Another kindergarten question- half day or full day?

[WitMom]

Can you tell I'm stressing about school choices? One of the schools we are looking at has half day kindergarten only. Two of the schools we are looking at have full day kindergarten only. If you had to make the choice, everything else being equal, which would you choose and why?

[blisstwins]

If I could stay at home with my child I would go for the 1/2 and make a real effort to use the 1/2 with me to do great stuff from baking together to local museums. Maybe it is because I have twins and I feel their growing up so completely (no one in school and one at home), but I think this is all going by so fast. They will be in school their whole lives. As long as you can spend time with them, I would. If the child will be with a sitter I think I would go for the full time though.

[JustMe]

Dd is in a full day Kindergarten this year. I work full time and dd has been in full time childcare practically her whole life. Still, full day Kindergarten has been very stressful for both of us...my advice is to look at both types of programs and look beyond whether they are part of full day and what the kids are actually doing, etc. I feel like in my dd's Kindergarten there is so much stress on teaching kids to read, and high behavioral expectations, big pushes to be completely independent, etc, were present from the first day. I feel that if you are going to have full day Kindergarten they should really be able to transition the kids more slowly into that sort of stuff and that is not my experience with this program. I wish that my dd was having a more relaxed experience and I feel like this particular full day Kindergarten is more stressful than I would like for each of us. If I had known that this program would feel like this (it isn't really described like this but this has been my experience), I would have rathered dd be in part day Kinder., even though that would have meant she just spent the rest of the day in childcare.

Just my experience, but I would say check out both types of programs to see what they are like.

[s7714]

We don't have a choice at our closest public schools, it's 8:15 - 1:05, end of story. If we had the option of doing longer, I personally wouldn't do it for my DD. She's pretty much tuckered out and ready for some quiet time by the time her school lets out.

One of her friends goes to a private K where it's 8 to 3:30 and her mom says she practically can't keep her eyes open by dinner time as she's so worn out. Both her parents work out of the house though, so even if she wasn't in an extended K program, she'd still be in some kind of after school care.

[kijip]

I think it depends on the child. 1/2 day would be the wrong choice for my son...he gets a lot out of the whole flow of the day. Also, all day gives them more time for things like art, music, writer's workshop, library, gym and music. That said, if I had a child that was not as into school as T is, I would be open to 1/2 day for sure.

[egoldber]

This very much depends on the child. I sent Sarah to a private half day K rather to her public full day K because I did not feel she was physically ready for all day K. But Amy will be MORE than ready for full day K when the time comes!!

[mecawa]

Well, I really think it depends on the child and situation. My DD has a late bday and therefore will be practically 6 when she starts K. The Early Childhood Center she is currently enrolled in has full day and I plan on keeping her there because after a year in preschool (2 half days), a year in Pre-K (5 half days), I feel she is ready for the full day program. I also feel in the full day program they are not as rushed to complete work as they are in the 1/2 day program. I taught K in a school that had just a 1/2 day program and always felt as though things were very rushed (I worked in a place where K was VERY academic with lots of criteria that needed to be meet on a weekly basis, so it may not be like that everywhere). If DD was on the younger side, I may feel different about the situation, I really feel that it is something that depends on the individual child.

[WitMom]

Thanks for all of the insight everyone. I have another question. For those of you who do (or would do) half day kindergarten, are you concerned about them when they enter first grade? I guess what I'm trying to ask, is when they go to first grade and are mixed with kids that have had full day kindergarten, are there any concerns in your mind about them being ready? I don't know if I asked that the best way, but hopefully you get what I mean.

[g-mama]

ITA that it depends on the child. My oldest is in 2nd grade now but when he was in K, it was full day. He is a child who absolutely needs to be constantly doing something and requires stimulation, activity, structure and socialization. When our public K was going to be half-day, we were about to register him in a private K and then switch to public in first grade. Then the public announced they would be full day for K that year and we were thrilled.

I do hear some parents say that their kids are really tired after a full day of K, but mine was not at all. He came home excited and still ready to go.

[heatherlynn]

Well, I would check into how many hours each one is. We're most likely sending DS to a private K next fall that is 5.75 hours/day. The public school is 1/2 day which is only 2.5 hours! Full day public is 6.25 hours, but the curriculum is the same as 1/2 day and you get the privilege of paying for it (no thanks). The parochial schools are 6.75 hours/day, which I think might be a tad too long. Just some things to look into/think about. HTH!

[egoldber]

Thanks for all of the insight everyone. I have another question. For those of you who do (or would do) half day kindergarten, are you concerned about them when they enter first grade?

I was slightly concerned because, as you point out, she went to first with children who had gone to all day K. Especially since her private K was completely play based and non academic. I mean they worked on reading, but it was very low key and easy going. Gosh, I loved that school. :)

When I talked to the public school about enrolling her in first grade, they suggested having her tested by the school's reading specialist to make sure she was "on track". And academically she was fine, at that point (in spring of her K year) she tested as reading at the middle of first grade so the reading specialist recommended she go to first. If there had been a concern, I would have sent her to the public's full day K first.

