Does your school have both full-day and half-day kindergarten programs?

[Disney1fan2002]

My kids are all older, but my nephew is in a 1/2 day K program. Our town offers full day, but you have to pay for it. ($3500). It has become so popular, they now have 3 full day classes and just 2 half-day classes.

Here is what I am wondering. Don't the objectives for the year have to be the same? I would guess that a child in school for 6 hours is going to learn more than a child in school for 3 hours. They are not cramming 6 hours of work into the 3 hour day, so how do they hold the full day kids back?

I'm just curious. I would hate to think my nephew is entering 1st grade behind other kids, because his mother couldn't afford to pay $3500 for the full day program.

Anyone know how this works, how do the keep everything even between the full day kids and the half day kids?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I believe our district has ONE full day Kindergarten, and only select students that the district thinks needs the extra help go to that class.

 

[anniemae]

Our town has half day, but you can pay for a full day. I belive the full day is more day care for the second half of the day. That way, the kids in full day don't get extra education. From what I hear this was kind of a "hot button" issue in the past. My dd is not in kindergarten yet so I am new to this stuff (especially the parent clicks)

 

[marmalade]

We have full day K here, and I am pretty sure we always have. My DD is in K and my DS goes to Pre-K that is 2.5 hrs. Both thru the public school and both are free. I was reading another post about paying for K and I was shocked that a public school was even allowed to charge, isn't that what the school tax is for?

 

[npmommie]

Just curious what part of Ma you are in?
our town has full day Kindergarten and we don't have to pay for it.

 

[anniemae]

I wanted to add that the full day vs. half day varies by town. Like I said, our town is half day will full day option(you pay for this), but the town right next to us is full day only (you do not pay since there is no choice).

It seems like if it is a choice you pay.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Just curious what part of Ma you are in?
our town has full day Kindergarten and we don't have to pay for it.

There are towns in MA that have just full day K. Our district looked at this years ago, and determined that a full day program would not work in the budget. So, they tried a "trial" program...a full day classroom but supplemented by the parents. It was a huge hit. I guess $3500 is a bargain compared to what some people have to pay for daycare.

It is such a hit, that now most of the K students are full-day. Parents don't mind paying the tuition, and that means the budget isn't cut elsewhere to suport the full day program. I just don't see the purpose of a full day program if the 2nd half of the day is basically a "daycare" setting, so the other kids don't shoot ahead of the 1/2 day kids.

 

[msjprincess]

We have full day free Kindergarten. several years ago the budget didn't pass and they were going to switch to half day but you could pay for full day. The district ended up getting a grant from the state so they didn't have to switch to half day.

 

[golfgal]

Our district has the same, 1/2 day free, full day you pay (I think $2500-3000). When our kids were in kindergarten we had a full day for free. You could chose to send your child for 1/2 day though. The program was structured so the core classes were taught in the morning and the "specials"--art, music, PE, etc. were in the afternoon. It isn't so much what they learning more vs getting used to being in school all day. The first grade teachers said that they noticed a significant difference between the all day kids and the 1/2 day kids. Our twins were the first class where all the kids went all day so this was from previous years where some sent half day, some sent full day.

Our kids LOVED full day kindergarten--so did I.

 

[Minnesota!]

Our schools offers both. My son went the first part of the year to only 1/2 day and then I moved him to full day after Jan 1.

The half day kids aren't behind. What our school does is expand on what is taught in the 1/2 day class. So say, in Spanish they learned about Spanish cooking. In the full day class, they might actually cook the meals they were talking about. Or, in science they were talking about the changing of seasons. In full day, they would go outside and collect leaves, or look for other changes of the season.

I loved that it was "school" but it wasn't as rigid and tied to their desks. It was more applying what they already learned to something concrete so their brains could grasp it a little better.

 

[Malibustyle23]

The state of MD requires all children attend all day Kindergarten. Which is free of charge (well as long as I close my eyes when I open my tax bill ) to all students.

They also offer Pre-K which is half a day also free but your child is not guranteed to get accepted. They first take at risk children and then open up the classes to everyone.

