Experts have discovered in recent years that preschoolers have more learning potential than previously thought. The good news concerning this is that preschool education has flourished and is taken more seriously. The bad news is that preschool education is taken more seriously.
Granted, my background is in secondary education, but as an educator, I believe preschool and kindergarten are probably the most important years in a student's learning career. Many times as a high school English teacher, I would lament，“if only this kid had had a good start." Preschool skills are built upon in kindergarten and so on. If these steps are missed or done poorly, it is noticeable all the way up to high school. Kids have a hard time climbing the educational ladder if rungs are missing. Let's switch metaphors now; preschool and kindergarten are the foundation. That being said, that doesn't mean those years should be treated as high- pressure academic years. One does not use the same tools to lay a foundation that one uses to put the roof on.
If a child is lucky enough to stay at home with a non-working parent who has a knack for "staying at home" (not all kids who stay at home are better off than kids in daycare- there are all kinds of parents and all kinds of daycare- but that is another discussion), then that child is in the optimal environment in my opinion. When that child is ready to start school, it makes sense to me, that it be a gradual process. A short week (two to four half-days) of preschool is a nice introduction to all that preschool should accomplish: social skills, independence from parents, school settings and rules, taking direction from other adults, pre-reading skills, pre-math skills, art, music, movement, and simple handwriting.
Then comes kindergarten. Ideally, in my opinion, this should be a small step up from preschool. Added to the above mentioned goals would be more handwriting, simple math, early reading. Should there be homework? NO WAY! The exception would be an activity the child would do with a parent every once in a while, such as complete a family tree. Should the child be at school all day? I say no. A full day is way too long for five-year-olds. I have my third kid in full-day kindergarten now, and we hate it again just like we did with the first child and the second child.
My third child comes home exhausted, and though he was so excited to start school that first day, he now doesn't want to go to school because "it takes too long." He doesn't even get a nap or a quiet time at school. I think a half-day is plenty of time for kindergarten's purpose. Yes, it is an important knowledge absorbing time for a kid. The kindergarten year should not be wasted, but it is not akin to an all-nighter before a college exam. Young kids learn differently- not through textbooks and worksheets so much- but through playing with a tub of worms or exploring a creek. These things can happen at home, too.
Half-days give parents more input into their young child's education. The same reason many give for staying home with their kids is still at play. Do you want your child to get most of his learning and caregiving from someone else? At this age, no. Eventually and gradually, OK.
Now, for the kid who has grown up in daycare: it would be silly for this kid to go from full days at daycare and preschool to half-days at kindergarten. For many, full-day kindergarten is better. Research has shown it to be beneficial to economically and socially disadvantaged kids as well. If enrichment can't happen at home, it should happen somewhere. If kids can't have the parent at home, then kindergarten full time is better than the alternative of an inferior daycare center, for example.
There are different types of family situations out there and different types of kids. That's why I wish all states would offer both full and half-day kindergarten. Plus, for crying out loud, make kindergarten and preschool mandatory (as long as it isn't all (full day) or nothing). Educational experts now know the learning power of the preschool brain, but let's not go overboard. In Georgia, preschool (the last year before kindergarten) is free. However, the four-year-olds must go to school everyday and all day. Preschool! This is all or nothing. It is not quality. It is basically the easiest thing for the school system to do but not the best thing to do. It does help kids who would be in daycare anyway, but it is not ideal for the children who are blessed with the ideal of a parent at home.
I have done limited research on this subject (research data is actually limited) I do not have a degree in early childhood education or development. I have only my gut and my experience as mother of five young children, plus my own childhood memories. How much farther could I have gone in life if I had had full-day kindergarten? Rather, how much farther could my children go with only half-days?
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