Now the adjustment to all day school in first was HARD. Very hard. It took her almost 2/3 of the school year to adjust to the length and rigors of the all day experience. But she's a kid who needs lots of downtime to refresh and recharge (very similar to me actually) and they just don't get that at her school. They go go all day long.

[icunurse]

Public schools here only do half-day K. There is a private school and parochical school that do full-day. At the private school that DS attends now, I asked what the difference was between half and full programs (they offer both). I was told that the afternoon was to basically reinforce skills learned during the day. So, if the teacher notices that someone is having a problem on something, she can spend more time with them in the afternoon one-on-one (all kids start in the same class and the full-day kids stay for lunch and the afternoon portion, so the class size does diminish).

For us, we like the idea that DS can get extra help if he needs it. I also made sure that if he isn't tolerating all day well (he still takes a nap most days), we can just cut him back to half-day if needed. Several early childhood teachers I have spoken to seem to really support full-day K as long as it isn't too structured or academic, basically get the kids used to a school setting and length of day, but keep it fun and open.

[kijip]

Thanks for all of the insight everyone. I have another question. For those of you who do (or would do) half day kindergarten, are you concerned about them when they enter first grade? I guess what I'm trying to ask, is when they go to first grade and are mixed with kids that have had full day kindergarten, are there any concerns in your mind about them being ready? I don't know if I asked that the best way, but hopefully you get what I mean.

T went to pt preschool to ft kindy. I don't think 1/2 day kindy to full day 1st grade is any harder of a transition and perhaps some kids are better doing that at 6ish instead of 5ish. Academically speaking, I don't think there is much missed in 1/2 kindy for kids from education valuing homes that get lots of reading and playing and enrichment at home. Kindergarten is much more social skill based than anything else.

[swan01]

DD's birthday is 9/30, which just happens to be the cut off day in our County. She is currently in a full day Pre-K program at her day care. Our county is rolling out full-day K, but unfortunately, our Elementary School won't have it for a couple more years. Because has been in a full-day day care situation her whole life, I am very hesitant to put her in 1/2 day public K. We also live in an area where I would guess 75% of kids born after June are held back (even though the cut off is at the end of September). I think DD will be ready to go, but am afraid she won't just be the youngest, she will be the youngest by far because all her peers will have been held back. Sigh... There is never an easy answer! If you can't tell, I am stressing about this as well!

The good news is that our day care has full day Private-K and the teacher will be screening the younger kids in Pre-K in the Spring to help the parent's decide what to do. We are leaning toward paying the extra money to send her to full day Private-K (especially because she is young), and then re-evaluating to see if she should go to public 1st grade, or prehaps repeat K in 1/2 day public school (which seems like a giant step back to me, but if she is not ready, we would not hesitate to do it).

Thanks for reading this far - any thoughts?

[jenmcadams]

We went back and forth on this a lot b/c I'm a SAHM and didn't necessarily need my DD to be in Full Day K. We ended up going with full day for a couple of reasons:

(1) Our DD had been in a full day preschool/daycare program for two years and I couldn't imagine her only being there for 2 1/2 hours

(2) At our school the full day kids get three recesses and free play time after lunch. The 1/2 day kids sometimes got one short recess

(3) The academic standards were the same and the full day kids don't get anything extra necessarily but they are able to go into more depth and get reinforcement if they need it. We also got less homework than the 1/2 day kids.

On the con side, we had to pay for full day ($330/month) and my DD was pretty tired. She loved school and never melted down there, but she was pretty wiped out by the end of the day. She was the youngest in her class and I thought it was interesting that both her full day teacher and the 1/2 day teacher (who is pretty renowned in our are and one of the designated demonstration teachers for K in our state) said that they often think it's more important for the young kids to do full day to get the extra help time and extra reinforcement.




Thanks for all of the insight everyone. I have another question. For those of you who do (or would do) half day kindergarten, are you concerned about them when they enter first grade? I guess what I'm trying to ask, is when they go to first grade and are mixed with kids that have had full day kindergarten, are there any concerns in your mind about them being ready? I don't know if I asked that the best way, but hopefully you get what I mean.

From my perspective (as a parent of a full day K kid), the kids who entered first from half day definitely have an adjustment period just in terms of getting used to a full day of school. At our school, the kids only officially get lunch recess in 1st grade and don't get any other recesses (grrr), so I think it's hard for all kids, but particularly hard for the 1/2 day guys. I don't think it's obvious that any of them suffered academically from not having full day, but I thought it was interesting in our case that of the five kids in the top reading group (they're reading somewhere around end of 2nd grade level, so ahead, but not over the top great readers), three were from the full day class, one was from 1/2 day (although she's one of our DHH - deaf and hard of hearing students and did go full day last year, just the afternoon was in a special class for DHH kids) and one is new to the school from a Montessori K. I don't know if this holds true in the other 1st grade classes, could just be the mix we ended up with. Also, I don't know that it matters that much as I firmly believe kids will read when they're ready and just b/c the kids in the top group are reading well now doesn't mean some other kid isn't going to have an explosion and become one of the best readers in the next year or two.

