On Educating Young Children...

I found this article from a Twitter feed and it really sums up a lot of what I believe about full day Kindergarten.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/09/08/marni-soupcoff-all-day-kindergarten-is-a-waste-of-money/

It's a little harsher in tone than I would be, but it does put it's finger on why I am not in favour of full day Kindergarten across the board, at least not for the reasons that people keep putting forward. It can be good for some kids, but not for all. I think that for both my children it wouldn't have been a benefit. Oliver had a tough enough time with full day Grade One (it took him at least 3 months to adjust). Gibson flourished without the extra time and many of his less positive social behaviours developed when he went to school (the sass factor went way up when he started interacting with other kids so much). For some kids the enrichment happens at home, not out of it. There are exceptions - lower income families and families with lower levels of parental education. I am all for leveling the playing field by providing those opportunities to children whose pre-testing suggests they would benefit from it. However, if it is for a child and the main purpose is daycare - call it what it is. I like this idea of saving money by having half-day Kindergarten with half-day Daycare. What is the problem of correctly using the time and not covering it up with the false labels of enriched necessary education?