Full day kindergarten: Yes? No? Maybe?

Not too long ago I wrote about the lack of flexibility in our maternity and parental leave system. Today reader Gayle asked me if I would post about my thoughts on full day kindergarten, which has been proposed for the province of Ontario and is slated to begin in the fall of 2010. My thoughts, in a nutshell, are that it is a great idea, if there is flexibility built in that recognizes that different families have different needs and wants.

Who wants or needs full day kindergarten?

Let's start by understanding some of the numbers that might affect the need or desire for full day kindergarten in Ontario:

• A recent Environics studyconducted for the Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario found that:
  
  
  
  • 75% of parents either strongly support or somewhat support expanding kindergarten to a full day
  
  
  • 21% strongly oppose or somewhat oppose it
  
  
  
  


• According to Statistics Canada, slightly more than half of Canadian children aged 4 years old (55.7%) and 5 years old (53.1%) are in non-parental child care of some sort.
  
  
  
  • We know that the availability and affordability of quality child care is an issue for many families.
  
  
  
  


• From the figures above, it would seem likely that most parents who have their children in non-parental child care (but possibly not all, as some may be perfectly happy with their kid at Grandma's or the neighbour's house) as well as some of the ones that have their children at home with them would like to see full-day kindergarten.

So lots of people want it. But not everyone does and I don't think it is ideal or appropriate to force families to choose between all day kindergarten or homeschooling, when really there could be many options in between that may appeal to many families.

Can we design a system that will meet everyone's needs?

I think if we assume from the start that different parents are going to have different needs and different desires for their children, then we can attempt to build a system that will meet all of their needs. Some of the areas where there seem to be discrepancies or questions include:

• Whether kindergarten should be full day or remain half day:
  
  
  
  • Some parents need care from early morning until early evening because of their jobs and commute. If kindergarten is not all day and does not include an option for before and/or after school care, then the parents will have to arrange for day care too and transportation between the school and day care.
  
  
  • Other parents want to ease their children into school. They feel that a full day is too long for a small child to be at school or that feel it is important to hold on to their kids.  Many at-home parents cherish the time they have with their young children and feel that it is important for their development and for their relationship with their child (check out the book Hold on To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers).  They do not want to be forced into an option that they are not comfortable with.
  
  
  
  

• Whether it should be a full day of learning or just a half day of learning and half day of care:
  
  
  
  • Some parents, it seems, are worried that their children are being left behind and that their place in the world economy will be taken over by other countries, in particular Asian countries, if we don't do something to make our kids smarter. They need to be learning more at earlier ages and being taught by certified teachers or they will be left behind.
  
  
  • Other parents worry about pushing kids into a classroom too early. They worry that they do not have enough time for free and unstructured play and will not have an opportunity to be a kid or to develop the types of skills that come from creative free play.
  
  
  
  

Now let's assume that we will never be in agreement on these issues. At best, there may be 75% of parents leaning in one direction on any of these issues and the other 25% will feel differently. No one system is going to work for everyone. That is why we need flexibility.

My flexible kindergarten proposal: "FlexKindy"

I think that the government should use its education and part of its day care dollars to make the following available:

• Half day kindergarten: Half day junior and senior kindergarten with a certified teacher, with both morning and afternoon kindergarten options available, focusing on learning using age appropriate approaches (lots of learning through play).

• Half day optional day care: An additional optional half day of care with an early childhood educator available at the school, focusing primarily on free play opportunities, which would be part of the Ontario government's commitment to ensuring access to day care for Ontario families.

In addition, parents should be able to pay for:

• Extended day care: Day care before school in the morning and or/after school, at the school so that they don't have to ship their children between day care and the school.

• Enrichment activities: Additional activities offered during the day care half of the day that would be available to both children in the day care and those that are not (including home schooled children within the school district).
  
  
  
  • Those that are in the day care would leave the day care and go to the enrichment activities at their scheduled time. Those that are not in the day care would need to be brought to and from the activities by their parents or care provider.
  
  
  • The activities could include a mix of group activities and individual activities and may be customized on a school-by-school basis depending on the desires of the parents.
  
  
  • These activities could include things like music lessons, early reading, languages, arts, dance, sports, etc.
  
