Kindergarten Schedule Poll (rp from school age)

NicoleWI · February 2014

We have full-day kindergarten now but there is a not-well-known and little used option to send kids just until after lunch. I think I will probably just send DD full day since it's the norm, but I would really prefer half-day. I know someone who does half-day and loves it. What do you have, and do you like it? Please answer about what you have in your district, and feel free to add comments!

ETA: half-day kids would actually stay until after lunch (1ish) as opposed to 3:45. If they want to stay all day for special events, that's okay (i.e. Valentine's party, concert, whatever).

penguingrrl · February 2014

Our district switched from half day to full day K this year, so my 1st grader was the last class that had half day. It was really difficult for the students. By the time they got to school, got coats and backpacks put away, got everyone settled down they only had 2.5 hours before it was time to pack up and leave. In that time they had to accomplish reading, writing, science, social studies plus a 40 minute special every day (music, art, computers, gym, library, Spanish). The teachers said it was just so stressful for the teachers and the students and there was no down time, no snack time, no recess. The district was so happy that the voters finally agreed to make full day K a budgetary priority (it required hiring 3 new teachers plus expanding the existing building).

I've spoken to her K teacher a few times this year and she said that full day is going so much better. The kids are more relaxed, there's a lot more time for each thing, they actually have time for fun projects and such that they weren't able to do.

eaglesfan700 · February 2014

Our district has 1/2 day but we decided to send DS to a private kindergarten that is from 9-2. We felt he needed a longer day and this offered a smaller class size, which we felt was important for him specifically.

Now DD will do kindergarten in the fall at the public school. We will look into an enrichment program maybe 2-3 days a week, mostly because she will want it, not because I am worried about it not being enough

Andrewsgal · February 2014

The difference between our full day and other districts half days is fun. In the half day all they do is work and take out all the specials (art, music,pe) and recess, lunch and centers. I wanted Dd to know school was more than just work.

Spin313 · February 2014

My district switched from full/optional half to full days only last year.

bhuffman · February 2014

Our district is so strange. Normal elementary runs from 9-3:40. Kindergarten runs from 9-2:30. Parents either have to pick the kids up at 2:30 (what I do) or pay for an hour of babysitting until the rest of elementary is out. Then kids can walk home with siblings, ride the bus, or be picked up. If parents work, there is the aftercare program for all elementary students that goes until 6:30. I despise this schedule and hope they go to a full day when my youngest begins Kindergarten.

Also, K teachers (unless they are the seasoned teachers who have been in the district for a long time) get an 85% salary. Don't even get me started on that! As a former teacher, I am appalled. However, this is the best district in the state. They have no problem hiring teachers and teachers take pay cuts to get in our district. Every teacher starts at 0 levels of experience no matter how many years they actually have taught elsewhere. It's crazy!

That is a book to answer your question!

meglew · February 2014

Our district is half day. There are several schools in the district that have lottery programs for a full day class, but there is tuition associated with the full day option. They are going to full day across the board next year.

With that DD1 goes to private school and her class is from 8-3. I actually think it is a bit too long, but is pretty typical for private schools in the area.

kcisthebombdotcom · February 2014

Our district has the option for both. We will opt for half day though I'm not sure what the masses do. cognitively kids make more gains with child directed play than in structured settings. i really believe the push for full day is because moms work full time more than before--not because its in the best interest of the child.

mandymack · February 2014

I want to know what hours are considered FULL day vs. HALF day in your districts.

Emily went to Kindergarten 8:20-12:45pm 3 days each week and 8:20-1:40pm the other 2 days each week. It's still like this in every school in our district and they have music once a week and motor fitness once a week. Art, Science and Garden lessons are once per month.

Grades 1-5 go 8:20-2:50pm every day but Wednesdays when they are always released one hour earlier at 1:50pm. So, Kindergarten in our district is only a few hours shorter in total if looked at over the week.

Is that considered FULL day or HALF day to you?

penguingrrl · February 2014

TobeMrsShavers said:

I want to know what hours are considered FULL day vs. HALF day in your districts.

