All-day 4K?
DS is supposed to start 4K in the fall and I'm still having a hard time deciding where to send him.
Our school district is notoriously bad and enrollment is done with a lottery system. DS got into the only school we'd send him to, but I'm still a bit hesitant. They only offer all-day 4K and DS has never been in any kind of traditional learning environment. DS also makes the cutoff date by only two weeks.
Our other option is to send him to private school where he would do half-day 4K. We'd then try the following year to get him into the public school.
I'm worried if we don't send him to the public school this year that he'll lose his spot. It is one of the top ranked schools in the state and a ton of people try to get their kids in. We already asked if we could delay enrollment a year, but they told us we'd have to start all over in the lottery system.
Re: All-day 4K?
I'd probably wait. I'm a bit confused about the school district being notoriously bad but you don't want to lose your spot there, like it's good. Is it the one school in the district that is good and the others are bad? Our school district doesn't work this way which is why maybe I can't picture it.
If he's young and you don't think he'd be ready for full day, he probably isn't. We have an excellent school district and the afternoon prek is awful compared to the am because most of those kids need naps still and aren't getting them because of their schedule.
I know it seems strange. The school district we're in gets awful ratings, but there are a couple of schools in it that are good. We got him into one of the few good ones.
They do have quiet/nap time in the afternoon. He hasn't napped since he was 2, so that isn't an issue.
I used to teach 4k - I had two sessions during the day 3.5 hrs each. I didn't like it as much as I would have liked having a 'full day' with my kids. 3.5 hrs goes by soooo fast and I am the type of teacher that loves to teach through free play and we never head enough time for free play. I remember seeing kids leave and thinking, "oh well, that is nice, I got to talk to Billy for two seconds today."
My 2 cents, I would rather see my child go all day with a teacher that I know is good and engaging the kids in developmentally appropriate learning, then send my child to a 3 hr program where she may be not engaged at all due to other needs of the kids. Short form answer - all day program gives you child more of a chance to get the attention and learning experiences he needs.