  
  • Having these activities available at the school would help appease those parents that worry their kids are "falling behind" compared to Asian nations that have kids learning more at earlier ages and would also cut down on the need to schedule these types of activities on evenings and weekends, which cuts into family time and creates overscheduled kids.
  
  
  
  

What do you think of this proposal? What else would you suggest? Do you think the Ontario government is capable of introducing something that will meet the vastly different needs of Ontario families?

I think Ontario has an opportunity here to lead. To do something innovative. To be a frontrunner in meeting the needs of our families and our children and promoting choice the way that Quebec did with its day care program.

Comments

[Lisa]

Some very good ideas. Most (maybe all) the kindergartens in Alberta are full day. I was planning on homeschooling if half day kindergarten didn't work out for my oldest, but half day wasn't even an option & I wasn't going to force him to go all day when it took a lot of fast talking to get him to not have hysterics about half a day. So, we wound up homeschooling by default, because there was no acceptable way to give school a chance.

[Allie]

In my area you can choose half or full day kindergarten. So my perspective is a little different. I would never consider anything but full day if given the choice/ both are offered. The curriculum is the same for both so a full day is at a more relaxed ( although no teacher would say it's relaxed either way) pace, there is more flexibility for free play, going off on tangents and catching kids that need extra help not fall through the holes.

I think learning needs to be balanced to reflect the demands but also have enough play to balance that out if possible. So for me a full day makes sense. I don't think that it's too much for the age, especially if the trade off is less work sent home. From a teaching perspective I would want to teach full day, I would think I would be happier and less stressed and who wouldn't want their kids teacher to be less stressed? especially in their first year of school?

[Sam]

I decided to begin homeschooling my eldest when he was old enough to enter school because I didn't believe that he needed to attend school, we were part of a wonderful and engaging homeschooling community and I had the time available to offer that option to him. As years passed we continued homsechooling until such a time as he was able to indicate that he felt ready to go to school outside of the home.
I love that I had the option that I did to make the choice that worked best for my family and the one that made my sons (neither have been in a formal learning establishment, although that is changing next week) feel that their choices mattered and that they were where they felt most safe.
I am intrigued by the research that I have read that putting children into school (or homeschooling them with a structured focus) earlier rather than later doesn't seem to have an impact on their overall health.
I hope, as you have written, that parents are presented with a variety of options so that they can choose what works best for them and their families. Somehow I doubt that the Ontario government will be wise enough to do that though. What do you think??? A common sense approach from the provincial Liberal party? (giggle, giggle)

[Arwyn]

I'm fully in favor of such options. My only real concern/reservation would be that kindergarteners really don't need "academic" work yet. (Like Allie was saying: work getting sent home? Rushing to cover all the "material"? In kindergarten? Does no one else see anything wrong with this picture??) More flexibility always = good. I'm not sure we're going to do preschool (if so, it would only be for my own sanity breaks), and going straight into full-day kindergarten just would not be acceptable to me, so I could really see us defaulting to homeschool at that point, just like Lisa.

[Maria]

I would focus more on the different styles of learning. A full-day of Kindergarten at a desk is not compatible with most five or six year olds, so if the full-day includes that, there'd be a problem. I can't really judge the proposal fully though, because right now I cannot imagine sending my son to a public school-- only because the public schools near us are not very good. We pay for before and after care. I suppose that means I am participating in a system that is your example only with private school, and I like it.

We have The Boy in a "school" that starts at six weeks and goes through high school. They follow the Reggio Emilia style of learning before moving to mixed age classrooms. The system works great for us, because the focus on communication and family integration (community) fits with our parenting style!

[Gayle]

Thanks for taking the time to talk about this.! I really like your idea of enrichment activities, especially customizable ones. It gives a good opportunity for the school to be involved on a local/community level. Our school board eliminated kindergarten homework the other year in favour of sending home a "poetry" book that you could practice with your child. Doing homework at that age doesn't seem meaningful to me (although I understand that the homework given before was more hands-on activities than book-ish stuff).

Flexible options do seem to be the best to offer for anyone, as long as we don't create a system where those who choose to not partake in it are at a significant disadvantage by being outside of it. Now, just to get over the hurdle of those that think that "my tax dollars shouldn't pay for someone else's 'daycare'."

