All day 4K

CarrieB. · October 2014

So I called to make an appointment to tour our neighborhood public school and I was surprised to hear that 4K is all day. Everyone else I know either doesn't have 4K at all or it's half days.

DD1 is in preschool now just 2 mornings a week (DH is home w the kids all day) and I'm a little worried that going to all day 4K might be a difficult adjustment. I was told that there is nap time.

Any thoughts on adjusting to all day 4K? It's 7:35am-2:20pm.

shannm · October 2014

What is 4k? Is this preK?

CarrieB. · October 2014

shannm said:
What is 4k? Is this preK?

4K is 4 year old kindergarten. Some schools in our district have 4K or even 3K. I don't know if that's just a Wisconsin term.

litzo27 · October 2014

Well my kids have been in daycare full time since age 2 so I guess to me it's not a big deal. And since K will be full day anyway it might actually be an easier adjustment because 4K will be all play and will have a nap/quiet time to relax. If you don't enroll in a 4K will she keep going to preschool 2 days a week? How does the cost of that compare to the 4K program?

shakinros · October 2014

I think it's probably a good thing. Good practice for regular kindergarten!

Of course my kid is in full day daycare (like 8-530) so the hours seem like nbd to me.

aglenn · October 2014

Our public school preschool program has options for half day or "extended" (full) day. My kids have been in day care since they were infants so "full day" being school day (9-3) would actually be short for us. In your situation I would probably try to find a program that did half days 5 days a week as an intermediate step.

itsmevkb · October 2014

My kids went from a three hour 3K program to full day 4K and it went fine. Honestly, the afternoons were nap time and then basically play time so it's not as though they had to focused, quiet, etc. the entire day. Oh, and our 4K is 7:40 - 3:15 so it's a rather long day.

emberlee3 · October 2014

I still don't understand why preschool or pre-K is called 4K? Where I live, pre-K is for 4 year olds, in both public and private schools. There are private 2yo and 3yo programs with varying schedules. If your public school system has full-day kindergarten, then I think full-day preK/4K is reasonable as a transition. I think the primary driver is to make it workable for families who need full-time childcare. A lot of public pre-K programs in my district offer before/after care, so preK really replaces daycare.

DiveFrog · October 2014

Our public school district offers a lot of flexibility in regards to the preschool programs it offers. 3yr olds can either go 2 mornings a week, 2 afternoons a week, or they have a program for 5 full day program. 4yr olds can either go 3 mornings a week, 3 afternoons a week or 5 full days. Plus they offer an "extended day option" for with the morning or afternoon 1/2day classes to leave later or come earlier and the will serve lunch.

None of these programs are free, but cost about a third of what private preschool/day care costs.

I do think your comfort level with how many days/how long a preschool "attends" school has a lot to do with what your childcare has been prior to preschool. Personally, since DD has been fulltime with my parents since she was an infant. I wouldn't think the transition would go very well if I throw her into a 5day, full day program right off the bat. Instead we are planning first yr. 2 mornings a week, and then depending on how she adjusts will make a decision about 3 mornings vs. 5 full days for yr. 4.

itsmevkb · October 2014

emberlee3 said:

I still don't understand why preschool or pre-K is called 4K? Where I live, pre-K is for 4 year olds, in both public and private schools. There are private 2yo and 3yo programs with varying schedules. If your public school system has full-day kindergarten, then I think full-day preK/4K is reasonable as a transition. I think the primary driver is to make it workable for families who need full-time childcare. A lot of public pre-K programs in my district offer before/after care, so preK really replaces daycare.

I call it 3K, 4K and 5K because that's what the Milwaukee Public Schools offer. There is nothing they call "pre-K" and their standard is pretty much that three year olds attend kindy thus creating sort of a grade system for kindergarten.

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