Half Day K: Early Bird or Late Bird?

[ha98ed14]

Our K is half day throughout the district except for Title I schools that get $ to make it all day. We are not morning people, but late K doesn't start until 10:20! One worry is that the teachers are more fresh in the morning, so they teach better, but by later in the day, they are worn out. No idea if that is justified. Early don't stay for lunch, but late do. Any BTDT?

[cono0507]

We didn't have a choice and got an afternoon slot last year (12:15-2:55).
Some days it was great because we slept in, no morning rush. However, we couldn't go do as many fun things in the afternoon. I would have loved to have DS get out at lunchtime and be able to go spend the afternoon at the park or the zoo or playdates or something fun.

[ABO Mama]

Kids often do better in the morning (at least mine do!).

[hellokitty]

Are you sure you get a choice? At our district and the ones around us who do half day, it is dependent on geography. I wanted afternoon, but we are in the mornings area, so that is what we got. My kids have always ended up doing morning preschool and my oldest did 1/2 day morning K (DS2 goes full day, but we pay the district tuition for that option), and it worked out well for us... BUT my kids wake up btwn 5:30-6:30am, so we are up anyway.

[anamika]

Late for sure. I would have moved to be in this school district when my DD was in K. We are NOT morning people. None of us. Mornings are torture.
Full day here is till 2:15 and that still leaves us time to do classes, playdates etc before dinner and bed.
One last year of sleeping in sounds like heaven!

[KrisM]

I'd pick early. That leaves the afternoon to do other things. Plus, I'd assume grade 1 will start at 8:00 and going to half day kindergarten is good practice for 1st grade. Getting up and out the door is part of that, I think.

The teachers are only teaching 3.5 hours. I'd hope they could do a good job regardless of starting at 8 or 10:20.

My kids are in better moods, more awake, etc in the morning and I'd want them to be learning then. Here, we have full day kindergarten and most of the academics are in the morning. Afternoon is recess, lunch, bathroom, 2nd reading time, recess, go home.

[JBaxter]

Before they went full day there was not a choice. You got what your area was assigned. Private schools were the only mornings here ( again before they all went full day K)

[LBW]

10:20 is late?! What time do the early Ks start? Here the PM Ks get picked up by the bus at 11:45. I think walkers arrive at 12:05.

I picked late for a few reasons. Mornings are nuts here getting three kids up and ready to go. Having one less kids to get fully ready eases my burden a little. Plus, we have a lot of delayed openings due to snow. When that happens, AM Kindergarten is canceled, but PM is not. Since I work from home, I need to maximize my kid-free time, so PM Kindy helps with that. Finally, around here, the morning slots are in high demand, and the classes are slightly larger. I think the afternoon classes are a bit more relaxed, too.

[AnnieW625]

DD1 has full day. If I had a choice I probably would have chose morning. Our school used to have split kinder classes too and I don't know if I would have had the chance to choose.

[ChristinaLucia]

I would do late. Hopefully they aren't too worn out by 10.20! :)

I am so not a morning person though. It's h*** on us to try to get to school by 8.30!

[wencit]

Our school district switches midway through the year. DS1 was assigned to PM kindergarten, but on Jan 23rd, he'll switch to AM kindergarten. I can not wait! Here, PM K was from 12:15-4PM, which meant our afternoons were shot to do anything. Plus, we couldn't do much in the mornings, either, because I was always worrying about getting back home in time to eat lunch and get ready for the bus -- not fun at all! I'll admit it's nice to have slow, leisurely mornings, but I didn't like feeling like we pretty much just wasted our morning away. I kind of like an external force driving me to get ready early in the day, less chance of laziness that way. Plus, my kids are usually up early, too. Finally, with both kids with me in the mornings, I couldn't do anything one-on-one with DS2, like a Gymboree or music class.

Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to the switch!

[ellies mom]

We don't have a choice. When DD1 was in kindergarten, it was late start (12ish-3:30ish) which worked out great for us because we are not morning people. Last year, our neighborhood was early start but they seem to be on late start again this year.

[TwinFoxes]

10:20 is late?! What time do the early Ks start?

That's what I was thinking!

I would choose late...I'd so rather leisurely get ready for school than rush around. Also, won't the teachers of "late" K only be teaching those classes? They probably wouldn't be any less fresh at 10:20.

[YouAreTheFocus]

Late for sure--none of us are early risers, we struggle to get the little one out of bed at 8am, let alone be somewhere by then! 10:20 sounds perfect, not too early, not too late.

[mom3boys]

I would vote late. 10:20 doesn't seem late at all too me, the places with 1/2 day K are usually 12:00 pm around here. Plus they get lunch at K, that's one less thing you have to deal with.