[Naomi]

Full Day K was made mandatory in my state (Maryland) a few years ago I think. My son has a very late birthday so will start K at age 5 but turning 6 in 2 weeks. I think it will work well for him because of this but I wish it was flexible. I know if I had a just turning 5 year old going into it he would not be ready!

[Andrea]

I like your solution, and agree it should remain flexible because no system works for all children or all families. I do think that it is important to remember that in Ontario, JK and SK currently ARE optional, kids do not have to attend (well, of course they don't technically ever have to go to school, if they are homeschooled...) but I think some people forget that and assume they have to send their kids at 3.5-4. I worry that parents will assume the same about this full day program, that they MUST send their kids. Or that they will be pressured into it, or worry their kids will be "behind" if they don't go.

Here, JK/SK is full day/alt. day. There is no half day option, at least not at our school. Which is too bad, I would have preferred for my DS to go mornings every day. But, because DH and I both work full time, our kids do need care beyond school hours. We currently have a nanny, but if we didn't, they would have to go to before/after/alt. day care. So, a full day K program would work for us, and I don't see much difference between that and full time care, for those kids already IN care (assuming they aren't expected to sit at a desk all day, I already think there should be more learning through play in school!) I don't see though, how they will be able to implement this in 2010 just due to space restrictions. We have a brand-new school with 4 K rooms, each with a Monday and a Tuesday class. And 4 new portables just went up in the back this year for the older kids.

(Oh, and homework in K, or at the primary level at all is just ridiculous IMHO. And according to Alfie Kohn for one, it doesn't have any benefit.)

[Upstatemomof3]

Oh how I wish something like this were available where I live. My son starts full day kindergarten next Tuesday. Now I realize that lots of parents work and so for them full day kindergarten is easier. And busing too and from is easier and better. However, I do not work. I choose to stay home and I want to be involved with my son and his school career. I have chosen to drive him to school and already (before school starts) this is met with frustration from the school. I would rather it were only half day as I did not send him to preschool (because I feel it is unnecessary and wanted him to spend the year at home with his new sister and because we could not really afford it). But now he is thrown into a world of being gone all day and I am just not sure it is best for him. Even now I am still considering homeschool. But that is it's own post and I will save it for my site :)

[Lisa Armstrong]

As the working mom of a 4year old and 2 year old, I was struggling with my decision of what to do with my oldest this year for shcool. He attended Montessori last year, 5 days a week half days...so to transition him into the Public Shcool system, where he wouldn't be in school everyday, didn't really make sense to me. As a result we've chosen to keep him in Montessori full days this year, which he'll be starting next week. It is certainly a struggle both financially and in terms of timing to juggle the schedules of school, before and after school care. I can only imagine how much more challenging it will be when the younger one starts school, and I'm hoping by that time the full day Kindergarten program will be in full swing, and I can have both boys at one school.

[Aurelia]

The Ontario report that the government commissioned actually did propose the exact type of flexibiity that you advocate for here. In fact, the Pascal report is almost identical to this.

With a few exceptions. In the pilot programs, they also added parent drop in centres in the school so that kids could hang out with mom or dad but they also allow parents to leave the kids there for a short while so they can attend lectures hosted at the school on various parenting topics, or ESL classes or things like how to deal with govt programs, life skills courses.

Reality is that many SAHM are new immigrants and single moms on welfare and they need the support to take care of their kids properly and integrate into Canadian society and make a better life. This allowed them to do that, while at the same time, exposed kids to English they may not hear at home and let the teachers informally assess the kids for learning issues, or developmental problems like sight and hearing and speech problems, or behavioural issues.

And when Grandma takes care of the kids? It's not always ideal because health practices have changed over the years and knowing about correct tylenol dosing and walk-in clinics and well child checkups may be new information for them. Again, it also allows the teachers to assess the child and caregiver interactions and perhaps step in with advice when outdated discipline methods are seen.

Upper middle class parents in big cities have other options, but for rural moms, or new immigrants, this was a huge lift in terms of parenting skills and child development skills.

[phdinparenting]

@Aurelia:

If that is what is proposed and what they implement, then great. I haven't been following the situation too closely because (a) we live in Quebec and (b) my son goes to private school. But when Gayle asked me to weigh in on it, I was happy to provide my thoughts.

