Creative alternative to FT kindergarten system? (I'm so stressed!)

[rainytown]

Hi moms,

My son will be in kindergarten next year. We're moving to a town with FT kindergarten (35 hours a week), and I am so stressed out about the situation. I really need some creative ideas or insights...

Even though my DS is very smart and would enjoy some kindergarten, he's also very sensitive and wants me around unless he's somewhere very familiar. I know that he will be miserable for the first few weeks or months, and I don't think that's right. I'm doing a lot of mourning for myself (the close relationship that we'll be losing), but also I think this is not best for him. He'll be 5 - seriously, isn't 20 hours a week enough?

This new town puts loads of money into schools, but has very few stay-at-home moms or even parents that work PT to be with their kids. And it's not a poor town, so I'm assuming the priorities are just a lot different here. There are no private schools, and I don't think there are any home-schoolers. I think they like kids here, but think they're better off spending less time with mom.

When I visited the two kindergartens in the new town, one principal said that he probably wouldn't let a kid go PT. The other principal said it would be my choice to put him in PT, but then he would just come for the morning academics and would miss all the fun classes like library and PE, and that I would be cheating my DS... and also that my DS would be the only child doing PT at school and that would cause some social issues. I asked if my DS could come for the fun afternoon and I could just catch him up at home on the academics, and the principal said "why would you do that at home, when he could be in school instead?"

Please help - I'm losing a lot of sleep here.

Thank you!

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by rainytown 
My son will be in kindergarten next year. We're moving to a town with FT kindergarten (35 hours a week), and I am so stressed out about the situation. I really need some creative ideas or insights...

Even though my DS is very smart and would enjoy some kindergarten, he's also very sensitive and wants me around unless he's somewhere very familiar. I know that he will be miserable for the first few weeks or months, and I don't think that's right. I'm doing a lot of mourning for myself (the close relationship that we'll be losing), but also I think this is not best for him. He'll be 5 - seriously, isn't 20 hours a week enough?

You may want to post over at Learning at School, too.

Kindergarten is nearly a year away and children can grow a lot in a year. Also, it seems common for children to actually have an easier time adjusting to full day Kindergarten than going half-days or just some days. I've also seen a lot of posts on problems with half-day K; it turns into all work/no fun because the state curriculum has to be covered whether the class in half or full-day.

The biggest issue we have is that full-day K is tiring , though I think the teacher can have a significant impact on how a child adjusts--ds' K teacher didn't really seem to know how to connect with such young children (and moved to 3rd grade the following year), but his cousin's K teacher (same school/year) was great in that way and worked hard to meet her needs. So, I would check into how students are placed (some schools let parents fill out a form detailing what type of teacher they think their child would do best with), and see if you can get more information from parents on potential teachers. And though your ds may be the only one getting PT at school, he's probably not the only one getting pulled for any reason; when ds qualified for ST I found out that 3 other students in his class did as well, neither of us had any idea.

[ollyoxenfree]

Have you considered.....

- Daycare or pre-schools? If there are so many dual income families, then there must be early childhood care available. Possibly some of these facilities will offer a part-time option. 

- Mid-year start for kindergarten - to allow him time to adjust to his new home and to mature a little more. 

[pbjmama]

I was also very concerned about full time K. The transition has been really easy for us. Of course I did alot of things to make it easy but still, no problems. I echo pp, it is October, you have 10 months until school starts next year. Kids change so quickly, your child may be ready for full time school when the time comes. Do what you can to prepare for alternatives but I would also suggest keeping ft kindy as an option.

[rainytown]

Originally Posted by pbjmama 

I was also very concerned about full time K. The transition has been really easy for us. Of course I did alot of things to make it easy but still, no problems. I echo pp, it is October, you have 10 months until school starts next year. Kids change so quickly, your child may be ready for full time school when the time comes. Do what you can to prepare for alternatives but I would also suggest keeping ft kindy as an option.

Thank you so much for the responses, everyone! 

What did you do, pbjmama, to make it easy?

(we don't have to start mid-year, so that's good!)

[rainytown]

when ds qualified for ST I found out that 3 other students in his class did as well, neither of us had any idea.

Hi Emmeline II,

Thank you for the response. What is ST?

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by rainytown 

Hi Emmeline II,

Thank you for the response. What is ST?

Speech Therapy
 

[Neera]

I don't know of a single town where public schools have PT KG.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

In my state K is not mandatory and you don't even have to register as a homeschooler if you don't do K.  You can go straight to 1st grade if you want (if your kid is 6 by Sept 1).  So we are thinking about just not doing K at all.  We may keep him at his current play-based preschool a few days a week next year and homeschool/unschool/hang out the other days.  A lot of it depends on whether or not I get a job and if I do get a job whether or not I am making enough that DP can stay home with DS.

So you can just not send him if you don't want to.  There probably are other families homeschooling in your area but you just don't know them.  If you don't need the school for childcare (i.e. while at work etc) you can do whatever you'd like (be it stay home with your lo, send lo to preschool, sign up for classes during the day but no "school")

[cattmom]

Take him to the kindergarten where they have half day K. If they do their jobs right and make it fun and he starts bonding with the other kids, then he'll start asking to stay for lunch and for the afternoon. 

[cattmom]

And by "have" it, I meant "allow" it. Speaking from experience, children know where the fun is. If library and PE ARE fun, then your child will choose to go.

[Polliwog]

My DS did two years of full-day kindergarten and loved it. DD starts next fall. Full day allows the day to be much more relaxed and there's more time for hands-on learning and fun. At our school, if you only sent a child half day, he'd miss math, science and social studies, since they are in the afternoon.

[peaceful_mama]

I think it'll be easier than you think!  my ds went from 12 hours a week of school to about 35 with kindy and never complained.  His teacher was FABULOUS, they did tons of fun stuff.  Now he is in 1st and his only complaint?  Art class is too long--in kindy they did 2 shorter sessions a week, now it's once a week but the same number of minutes.  He's not much of an artsy kid, not what he chooses to do on his own, so I can see that.  They also have tons of field trips and hands on activities at school that are in the afternoon--and the teacher did not like them missing part of those days and showing up for the 'fun stuff.'  His school is small, it's wonderful, and they do rest time in kindy after lunch.  The kids are also spending 35 minutes twice a week in gym, those days they have one less outdoor recess, but the gym time is twice as long.  3 recesses.  Plus free choice play at the end of the day--games and toys, like dollhouses, building toys, etc.  It really is a lot of fun and they would not be able to do all that fun stuff in a half day.