Emily went to Kindergarten 8:20-12:45pm 3 days each week and 8:20-1:40pm the other 2 days each week. It's still like this in every school in our district and they have music once a week and motor fitness once a week. Art, Science and Garden lessons are once per month.

Grades 1-5 go 8:20-2:50pm every day but Wednesdays when they are always released one hour earlier at 1:50pm. So, Kindergarten in our district is only a few hours shorter in total if looked at over the week.

Is that considered FULL day or HALF day to you?

K-4th in our district has school 8:05-2:55 M-F. When K was half day am K was 8:05-11, pm K was 12-2:55. Nobody has half days or early dismissals routinely.

rosesandpetals · February 2014

Our public schools have full day kindergarten and most of the private schools are half day kindergarten. Most people do full day kindergarten but I think that is because most people work. I can't say which I like better because we're not there yet.

mandymack · February 2014

penguingrrl said:

TobeMrsShavers said:

I want to know what hours are considered FULL day vs. HALF day in your districts.

Emily went to Kindergarten 8:20-12:45pm 3 days each week and 8:20-1:40pm the other 2 days each week. It's still like this in every school in our district and they have music once a week and motor fitness once a week. Art, Science and Garden lessons are once per month.

Grades 1-5 go 8:20-2:50pm every day but Wednesdays when they are always released one hour earlier at 1:50pm. So, Kindergarten in our district is only a few hours shorter in total if looked at over the week.

Is that considered FULL day or HALF day to you?

K-4th in our district has school 8:05-2:55 M-F. When K was half day am K was 8:05-11, pm K was 12-2:55. Nobody has half days or early dismissals routinely.

Ahhh interesting! So HALF day K for y'all was only 15 hours per week. Our K is 22 hours per week so we fall right in between your half day and full day K schedule.

So weird our 1-5th only goes 5.5hrs (Wed) + 6.5x4 (M, T, Th, F) a total of 31.5 hours each week and y'all go 35 hours each week.

That frustrates me!

I think all kids in all grades should go the same amount of instructional hours across the country...

Chapter79 · February 2014

TobeMrsShavers said:

I want to know what hours are considered FULL day vs. HALF day in your districts.

Emily went to Kindergarten 8:20-12:45pm 3 days each week and 8:20-1:40pm the other 2 days each week. It's still like this in every school in our district and they have music once a week and motor fitness once a week. Art, Science and Garden lessons are once per month.

Grades 1-5 go 8:20-2:50pm every day but Wednesdays when they are always released one hour earlier at 1:50pm. So, Kindergarten in our district is only a few hours shorter in total if looked at over the week.

Is that considered FULL day or HALF day to you?

I'm not sure, those are strange hours. But it's not quite full day.

My DD did full K.. 8-2:15pm. We have no half days here. Haven't in years. IF we had a choice, I would NEVER choose half.. I would do full.

NicoleWI · February 2014

If our day ended at 2:15 I would do full day for sure. But going from 8;15ish until 3:45 seems really long to me. ( am OP)

penguingrrl · February 2014

TobeMrsShavers said:

penguingrrl said:

TobeMrsShavers said:

I want to know what hours are considered FULL day vs. HALF day in your districts.

Emily went to Kindergarten 8:20-12:45pm 3 days each week and 8:20-1:40pm the other 2 days each week. It's still like this in every school in our district and they have music once a week and motor fitness once a week. Art, Science and Garden lessons are once per month.

Grades 1-5 go 8:20-2:50pm every day but Wednesdays when they are always released one hour earlier at 1:50pm. So, Kindergarten in our district is only a few hours shorter in total if looked at over the week.

Is that considered FULL day or HALF day to you?

K-4th in our district has school 8:05-2:55 M-F. When K was half day am K was 8:05-11, pm K was 12-2:55. Nobody has half days or early dismissals routinely.

Ahhh interesting! So HALF day K for y'all was only 15 hours per week. Our K is 22 hours per week so we fall right in between your half day and full day K schedule.

