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Pre-School and Daycare
ArcticFox
member
Kindergarten days
ArcticFox
member
I keep thinking how I almost wish DD was going to Kindergarten this year - she loves school, she is super smart (reading the level 1 books), etc. I would have tried to enroll her in more hours of preschool, but it is a lot of money.
But I realize developmentally, although she's smart, every time I pick her up after her 3-hour preschool, she crashes and burns.. like really bad. She can barely make it to the car before she's sobbing, hungry, thirsty. I actually bring cold juice in the car for the ride home (which helps a lot).
So my question is - any idea how long the kindergarten day is? I honestly have no idea when the kids start and end their day. And do they do a nap or quiet time in Kindergarten? If you have a child that's been through Kindergarten, can they handle that longer day ok? My DD doesn't currently take a nap and I can't even imagine her making it through full day preschool if there wasn't a nap built in.. I'm wondering if that much will change in a year or she'll be relying on a nap at Kindergarten.
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Re: Kindergarten days
Our kindergarten is from 7:49-2:44. They do rest time/nap time, but it is (usually) phased out between Thanksgiving/Winter Break. The first few days most of the kids don't nap (too excited), but after those first few days they usually knock out for a good 30 minutes or do that for several weeks until they get into the swing of things.
DD1 goes 7:50-2:50 (so 7 hours) for Kindergarten and all of elementary school. Her lunch is at 10:30 and she has a 30 minute recess then. She also has another 10-15 minute "physical activity break" (aka recess) earlier in the morning. They have "rest and read" time when some kids sit on their towels and read books while others are in a reading group with the teachers in the afternoons before snack and centers time...or they're supposed to. As of yet, DD has only mentioned having that maybe once a week. Today they had "reading buddies" in the 3rd grade class come down and read with them - one Kindy kid with one 3rd grader - during that time. So rarely do they have naptime or even downtime. She's pretty tired by the end of the day, but not dead exhausted anymore. It takes time to adjust and she's getting there.
FWIW - She went to two 5-hour days of preschool last year as well as one 2-hour morning of museum school, but then was "off" all summer except for two week-long camps. It's a long day and all the kids (and teachers and parents) are exhausted for the first few weeks (months?), but they get there.
lunch and recess.)
Morning Kindergarten
9:33?12:08
Afternoon Kindergarten
1:30?4:05
Half day: Hours: 2.5 hours per day in the kindergarten classroom, in either a
morning or afternoon session.
We also have an option for half day of kinder and then a half day in what is called kinderconnection which is the group that runs the before and after care program. Kids that do half kinder but whose parents work do this program - it is less structured than full day kinder and the teachers in the room are not certified at the same level, more kids to teacher ratio but not certified teachers. Hours: 2.5 hours in a Half?Day Kindergarten classroom and 4 hours
in a KinderConnection classroom, including lunch and recess.
I do not think they have a nap time at our school in kindergarten. My DD will hopefully be in the full day kinder program next year (you pay for full day, half day is free and you pay for kinderconnection). This year they have 1 full day class but they will open a second if enough parents want it.
Since we are a late start school - a ton of the kids do before school care which can start anytime after 6:45.
DD1 gets on the bus for K at 7:50. It starts at 8:20. School ends at 2:45.
She is exhausted after school- some days are worse than others.