 

[HM]

Our district and those around us all have full-day kindergarten only.

 

[mtemm]

yes, our district offers both full and half day. full day pays $3500. the curriculum is the same, according to the school, but the full timers also have lunch and recess. and they have a bit more play time/down time than the part timers. my kids all went part time and there was not a lot of down time for them. don't get me wrong, it was kindergarten, they weren't sitting at desks slaving over equations, but they were definitely structured in their work. and NONE of those kids in part time were behind their full time peers.

actually, as I saw it (I am a sahm) I simply was able to supplement/do things with my kids after their school day.

it worked out well for us. mine were not ready for a full day, so part time was our best choice, and I don't regret going that route.

 

[Pooh Crew]

We did have half day and just recently went to full day for all schools in our district. The curriculum was the same for both full and half day programs, but the full day program allowed the teachers to spend more time with kids who needed it. My children all did half day and I loved it! I was not ready for them to be gone all day long and they learned everything they were supposed to learn. They are now in intermediate school and have never been behind because of the half day kinder program. On the other hand, if a child needs more assistance, tends to learn things slower, needs more repitition, etc., a full-day program would definitely be better because the teacher will have more time to spend with him.

 

[tiggger1]

my town has 'free" full day kindergarten. The city were my mom works has had both. the problem with 1/2 day is that by the time you get the kids settled you have an hour to learn before it was time to get ready to go home.

 

[dislaney]

Our district has full day kindergarten but we also have 1/2 day pre-k. To be eligible for pre k -you must qualify for free or reduced lunch or be a non english speaking child. I guess you learn something new everyday, I had no idea there was pre-k here.

 

[simba20]

Around here we have full day kindergarten. It's an all day, academic program, with time for recess and nap time.

We also have a public Pre-K program, that is lottery funded. However depending on what city you live in (mostly the larger cities), there are only a certain number of spots for enrollment so school systems will do a "lottery" selection process. If you don;t get a spot for Pre-K, then you have to look into other options (daycare, private, etc). But again, that is Pre-K. The choice to place your child in Pre-K is optional. We just moved to a county that has the lottery type selection, but since the hubster works 45 mins away in a system that does not have that kind of selection I just registered DD for that system two weeks ago. She still attends daycare in that county (hubster drops her off picks her up on the way to/from work) and the best part is, next year when she starts Pre-K, we can drop her off at her daycare and the school bus will pick her up at daycare and drop her off there every afternoon, so we don't have to worry about after-school care. I plan on goign back to work after this semester of grad school (getting burned out), so finding before and after school care was an issue for us, espcially if we had gotten a Pre-K spot at the the school in our district.

Anyway, as far as kindergarten options go, schools around here have full day programs. I looked at private schools in our area, and they only have half day programs ($3500). If I chose that option for DD, then I'd also have to look at after-school care if I was working, which is an additional ($3500).

And, as an aside, having majored in Early Childhood Education, it is my opinion that I want DD in a FULL day academic program.

 

[BKMETV]

We have junior (4yr) and senior (5yr) kindergarten. Right now in my town it is either all day Mon/Wed or Tue/Thurs and alternating Fri. but the Ontario is making kindergarten full day (Mon-Fri) province wide by 2015...we don't pay for school unless it is private.

 

[bigbabyblues]

It's all full-day here, public and private schools.

 

[MomRN]

We have both. I'm not certain how it works, but I *believe* it's at least partially based on test scores and Title 1 funding.

This has became a headache for me. I think we are on the border of the 2 schools- one offers full day, the other half day. My son has already been in half day preschool for 2 years and I would like to see him go full day. It would also work out much better for work schedules for him to go full day. But, for long-term, I think I would like him to go to the school that has the half day program. However, the school with the full-day program drops off at our daycare. On the other hand, the school with the half day program would either pick up or drop of at home, depending on morning/afternoon. Also, I would like to see him start at one school and finish through, rather than move him after a year.

It's enough to make my head spin.