much in Kindergarten its called the new First Grade here. I wonder if they made it a whole day might allow them to slow down a little for the kids. My son that will be going into first had a great report card but I bet there are those that get left behind. JMO.

I'm biased on this subject. I taught kindergarten for 7 years, and it was an all-day program. The curriculum has changed drastically since we were children. The reasons behind the change vary from brain-based research to state standardized testing to a multitude of other things. In order to teach all that is supposed to be mastered in kindergarten, I firmly believe that an all-day program is necessary to allow children the opportunity to enter first grade successfully.

I am in no way slamming half-day kindergarten programs, nor am I saying that children that come from half-day programs are less successful. I base my opinion on my own experience.

Being away from parents for an entire day was not a change to my students when I taught kindergarten, because our school's preschool was a Title One preschool, which also ran all day. If children did not participate in that preschool, they attended another one in the area that I believe was only 3 days a week. Many of our children participated in some kind of all-day situation (preschool, day care, etc.) before entering kindergarten. I did not encounter children who had difficulty learning throughout the day. Some were tired for the first week or two, as they adjusted to the schedule. (Note: I taught first grade this year at a different school, and I found that my first graders also went through a period of adjustment at the beginning of the school year.)

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GOOD. I am a SAHM and loved all day. My kids are all end of summer kids and were among the youngest kids. The 2 that have gone to all day really were ready to be in an all day environment. I did/do all the things that aliadam mentioned and continued to do so even with kids being in school. My kids get extra computer, reading one on one, art(half day doesn't get art), spanish, gym, library. We have both half and all day options. Parents pay for second half of all day.
my guess is if kids are making that much of a fuss in all day they probably weren't ready for kindergarten at all. Kids do get a 20 min body break in all day, some kids do actually sleep. The biggest differnce I saw as a parent was the reading ability. In dd#1 K class all the kids were reading by the end of K and over half were accelerated readers. In dd#2 it was pretty much the same, I don't know her exact numbers. In first grade the kids in half day usually weren't as accomplished in their reading skills, that was the most notable as a parent volunteer. hth

allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

I think it's good, half day doesn't seem to have done much of anything for my friends DD who went to half day in Missouri this year. They are switching over to full day the upcoming school year and she's so happy for when her DS gets old enough.

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It seems that you and I agree on this subject anyways...

I have heard from a lot of people in this area (teachers, parents, school board members) say what is on the ciriculum for this state of SD...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for kinder. and two years ago when they did the optional 1/2 day OR all day kind. TOO many parents wanted their kids to go the 1/2 days and there was a huge scheduling conflict. The schedule next school year is another very upsetting thing for most parents here. the schedule here is learning/developement things (math, science, english and arts) in the morning, lunch at 11:40 and the rest of the day is nothing but "filler." That is when they have "quite time" for 45 minutes (which is longer than their math, science and English class!) play out side time (which is great, kids playing together is good) then story time, then they have snack time and classroom clean up to get ready to go home.

The school board that voted on this included three retired teachers (two of them kinder. teachers), parents with children in th middle schools and high school, and one parent that has a child entering kinder. this year and this is what the vote looks like- it's kind of a JOKE in my opinion!

The three teachers and the parent with the child entering kinder. all voted NO
The parents who have children in Middle / high school (doesn't even effect them) all voted YES

People in our area are all saying that the only reason why they are going all day every day is because our school system gets more funding.

I am a very active parent- we go to the zoo, library, museums, waterpark (to play with other friends there), we have child play dates at our church two or three times a week and I can make them BETTER lunches than the crappy pre-made unhealthy everything that the school has to offer! I believe that is far better than a 45 minute "quiet time" at school, a "story time," and my daughter has plenty of time with many other children her age. OK, sorry for the vent...I just fought for 1/2 day every day because I believe that is what is best for most kids her age that live in our area.

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One happy wife and mommy!!!