So weird our 1-5th only goes 5.5hrs (Wed) + 6.5x4 (M, T, Th, F) a total of 31.5 hours each week and y'all go 35 hours each week.

That frustrates me!

I think all kids in all grades should go the same amount of instructional hours across the country...

It's very frustrating the differences nationwide. DH is currently on the job market and we're open to moving anywhere and the differences in school have me very worried! Between vastly different age cut offs, different hours and everything else I feel like my 1st grader may start 2nd either very ahead or very behind in whatever new district we end up in!

Andrewsgal · February 2014

Half day in the district by us is 7:45-10:45 or 11:45-2:45 full day is 7:45-2:45. Like I said the only difference in full and half day is specials, recess, lunch and centers.

kcisthebombdotcom · February 2014

Full school day is 9-3. Half day kindie is 2 hours 45 minutes.

Mrs.Hizzo · February 2014

DS does full-day, 8:45 - 3:20. There are pros and cons. I truly feel like it's a better fit for him than half-day would be, that only goes 8:45 - 11:30. I don't see how they can possibly pack everything they're trying to cram into those kids into under three hours. On the other hand, 6.5 hours is a really long day and it doesn't leave a ton of time for anything else.

I feel like, in an ideal world, Kindergarten would be offered from, say, 9:00 - 1:00, long enough for a more relaxed pace but not SO long for five and six year olds. Of course that will happen when pigs fly.

fancynewbeesly · February 2014

We only have half day options here.

A few years ago, it was on the budget--but our town voted down having full day kindergarten. So until the state mandates full day kindergarten, I doubt we will ever have full day.

kcisthebombdotcom · February 2014

LalaMama81 said:
We have full day, 9-3:30, same through 4th grade. Our district was the first or second in our state to go full day and it was 30 years ago. No half day options.

I'm surprised that some of the half day options aren't even 3 hours. Most preschool half days are 3 hours! (A few are 2.5)

Our preschool is 2.5 hours so kindie is 15 minutes longer than preschool.

d has been in school for a year and can write his name, knows probably 80% of letters by sight, knows colors, shapes, counting objects , simple math (like if you have three stickers and you need five how many more do you need), etc. our school district is well above average and our towns high school is on the top 1000 list nationally so they've still managed to exceed expectations despite the shorter days.

penguingrrl · February 2014

Diapers&Wipes said:

We have full day, 9-3:30, same through 4th grade. Our district was the first or second in our state to go full day and it was 30 years ago. No half day options. I'm surprised that some of the half day options aren't even 3 hours. Most preschool half days are 3 hours! (A few are 2.5)
This was my main issue with half day. They go for 2 hours 35 mins. What is that? I understand not wanting a 5 year old in school for 7 hours but there has to be a better option than 2.5 hours.

3/4 day sounds good, but since it wouldn't be significantly cheaper than full day I doubt it would be popular many places. 3/4 day means still needing a classroom per class (rather than 2 classes per room) and a teacher per class (again, rather than 1 teacher per two classes), so the same resources with a slightly shorter day. (in fact, in the transition from 1/2 to full day we went from 2 teachers/4 classes to 5 teachers/5 classes because we had approximately 20 students per year who transfer in for 1st grade having gone to private school or daycare for K).

Julia actually went to fewer hours per week of K than she did preK in NYC (for free). Universal PreK was 3 hours 5 days a week, K was 2:55 5 days a week (so like 25 minutes less per week).

jnksmom · February 2014

This is the 2nd year our district has had full day K. They are in school 7:45-2:45 K-5th. Before that K was 7:45-1. I prefer the full day. It allows for more recess time, extended specials(40min instead of 20). I also think it is way yo hard to cram so much learning into 2.5-3 hours like some districts have.

Lilly&Co · February 2014

We only have half day Kindergarden, so we have our daughter in Montessori school this year for full day and will send her to public to school for 1st, we did the same with our oldest who is in 2nd.

Chapter79 · February 2014

DC2London said:

I have always thought like a 2/3 day would be ideal. So our neighborhood school goes from 9-4, maybe kinder should go 9-2.

