All day or 1/2 day for K?

[anyuka]

I'm a sahm so I don't need dd to be there all day for work reasons. But part of me thinks she would benefit from being there all day and be better prepared for 1st grade. I worry she'll be behind the other students who were there all day. The other part thinks why rush into all day school before it's completely necessary. What are your thoughts?

[whatsnextmom]

You know, I was totally opposed to full day when out district initially changed. I was ready to go private until DS's preschool teachers (who were just wonderful) were cheering that the kindies were going full day. As it turns out, we ended up really liking the full day though. Kindergarten feels more like kindergarten now. DD's day was 3 hours crammed full of curriculum and they had little time for anything else. DS actually had time to PLAY. DS had 3 recesses and a lunch. They had daily arts and crafts time. They had time to do fun science experiments, build with legos, rehearse school plays, go on fieldtrips, have special guests come to class, go to the library, ect. They did just as much curriculum but it was spread out in little bits throughout the day. DD really hated kindie and DS loved it even though his days were longer.

I don't know that full day kids are better prepared. Like I said, they did the same math and language arts curriculum. Kindie was just more fun full day and they had a chance to learn OTHER things too.

[34me]

We had basically the same experience. My first two went to half day and it really was hurry up and learn. Where Mr Third went to all day and they could take more time on a concept. They did throw a rest time in there too. My other two weren't behind though.

[lifeguard]

I'd seriously look at what the full day means. They are introducing the full day here right now & it is really just the same half day program with the other half day as basically daycare. Not worth it imo.

[Alyantavid]

I was worried about full day too until one of the teachers talked to me. They have time to spread out the academic side, plus they get recesses, music, PE, art. Just more stuff that they wouldn't have time for.

My son thrived in full day kindergarten. And it was pretty laid back, kids who were still napping or needed some alone or rest time were able to do that as well.

[lonegirl]

It is one of the reasons I chose to start homeschooling this year rather than putting ds in a full day of school. He would only be in jk (4 in Nov) but we don't feel he needs to be in school for that long at that age.

[Heavenly]

My 4.5 year old will be in 2 full days a week (Tuesday/Thursday) for junior kindergarten and then go to 3 full days a week next year (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) for senior kindergarten. I am fine with it being all day and actually wish it was 3 days a week this year rather than 2 because I know she'll want more. I think full day is good for all the reasons the previous posters have said. It seems that most of the people against full day don't actually have experience with it. My daughter's full day class will have lunch plus 3 recesses (on their own schedule so the bigger kids aren't on the playground at the same time) plus rest/quiet time, plus all the other fun activities like gym, art, music, etc. They just would not be able to squeeze all that into a 3 hour program.

[neetling]

We moved to a new district 1/3 of the way through my dd's kindergarten year. Originally she went half day but the new school was full day.

She got so much more out of the full day. They had 2 hours of reading groups and her reading improved dramatically. She loved it and had no issues with the longer day. She's a pretty social little thing though.

[LynnS6]

I think it very much depends on your child and the type of school and the how the two fit. We made the choice to send dd to full day K last year because she needed the outside stimulation, and because the full day allowed more time for socialization which she really needed. She'd been in daycare 3x a week so she was used to being away from home. Ds went to full day K because he needed the socialization and because we needed the daycare, but I think he would have done equally well at a 1/2 program.

[Marcee]

I agree that it depends on the child. I was really worried with DD last year and started her in private school with 1/2 days. Unfortunately they lost her (it was absolutely horrible) and I pulled her from the school. She still wanted to go to school so I enrolled her at the local public school with full days. She did well and really enjoyed it. My only complaint was she still had homework. And by my way of thinking, if you are gone all day at 5 years old you dont need to do homework. We did it when DD wanted to and skipped it when she wanted to. The teacher was fine with this. My DS on the other hand turned 5 in July and will be doing K thru WAVA at home. He would never last a full day.

[TiredX2]

DD was homeschooled for kinder, DS went half days. I didn't send him full days because I knew kinder would be a social venture (for him, it's considered an academic district, but he didn't learn anything at school) and I thought 1/2 days were enough for school socialization, then he could come home & read a little with me and do a little math and still have hours to hook up with friends or do a fun activity.

From my experience, there is no academic advantage to full day kinder (I am basing this only on the fact that when DS went to 1st grade it was impossible to tell who had full or half day kinder and the child w/the biggest seperation issues had actually been in full day).

[eepster]

DS, who will start his preK year at the Montessori he's been going to for 2 years, will be doing 2 full days and 3 half days. He is really really looking forward to getting to have lunch at school. If there wasn't an issue of cost, I would send him for 5 full days next year. DS enjoys school, so he wants to spend more time there with his friends.

[~threemoons~]

Originally Posted by lonegirl

It is one of the reasons I chose to start homeschooling this year rather than putting ds in a full day of school. He would only be in jk (4 in Nov) but we don't feel he needs to be in school for that long at that age.

Ditto. We are HSing for this reason too.

[MJB]

We chose to homeschool my oldest after 6 weeks of full-day. It was way too much for him. Half-day would probably have been fine.
My middle child is starting full-day K this month and I am sure he'll love it. He's a totally different kid. Half-day wouldn't satisfy his social and academic needs.

[marieangela]

We only have full day in our school district. My oldest did great and loved it. As others have mentioned its nice not to have everything crammed into a half day and to have more time for extras like gym, library, art, music and computers. My middle child is starting kindy this year. Unlike my oldest who stopped napping at 2 years old, ds2 still naps. I plan to have a snack and some run around time followed by some downtime set up for ds2 right after school. It might be a little harder at first, but I think he'll like it, too.