With regards to Grandma taking care of the kids, I would hope that the parents would see to it that the grandparents have the info required to take care of the kids. I would never expect my mom to know that she needs to take my kids to a well baby visit. I would be taking them or if I couldn't I would assume I would at least be the one asking my mom to take the child. I also would expect my mom to read the Tylenol bottle to figure out the dosage if she didn't know. Really if you can't expect something as basic as that from a grandmother, then she probably isn't the right one to be caring for the child. But a lot of grandmothers are great caregivers.

[Kayris]

I'm in the US. My son will attend full day kindergarten next year. I think it's important to note the curriculum too. His preschool teacher said the best way to schedule full day kindergarten is with academics in the morning, when kids are awake and focused, followed by lunch and recess, then an afternoon of less structured activities. Plus, a teacher I know said the kids that come into first grade from full day K are better adjusted to the long day than half day kindergarteners are. First grade is much more academic than K is, and the full day kids are already used to being in school for 7 or 8 hours.

[Amber]

They are proposing full-day kindergarten starting in 2010 here in BC, as well. The details are pretty fuzzy, but there is talk of allowing full-day and half-day options. Which sounds good to me.

I like your proposal, for the most part. If I were to change anything I would really like to see a full-day, part-time option available. I can see the logistical issues, but this is the configuration we've used for our daughter's daycare for some time. She goes for a full day Monday / Wednesday / Friday. It was great for me because I had a long commute, so doing 3 full days worked much better than, say, 5 partial days. It also gives parents some freedom to have weekday activities and so on.

Any additional flexibility is great. As long as it's truly flexible and parents have a variety of options, then I'm all for it.

[phdinparenting]

My son's preschool had the option of 5 full days, 3 full days (M W F) or 2 full days (Tu Th). That works for the families that chose that school (it is a private school), but I could see that some families might not be comfortable with sending their child to school for a whole day at that age, especially if they are at-home parents. There are pros and cons to everything!

[Juliette]

As I understand it, it will be part of "the plan" in Ontario that parents are welcome to send their children to kindergarten half-days - of course they'll be responsible for the mid-day transportation. But it seems to me that SAH parents who still want time with their kids, but at the same time would like them to start JK with their peers, for whatever reason, can still have the half days.

My daughter starts JK next week in Ontario. There were rumours last year that our school was going to be a pilot for the full-day everyday program, and this time last year I was considering not sending her to JK this year because of it - even though she is currently at a full-day dayhome. I was concerned that a full day for a 4 -year-old was too much, in comparison to a dayhome where the atmosphere is more relaxed. However, if it HAD gone full-day this year, I think I might have a different perspective a year on. She's bored out of her tree at her dayhome - the program is geared to toddlers, not "school-age" kids. She is definitely ready for more - the "more" doesn't necessarily have to be school, but in our circumstances, it's our choice for now. The decision was taken out of our hands though - it's half days this year, and then bussing to daycare.

I completely agree that the suitability depends so much on the child and the situation. Flexibility, and the teacher plus ECE seems like the best approach to me. We can hope they can implement it!

[Dreamom]

I think it is important to note that this proposal is not simply All Day Kindergarten, but rather Full Day Junior Kindergarten. That means that kids TURNING four before the end of December will be in school all day, every day. Are teachers certified to teach? Yes - But as my teacher sister says, they are not certified for child care as daycare providers are.

I also want to point out that Pascal can outline any program he wants, but the province does not have to implement the whole thing. I wish parents wouldn't use the report (as the ON gov't does) to lull themselves into thinking that in the end of all the 'phasing in' that it will be a utopian program. The province is trying to shift subsidy dollars from social services to the Min of Ed, and the fact of the matter is that people who rely on subsidy will NOT have the options that people who don't do. Even though that is not my position, this concerns me. The province is going to implement what serves their financial agenda, and that will be that.

As a teacher my sister is unhappy as well because they don't have the physical space in the school for the increased program. Her school is a test pilot, and they shrunk the library to make space for the extra Kindy Class. In her mind that doesn't serve any of the students.

Anyway - that is my take... This whole proposal cemented the decision for my husband and I to homeschool - something my sister also thinks the province is hoping for... X number of kids removed from the system entirely... We'll see.

