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Does anyone have any useful information about the effects of a full day of intensive academics for 5 year olds? Streetsmart posted a very interesting entry, but the tread ended there. I am concerned that we are devaluing our children's innate mechanisms for exploring the world and forcing rote learning more suitable to an adult mind.
Half Day Kindergarten is M,W,F full day and Th, F half day? Or is it the other way around? In any case, the difference is about 6 to 9 more hours in the class per week, correct? I'm no expert in child development, but I think it's, ummmm, I think nothing of it.
You have about 14 hours of awake time per day, times 7 days a week. That's 98 hours a week, vs 9 additional hours you are concerned that the school may be hampering their imagination or what have you. Cmon...
I know this has been a debate in the Westchester schools, although I don't really see why. But you may get more expert responses if you posted this in the Education forum.
I agree with Lightning...the longer day doesn't necessarily mean that they are pushing intensive academics. Although I have heard from many that say that K is the new 1st grade, whether full or half day.
I would not disagree that many of the schools here push kids to the brink, but at the same time it is up to each parent to determine whether they will resist it or get caught up in it.
Half Day Kindergarten is M,W,F full day and Th, F half day? Or is it the other way around? In any case, the difference is about 6 to 9 more hours in the class per week, correct? I'm no expert in child development, but I think it's, ummmm, I think nothing of it.
You have about 14 hours of awake time per day, times 7 days a week. That's 98 hours a week, vs 9 additional hours you are concerned that the school may be hampering their imagination or what have you. Cmon...
I know this has been a debate in the Westchester schools, although I don't really see why. But you may get more expert responses if you posted this in the Education forum.
I think when people start talking about half-day vs. full-day, they are comparing the half-day kindergarten that we all probably experienced to what is now a full-day and looks more like first grade. Maybe I'm wrong, but I get than impression when I speak with people about this.
And if I may assume for a minute, I think the OP was getting more at the fact that there is a trend towards full-day kindergarten with most of the day spend on academics, and then there is a concurrent (resulting?) trend of people holding their kids back from starting at age 5.
If kindergarten was still a half-day (when I started teaching it was one group from 9-11:30, and another group from 12:30-3) would we be seeing the increasing trend of holding kids back from starting at 5? Would parents be worried that their kids weren't "ready" for school if it was a program like the one you and I remember? I don't know.
"If kindergarten was still a half-day (when I started teaching it was one group from 9-11:30, and another group from 12:30-3) would we be seeing the increasing trend of holding kids back from starting at 5?"
I still think that they would because schools 'let' the parents, and enough parents are doing it that you almost feel bad for your child (at least for boys) for NOT doing it. An extra year home does give most kids an advantage a la Malcolm Gladwell. I understand holding a fall or winter birthday, but people are holding summer and spring birthdays now, too...but that has been debated repeatedly.
I don't think that 1/2 day is less academic. In many districts, kids that go 1/2 day, do not have specials such as music and art. They pack more academics in a shorter time frame.
I don't think that 1/2 day is less academic. In many districts, kids that go 1/2 day, do not have specials such as music and art. They pack more academics in a shorter time frame.
Exactly. All Kindergarten programs need to fulfill the state standards for Kindergarten, whether the program is full-day or half day. And the standards for K are indeed the equivalent of what first grade standards were not too long ago. The issue of K no longer being developmentally appropriate for 5/6 year olds is about the current curriculum and standards, not about half-day vs. full.
Exactly. All Kindergarten programs need to fulfill the state standards for Kindergarten, whether the program is full-day or half day. And the standards for K are indeed the equivalent of what first grade standards were not too long ago. The issue of K no longer being developmentally appropriate for 5/6 year olds is about the current curriculum and standards, not about half-day vs. full.
Well, yes and no. A five year old can probably handle 2.5 hours of academics, but a whole day of lining up, sitting, listening, reading, writing...with barely any recess and play time? That's when it becomes developmentally inappropriate.
So yes, it is about the standards, but it is also about the amount of time per day the kids are expected to sit and do "work". And I suspect that most parents are not worried about their kid's ability to do the work (especially if it was for a short amount of time), but rather are more concerned with their ability to handle the structure of a full day of school.
Well, yes and no. A five year old can probably handle 2.5 hours of academics, but a whole day of lining up, sitting, listening, reading, writing...with barely any recess and play time? That's when it becomes developmentally inappropriate.
So yes, it is about the standards, but it is also about the amount of time per day the kids are expected to sit and do "work". And I suspect that most parents are not worried about their kid's ability to do the work (especially if it was for a short amount of time), but rather are more concerned with their ability to handle the structure of a full day of school.
In my experience, full-day kindergarten programs have the same amount of time spent on academics as half-day programs. They cover the same standards and follow the same curriculum, so each day has the same amount of "work" time. The difference is that in a full-day program the work time is broken up and interspersed with free play and traditional kindergarten activities (like block building, dramatic play, and music and movement--where all of the real learning takes place). So, a full-day program is actually more developmentally appropriate than a half-day program since kids are only expected to sit and work for short periods of time, whereas in a half-day program kids need to sit and work for longer stretches of time (which is not a reasonable expectation).
The full day kindergarten program that I taught 7 years ago was NOT what you describe. I wish that it had been. Broken up and interspersed with free-play, music, movement, etc...? Ha! I wish. The day was full on academics, with "center time" reserved for the last 30 minutes of the day. The kids did not have gym, they had dance for one period a week. Their other "specials" were science, math, library, and music. By the time they had all finished eating and got outside after lunch they would have 10 minutes to play.
Now don't get me wrong, I tried to break up the day and add in as much movement and singing and fun stuff as I could, and I would just close the door at the end of the day and let them get as loud during center time as they wanted because they needed it. But I also had expectations to meet and an assistant principal that would stop by at any time and did several times a day. At no point during the day was I to be doing anything that was not directly related to a curriculum standard. If it wasn't evident what we were working on I would be asked what standard the activity was meeting.
I am only talking from experience. I hope to God that other programs are different and that what you say is true. But it isn't the case everywhere and we shouldn't be so naive as to think so.
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