9-4 wow! That's an entire hour longer than our schools. We do 8-2.

bhuffman · February 2014

DC2London said:
I have always thought like a 2/3 day would be ideal. So our neighborhood school goes from 9-4, maybe kinder should go 9-2.

I get what you are saying, but that's technically what our district has. For SAHM/D it is great, but for working parents it is a logistical issue. They don't run the afternoon busses until the rest of the elementary lets out. So, parents pay for babysitting at the school if they want their kids to ride the bus.

pitterpatter129 · February 2014

We have full day PreK (4 year old program) and going half a day is not a choice. To be enrolled in the public schools here, you must go full day. I think it's a lot for the little ones, but I know they do it partly to accommodate the working parents (the majority of parents here.) ETA: We have full day Kindergarten as well. I put preK because our public schools start in PreK, not Kinder.

kcisthebombdotcom · February 2014

LalaMama81 said:

KC_13 said:

LalaMama81 said:
We have full day, 9-3:30, same through 4th grade. Our district was the first okr second in our state to go full day and it was 30 years ago. No half day options.

I'm surprised that some of the half day options aren't even 3 hours. Most preschool half days are 3 hours! (A few are 2.5)
Our preschool is 2.5 hours so kindie is 15 minutes longer than preschool. d has been in school for a year and can write his name, knows probably 80% of letters by sight, knows colors, shapes, counting objects , simple math (like if you have three stickers and you need five how many more do you need), etc. our school district is well above average and our towns high school is on the top 1000 list nationally so they've still managed to exceed expectations despite the shorter days.
Is this a contest about whose kid is learning more or is smarter?

Our high school is in that list, too. I would actually love a shorter k day, but not less than 3 hours. Like I said, our district has been doing it for 30 years so obviously it's working fine.

Not at all. the common theme is school needs to be a longer day so kids can learn everything they need to know. i just don't believe that's true across the board.

Andrewsgal · February 2014

KC_13 said:

We have full day, 9-3:30, same through 4th grade. Our district was the first okr second in our state to go full day and it was 30 years ago. No half day options. I'm surprised that some of the half day options aren't even 3 hours. Most preschool half days are 3 hours! (A few are 2.5)
Our preschool is 2.5 hours so kindie is 15 minutes longer than preschool. d has been in school for a year and can write his name, knows probably 80% of letters by sight, knows colors, shapes, counting objects , simple math (like if you have three stickers and you need five how many more do you need), etc. our school district is well above average and our towns high school is on the top 1000 list nationally so they've still managed to exceed expectations despite the shorter days.
Is this a contest about whose kid is learning more or is smarter? Our high school is in that list, too. I would actually love a shorter k day, but not less than 3 hours. Like I said, our district has been doing it for 30 years so obviously it's working fine.
Not at all. the common theme is school needs to be a longer day so kids can learn everything they need to know. i just don't believe that's true across the board.

interesting I didn't see a lot of people saying that here. I prefer ours longer so DD gets to do all the extras (art, music, PE, lunch, 2 recesses) these are her favorite parts of school and I am glad she was able to do them in kinder.

Angela814 · February 2014

Our half day 4K is 2.5 hours, either 8:45-11:15 or 12:30-3.

Kindergarten through 5th grade is 8:35-3:25, so 6 hours 50 min. 50 min of that is lunch and recesses.

kcisthebombdotcom · February 2014

amy052006 said:

LalaMama81 said:

KC_13 said:

LalaMama81 said:
We have full day, 9-3:30, same through 4th grade. Our district was the first okr second in our state to go full day and it was 30 years ago. No half day options.

I'm surprised that some of the half day options aren't even 3 hours. Most preschool half days are 3 hours! (A few are 2.5)
Our preschool is 2.5 hours so kindie is 15 minutes longer than preschool. d has been in school for a year and can write his name, knows probably 80% of letters by sight, knows colors, shapes, counting objects , simple math (like if you have three stickers and you need five how many more do you need), etc. our school district is well above average and our towns high school is on the top 1000 list nationally so they've still managed to exceed expectations despite the shorter days.
Is this a contest about whose kid is learning more or is smarter?