[Rachel]

I have chosen full day preschool for my son for two days a week to replace daycare.

He had a nanny for his first year of life. He was in home day care for 3 years. He needed the structure as home day care wasn't working. Or he should be home full time with a parent. Since it is not an option for our family to have a parent home 5 days a week, we have him in preschool.

When he goes to kindergarten, we need full-days as my husband and I both work full days at least 1 or 2 days a week. We may end up paying for private schooling that offers full time kindergarten (and a good teacher/student ratio).

Personally, I think the reality is that many parents work full days and their children go to school 2/3 days, which adds stress to the parent and may lead to after school neglect if the gap isn't filled with a caregiver. School days don't have to be full time structured classroom learning as many of us would agree that learning is bigger than that. I propose that the school days be longer for all students. I'm probably a minority, at least among your readers/commenters.

[Rachel]

I wanted to add that sending my son for two days was a lot less intimidating that five full days. I don't think he would have been ready for that.

It looks like Andrea and I are in the same boat.

[Candace]

I'm not a Canadian, and am probably far more of a free-market capitalist than you are, but I don't believe that full-time care for kindergartners need be government-subsidized if it is of dubious social, emotional, or intellectual benefit for the kids.

I do believe in various efforts to fund early education and intervention for at-risk kids as I do believe that children are society's responsibility in addition to being their parents' and families' and that studies have shown concrete benefits of early programs for these kids.

I am happy my district only has half-day. If a parent needs full-time, he or she can pay for private day care or private half-day kindergarten.

[misckeleye]

Hello-
I just came across your blog in my "positive communication" search. We moved from the US to a very small and very rural town in India last year. Our son started Kindergarden this year. Intitally i was aghast that they expected him to "learn to write" when he was not ready and was all set to throw in the towel and homeschool. But that's another rant.

I wanted to comment on the "flexible" system. For what ever reason, and Indian schools are NOT known for flexibility, this local school (mostly because the headmaster and secretary of the trust) offer a fairly flexible system.
Each child in Kindergarden (KG) attends school from 9:30 am - 12am. There is a 30 min snack break around 10:45 am. The morning schedule may look like: (oral/written) english, freeplay, snack, singing, freeplay, (oral/written) numbers.
You can pick your child up at 12 or ANYTIME after. The fee is the SAME regardless of how long you send your child to school at. The school times coincide with office hours (9:30-4:30) for most people and they can pick up or drop off their child from 8:30 onwards to 5 pm latest.

Those who wish for the child to go full day (till 4-or 4:30) have the option to put their child in a napping section or a non-napping section for Lower KG. After nap, there is free play.
For upper KG, after 12 is free play.

Attendance, and exams, are optional but HW is present though minimal. The kid won't be promoted to regular school if he or she doesn't know certain things--but most kids seem to be on track.

I asked the headmaster "why have them?"- and he said because the other parents "freak out if we don't.". Seriously, other parents want their kids to have more HW and more exams.

Why this also works- and might not in Canada- is that aside from each class of 20 students having a teacher, there is also a teacher's aide (aayah). Sadly, unskilled labor is cheap here and these ladies are there for marginal cost. However, from a parent's perspective, there is always someone to help them eat, clean up, or go to the bathroom. There is a lot of child holding and cuddling. My son loves his teachers while he HATED his preschool in US (where he went for 6 mnths, pt) even though he didn't speak the local language at first because this school is more like home (is there such thing as attachment schooling?)

So--even though I still have reservations (mostly about how much acads), a flexible system is possible. In Lower KG- we had to be consistent with our child--just so he knew what to expect on any give day. In Upper KG, he goes 3.4th of a day- we pick him around 2. Sometimes, he asks to go longer and we let him. Sometimes, we ask him to go longer, and explain to him "WHY" and he (mostly) agrees.

Just my two cents.

[Dreamom]

That is interesting, and like you the acads would be a concern for me - You make a critical point that the labour to have the adults they need is cheap, and not so in Canada or the US, where NO ONE in the classroom is unskilled. Having lived in Ontario, and knowing the spending habits of the government I would be SHOCKED if they did create an appropriate program...

[phdinparenting]

@Gayle: I keep meaning to come back and reply to this and finally I remembered!