[jk3]

I would choose full day. My DS attends K 3 full days and 2 half days and he is more than ready to be at school for the full day every day plan! It obviously depends on your child but most K kids are ready. Most schools ease into the full day plan so the first month or so might be half days.

ETA: It obviously also depends upon the specifics of the program. I would choose full day for my DS at his school but perhaps I wouldn't if the K program had different expectations.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Whole day because there is more time to actually do something. Half day teachers I have talked to aren't favorable about it because they spend so much of the day on transitions that there isn't enough time left for much else.

Especially if the child has done some preschool I think they should be ready for full day. I know I was ready for full day. :)


Ds1's private kindergarten rocked because they had an 11am dismissal every Friday so you had an extra day with them. we were able to take classes together, go to the museum... it was like the best of both school options.

Beth

[egoldber]

DD's birthday is 9/30, which just happens to be the cut off day in our County. She is currently in a full day Pre-K program at her day care. Our county is rolling out full-day K, but unfortunately, our Elementary School won't have it for a couple more years. Because has been in a full-day day care situation her whole life, I am very hesitant to put her in 1/2 day public K. We also live in an area where I would guess 75% of kids born after June are held back (even though the cut off is at the end of September). I think DD will be ready to go, but am afraid she won't just be the youngest, she will be the youngest by far because all her peers will have been held back. Sigh... There is never an easy answer! If you can't tell, I am stressing about this as well!

The good news is that our day care has full day Private-K and the teacher will be screening the younger kids in Pre-K in the Spring to help the parent's decide what to do. We are leaning toward paying the extra money to send her to full day Private-K (especially because she is young), and then re-evaluating to see if she should go to public 1st grade, or prehaps repeat K in 1/2 day public school (which seems like a giant step back to me, but if she is not ready, we would not hesitate to do it).

Thanks for reading this far - any thoughts?

I see you're in VA. Are you in the FCPS? My older DD has 8/14 birthdya with the 9/30 cutoff. Honestly, its' never really been an issue. I actually sought out a private half day K for her, but in your case if you plan to send her to the public after K, I would go ahead and send her for public K. She'll make friends, get used to the school and the routine of that school without having to make another adjustment into first. My one regret about sending Sarah to private K and then public first is she had a hard time with the transition to the new school and her school is not set up to help first graders transition like they do for the incoming K kids. JMO.

[hellokitty]

I have been struggling over this issue as well. We have the option of 1/2 or full day, but you have to pay tuition for full day. I think that what we will do is just do the 1/2 day (which is, "free," although not really, b/c we pay taxes for the schools), and then it will give us a chance to enroll him in some extracurricular activities like swim lessons, martial arts, etc.. I asked a friend whose dd is in the full day K in our district and she said that basically the 1/2 day kids don't get recess, they also don't do music or art. The full day kids get more recess and music and art. I think I'd be better off supplementing stuff like that on my own with the tuition $ that would have went to the full day program.

[lisams]

For DD I'd go for full day. She's very outgoing, thrives on being around other children, tons of energy, has no issues being seperated from me and loved her prek class so much. Right now, her K is what I'd call almost full day, 5 hours. I think it just depends on the child.

[bubbaray]

Public schools here are all 1/2 day K, though there are rumors that that will change in time for DD#2 (I highly doubt it as they would have to build more schools as the facilities are already full, there are AM and PM K's at pretty much all schools in our metro area and if both were fullday, they'd need double the number of classrooms for the K's).

If we were planning on sending DD#1 to an English school, I don't think it would matter to me one way or the other. However, we are hoping to get her into French immersion school and would much prefer if it were a full-day program in terms of her learning more of the language. Having said that, I think a full-day of immersion as her first school experience might be rather overwhelming. So, when I look at the big picture, I see 1/2 day K as a good transition into a language immersion classroom.

[JBaxter]

All our county schools are now required to have full day kindergarten. 1 of my older 2 boys did 1/2 one did full day. Full day is much better and Connor was much more prepared for 1st grade.
Nathan does 5 1/2 days now in preschool. If our public school didnt offer full day I would pay for private K full day.

[TraciG]

For my DD full day, she goes to public school, it's 8:30 - 2:35, she was ready, last year she went to nursery in the morning had a 45 minute break then went to Pre K for 2 hour's !

Good luck deciding

[R2sweetboys]

Our town still does 1/2 day Kindergarten(public), though it will likely change in the near future as many other surrounding towns have moved to full days. Personally, I have liked the 1/2 day program for my boys. I just feel that they will have many years of being in school all day, so why rush it, KWIM? Both of my boys were/are(DS2 is in Kindy now) tired after a half day, and even nap in the afternoon. The transition to 1st grade for DS2 was an adjustment but nothing terrible. I do realize that I might feel differently if I was not at home, as the logistics of 1/2 day Kindy and childcare can be difficult.