I have to get kids to school by 8:30-8:45, but we are applying to a charter school where DS would be on a bus by 7:30 and I don't know HOW we're going to deal with that if he gets in. He normally wakes up at 7:30!

[sidmand]

Yeah, 10:20 is the late one? That would be cool! Now that I have another one who goes full day I actually kind of like the days DD goes from 12:30 to 3:00 (preschool, though) because DH can take DS to school and DD and I chill out in the morning (she's NOT a morning person). But before her I probably would've picked the earlier time although that's pretty early, even for us. It depends too on when you and DD get up. If you'll already be up for hours, I would go with the earlier time but if not, I don't see the big deal. I don't really think the teachers would be less fresh starting at 10:20. In fact, doesn't it have to be different teachers because the morning session would still be going? So those would be their first (and only) students of the day?

[maestramommy]

Depends on your kid. Dora has afternoon K and it took more than a month for her to adjust to it. Even now she is pretty fried when she gets off the bus (afternoon k here is 11:40-2:20). If I had my druthers she would be in morning k for sure, 8:00 - 10:40. Next year Arwyn will be in K and I've already requested that she be put in morning K. It means getting up an hour earlier than they do now, but they are just TIRED in the afternoons, and Arwyn in particular will need to be fresh in order to learn well.

[elektra]

Well for me, the early K would be better, but I don't think we have a choice.
I am definitely not a morning person, but DD's 8:45 Sat ballet forces us all to get up and get going and I feel like I get way more accomplished on Saturdays now.
And then for K, I could see DD off to school if we get the early session, as I don't have to be at work until 8:30-9 usually.

[SASM]

I voted late bird. If you guys are not morning people, go late. IMO, 10:30 is NOT late. Our K is full-day and goes from 8:30-3p, so I think of 10:30-2:30 as a nice little stretch. I would think that the little break in between and having a new class would renew the teachers enough to get through their day. I would consider DC's strongest part of the day, when they are most alert and ready to learn, not the teacher's. Good luck! Hopefully you'll get the section that you want. In my area, in the districts that have half-days, the morning sessions fill up the quickest.

[nfowife]

We have full-day kinder but half day public pre-k. I chose afternoon for amfew reasons:
-lots of morning activities around here. DS does swim lessons and gymnastics in the mornings. They are offered in the afternoons as well, but much crazier because all the elementary kids are there then.
-easier morning routine getting just DD out the door.
- I have a napping baby so in the afternoons we are stuck home while she naps. I'd rather have that time alone to get stuff done or relax. If ds was here alone he'd be bored.

We have a nice routine going where we drop off DD, come home and DD2 takes her am nap while I shower and then we get dressed and ready. Then we wake dd2 up and walk out the door to whatever we are doing that morning. Ds has pre-k from 12:40-3:20 and takes the bus home with DD. They get home at 3:30 and that is just about DD2's wake up time.

[tiapam]

We chose PM K last year and it worked out fine but it was from 12-4 IIRC, not ideal but we are not morning people. I would prob pick the late start in your case. A lot of places you might like to go sans DD might not open till 10 AM, and then you have less time if you have to get her or be home at 11:40. Also, you can have lunch all by yourself or with a friend. How will she get to school? If you have to drive her, and traffic is bad (or worse than at late start time) at 8 AM, that would be another reason to go with 10:20, IMO.

ITA with PPs, that 10:20 is not late too me and sounds perfect!

[lablover]

We are zoned for afternoon K. You can request to switch if you need to. Since I won't be working next year, afternoon K will work out perfectly for DD as she is not a morning person. She will have one more year to sleep in. She is in afternoon pre-K right now and it works out really well for her. I like spending leisurely mornings with her. Most mornings she does not wake up until 8:30 and our morning K starts at 7:50 while afternoon K starts at 11:35.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i think it really depends on the kid. for my DS, i would choose Late Bird - 10:20, hands down. My DS is not a morning person at all. Getting to places at 10:00 am is a stretch right now. my DS is SO hard to get out of bed and get going in the morning, and there are times it's literally 10am and he's still in his crib (awake, but does not want to get out).

[acmom]

I would choose whichever you think will work better for your kids and your family.

I taught half day kindergarten for several years (both morning and afternoon sections) and while there are slight advantages and disadvantages to both, overall I don't think there was a big difference. We as teachers may have been slightly fresher in the am but we often made adjustments to our plans based on how the am went, so the pm class benefited often from that. In my district the pm classes were usually smaller too bc more families requested am kindergarten.

You know your child's and family's timing best so I would pick based on that if you have a choice. You might also want to think about which section your neighborhood kids might be in so that there will be kids around to play at the same time of day.