There are certainly people who will complain about having their tax dollars pay for someone else's day care. But I think the reality is that in Canada, and in most places in the world, our tax dollars are always going to pay for something that we do not need or use. I pay for other people's employment insurance, other people's health care, other people's maternity leave, other people's roads, other people's upkeep in our prisons, etc.

We all pay for services that we do not need because they are beneficial to society.

I know you weren't suggesting that your tax dollars shouldn't pay for someone else's day care, but the fact that that attitude exists at all annoys me.

/rant over

[Candace]

I think the question becomes, however, is it actually beneficial to society? Tax dollars for an adequate public education is a little different than tax dollars for full day kindergarten. Of course, an argument could be made that it allows parents to be more productive workers. Another argument could be made that it will push more parents into working full time before they wish to do so (someone has to be earning that money to pay those taxes). Just a couple of thoughts.

[phdinparenting]

@Candace: That argument gets made with all social programs. Public health care just encourages people to be unhealthy and not take care of themselves because they don't have to pay to see a doctor. Unemployment insurance/welfare just encourages people to be lazy and not work. And so on.

I think if there is going to be kindergarten at all, it makes sense to make full-day an option for parents. Not a requirement, but an option. I think it is healthier for our children to have them in one place for the day than to have them shipped back and forth between a babysitter and kindergarten if their parents do have to or want to work full-time. If our government is going to invest in early childhood education, I think it makes more sense to do it at this level/age, than to, for example, focus on creating more subsidized spaces for babies.

[Candace]

At this level and age, the studies seem to suggest that schooling is not necessarily beneficial and may even be detrimental for most kids...the exception being at-risk kids who are better off in the (relatively) safe environment of school.

If the benefit is not necessarily there, I'm not sure it rises to a public good.

[phdinparenting]

I'm not suggesting adding more schooling. As I said in the post, I think the half day kindergarten (which is basically learn by play) should stay as is, plus an optional additional half day of day care at the same location (so that kids don't have to be shipped back and forth to a different caregiver).

[phdinparenting]

Looks like I reached the limit in terms of threading. That was supposed to be a reply to Candace's comment in reply to my comment above.

[Candace]

You spoke of investing in early education.

If it is just day care, then the question is what is the "public good" in this case?

In many cases, at least in the US, the parents would still not be home at the end of that day so the child would still have to be shipped back and forth.

[“Poor cities, expensive]

[...] pay for day care for other people’s children. This came up as an issue when I wrote about the plans to offer full day junior and senior kindergarten in Ontario. I must admit I don’t fully understand why people arbitrarily think it is okay for taxpayers [...]

[Evelyn]

Great articles and valid points and suggestions. I too live in Ontario, near Ottawa and my monthly daycare fees for two children for the month of August was $1672. I took extra leave after my mat leave to be at home longer with my small children. But life being what it is, I returned to work nearly 3 months ago. We knew that childcare would be expensive but holy heck! The expense feels all the more challenging because my brother and his family live in Quebec any pay only $15.50/day for two children in care versus my family's $76/day fees. Despite a solid marriage, the blow to our discretionary income after paying for daycare causes stress for me and my husband.

I am glad to see articles like this one. One can only hope that the ideas addressed will prompt some sort of change. Let me hope.

[Stay at home Daddy]

My son currently goes to all day JK and it is not working well for him at all. He is being bullied by three children and the teachers can't properly monitor the situation because in their words "there are too many children" in his class of 28 JKs and SKs split and only 2 teachers. The other day was anti-bullying day so the children needed the wear a pink shirt to show support. We did not have one so I printed out a full sheet label of pink with Pink Panther saying "Think Pink". It was pulled off and torn up by one of the bullies. When he first started he was coming home sad. He wouldn't/couldn't tell us why so we thought it was because he missed being at home. After two months and lots of contact with the teachers it still hadn't got any better. So we decided to change to half a day. This was met with a lot of resistance. We were told the Principle was not happy with this and her main goal was to see him back in full day. Meanwhile he is coming home happier and started to tell us about the bullying. I am not at all happy with this new system because it is not being implemented right. 28 kids in one room with 2 teachers all day is not as good as 14 kids in the same size room with 1 teacher for half a day. I consider this as my teenage son would say "an epic fail". Thanks for your ear on this!