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Full Day or Half Day Kindergarten w/1/2 day extra program - thoughts

jlw2505jlw2505 member
in School-Aged Children

Background:  My DD has been in full time daycare since she was 3 months old.  She is doing her second year of a full time (5 days a week, full days) PreK through the public school where she will do Kindergarten.  The program follows the Reggio program which we love!  We held her back a year due to some speech issues and a recent ADHD diagnosis and everyone agreeing (she has an IEP) that she was not ready to start kindergarten this past fall.  She currently has speech 3x a week during her school day and is doing excellent this year.

I have kindergarten information night in a few weeks and need to decide which program to enroll her in and just looking for thoughts from those that have been there.  I know which way I am leaning but looking for experience from those who have been there/done that already.

DD will be at school for the full school day since I work full time.  Getting into full day kindergarten is not a guarantee as they only have 1 full day class unless there is enough interest to have 2 full classes.

Option A:  Full Day kindergarten - 6.5 hours with a licensed teacher plus an aide. Normal kindergarten day with lunch, recess, etc.  1 classroom all day with the same kids all day.  Not sure on the number of kids in class or how many aides in the room.

Option B:  Half day kindergarten (2.5 hours)with a half day in KinderConnection (4 hours) at the school to equal a full day program.  Kids attend half day kindergarten 5 days a week.  KinderConnection kids can do 3, 4 or 5 days a week.  I would do the 5 days a week.  Total is still 6.5 hours.  10 to 1 student ratio in KinderConnection (not sure of the ratio in the actual kindergarten room) but the teachers do not have the same ceritification as the regular kindergarten teachers - I think it is more on the daycare level of certification or early childhood. 

KinderConnection is the program that runs the schools before/after and vacation care programs.  My DD will be in the before care program since we are a late start school (9:40am) and I will pick her up when school gets out at 4pm.

My DD's 2 PreK teachers both have different feelings on kindergarten - one leans toward the half day with KinderConnection as she feels the smaller number of kids in KinderConnection is really a huge plus even though they don't have the same certification level and the other leans towards full day as the kids get more consistancy in their day.  Cost for full day is a little more but not a deal breaker.

 I am leaning towards trying for the full day kindergarten option but am open to hear from others about their experience.

Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
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Re: Full Day or Half Day Kindergarten w/1/2 day extra program - thoughts

  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    I'd opt for full day just simply on the fact that if they are already going to be there the full day that they be doing something school related and learning the system compared with trying to cram it all into 2.5 hours then spend the rest of the day pretty much just playing...
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  • littlemermaidlittlemermaid member
    I vote for the full day Kindergarten.  Full day Kindergarten really enforces what they are learning in the afternoon with enrichment work and activities.  It's not as rushed as the 1/2 day program is since they only have 3.5 hours compared to 6.5 to cover that days material.
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  • jlw2505jlw2505 member
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    If you can successfully make a case for full day in her IEP, the she gets the slot. It's that simple. A lot of half day kindie is wasted on adminstrative tasks and lining up for transitions. If she'll be pulled out for speech services, she'll end up a guest in the classroom.

    On the other hand, if she's OK academically and her goals around speech and ADHD are primarily behavioral or social, then practice in a less structured non-academic setting my be better suited to what she needs.

    If she doesn't get into the full day kindergarten, I have been told that her speech sessions would be held during the KinderConnection time and not the kindergarten class time.  Her issues are driven by speech but she is behind her peers thus far in her PreK class based on last year.  We are hoping that now that she is on ADHD meds and better able to concentrate and with the more aggressive speech sessions that she has this year, that she will catch up.  I will have to see what I can get added to her IEP that will help get her into full day.  The issue is we are an open enroll family and while I know for a fact that we will get into the district due to attending the PreK program, I am on the list behind all the in-district families and the current open enroll families (open enroll families with an older system already in the district) so I just have no clue what the chances are of her getting into full day.,

    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
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  • WahooWahoo member

    I would wonder about the transition from kindergarten to 1st grade.  Do all of the full day kids go to the same school (so, kids she will be in class with next year), or do they split up between different schools?  How does your dd do with transitions (changing schools)?  Does she know a lot of the kids in the 1/2 day (or full day) program from when she was in daycare?

    With DD's peers, the "full day K kids" (who went to a Catholic school, even some who were not Catholic or even Christian!) tended to be their own group and it took them two years to really mix in with the kids who were in public (1/2 day) school for kindergarten.  Kids who went to the public school 1/2 day and then after care didn't have the same problem, and neither did kids who moved into the school district  (so it wasn't a working parent issue or a "new kid" problem, more of a they were in a new environment and kept to themselves for security issue). 

    I'm not voting "against" full day kindergarten, but you might try to enroll her in scouting or weekend dance or something else next year if she is shy and not great at meeting new people to help her integrate.

    However, if your dd has academic issues, having full day kindergarten can give her a leg up on first grade and might build her self-confidence.  The full day kindergarten kids were all reading better and had better handwriting than the 1/2 day kids! 

    image "Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.
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  • jlw2505jlw2505 member
    imageWahoo:

    I would wonder about the transition from kindergarten to 1st grade.  Do all of the full day kids go to the same school (so, kids she will be in class with next year), or do they split up between different schools?  How does your dd do with transitions (changing schools)?  Does she know a lot of the kids in the 1/2 day (or full day) program from when she was in daycare?

    With DD's peers, the "full day K kids" (who went to a Catholic school, even some who were not Catholic or even Christian!) tended to be their own group and it took them two years to really mix in with the kids who were in public (1/2 day) school for kindergarten.  Kids who went to the public school 1/2 day and then after care didn't have the same problem, and neither did kids who moved into the school district  (so it wasn't a working parent issue or a "new kid" problem, more of a they were in a new environment and kept to themselves for security issue). 

    I'm not voting "against" full day kindergarten, but you might try to enroll her in scouting or weekend dance or something else next year if she is shy and not great at meeting new people to help her integrate.

    However, if your dd has academic issues, having full day kindergarten can give her a leg up on first grade and might build her self-confidence.  The full day kindergarten kids were all reading better and had better handwriting than the 1/2 day kids! 

    My DD is currently in a full day PreK program at the elementary school where she will go for K-12.  The kids in her class will either go to the same school next year or to a different elementary in the district if this is not their home school (the PreK program is not offered at all 6 elementaries) or to a Spanish or Chinese Immersion school.  She will know kids in both the full day and the half programs.  She is not shy but with her speech delay, she has a harder time with new kids as they have a harder time understanding her (hoping that issue will be less of an issue as we are starting to see speech improvement).   SHe already knows a lot of the kids that are a year older than her plus kids in the 4th and 5th grades at this school through a reading buddy program and other programs that her PreK class does with kindergarten kids.  If she does Girl Scouts or any of those activiteis next year when she is in Kindergarten, it would be at the same school she is at Kindergarten in.  When she moves to 1st grade from Kindergaten - the kids will all be from the same school - only difference will be if they are from the full day class or the half day classes

    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
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  • Littlejen22Littlejen22 member
    full day
    Jen - Mom to two December 12 babies Nathaniel 12/12/06 and Addison 12/12/08
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