Our high school is in that list, too. I would actually love a shorter k day, but not less than 3 hours. Like I said, our district has been doing it for 30 years so obviously it's working fine.
Not at all. the common theme is school needs to be a longer day so kids can learn everything they need to know. i just don't believe that's true across the board.

KC_13 said:
KC -- this is a totally honest question -- I fully admit I could be missing something. You've been very open with the fact that your daughter has some sort of issue, pursuing it with numerous specialists even when other were telling you not ASD and taking her to what you described as a clinic know for over diagnosing (not my words, just what I remember you saying) -- you seem especially proactive about getting her into a school setting before three and getting her every possible therapy and service you can. Given that, what is the benefit of withholding her from full day kindy,when so many of her peers will be attending a full day program?

KC_13 said:
This isn't a "jump on KC thing" I am honestly curious. It just seems to not jive with the other things you have discussed in relation to your kids. FWIW, I don't really have a dog in the full vs. half day fight -- I would just do what the more popular norm in my district.

Not offended--good question. i could imagine the majority of her class will be in. half day as you have to opt to another school in our district. Academically she probably could start kindie tomorrow so thats not a concern. She currently (and likely will in the future) need help with speech and social skills and that can be worked on outside of the classroom so she still has plenty of down time. obviously things could change and maybe shell end up in the autism classroom for kindie that runs 9-130. Her teachers and doctors feel its a reasonable goal that she will be in mainstream kindie so we plan on that until we have a reason to change the plan.

kcisthebombdotcom · February 2014

Andrewsgal said:

KC_13 said:

LalaMama81 said:

KC_13 said:

LalaMama81 said:
We have full day, 9-3:30, same through 4th grade. Our district was the first okr second in our state to go full day and it was 30 years ago. No half day options.

I'm surprised that some of the half day options aren't even 3 hours. Most preschool half days are 3 hours! (A few are 2.5)
Our preschool is 2.5 hours so kindie is 15 minutes longer than preschool. d has been in school for a year and can write his name, knows probably 80% of letters by sight, knows colors, shapes, counting objects , simple math (like if you have three stickers and you need five how many more do you need), etc. our school district is well above average and our towns high school is on the top 1000 list nationally so they've still managed to exceed expectations despite the shorter days.
Is this a contest about whose kid is learning more or is smarter?

Our high school is in that list, too. I would actually love a shorter k day, but not less than 3 hours. Like I said, our district has been doing it for 30 years so obviously it's working fine.
Not at all. the common theme is school needs to be a longer day so kids can learn everything they need to know. i just don't believe that's true across the board.

interesting I didn't see a lot of people saying that here. I prefer ours longer so DD gets to do all the extras (art, music, PE, lunch, 2 recesses) these are her favorite parts of school and I am glad she was able to do them in kinder.

No less than three people referenced they couldn't imagine a shorter school day so i combined two responses in one. I have awesome memories of all the fun i had with my mom in the afternoon after half day of school since i was old enough to remember and look forward to those experiences with my kids.

JCM · February 2014

I'm in the DFW area & I am yet to come across a 1/2 day kindergarten. I was in K in the late 70's in San Antonio & it was full day even back then. I think the typical full day K class is from 8-3 ish. Right now DD is in Pre-K M/W/F full day 8:30 - 2:30. I think the transition to full day K next year will be fairly easy. The only problem that I can see is that she still naps the days she's not in school. They have nap time in Pre-k but she rarely falls asleep. There is still quite a bit of time before K starts for her so I'm hoping she will naturally drop her nap before then.

ariel06 · February 2014

This is the last year that half day is free and you pay for full day. Starting next year, full day is free, they'll offer half day if you choose it (and they have enough kids to fill a class) with no busing.

They go the regular school hours of 8:35 to 3:35. Half day teacher have to classes, so when you add in bus time, they get 1/3 of the instructional time. No recess, gym, library time, art, computer lab, etc. They just don't have time with the materials they are required to cover.

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