This Mom Wonders What Happened To Half-Day Kindergarten
“Who decided that a full day of school for kindergarteners is a good idea?”
For some kids, the transition to Kindergarten is easy as “one, two, three.”
Preschool, daycare, or even grandma taking the kids for the day might result in some kids being more than ready to spread their wings and spend a good chunk of the day away from their parents.
But what about little ones who aren’t as eager to fly?
One mom, Lindsay Witt, posed the question on TikTok: What happened to half-day kindergarten?
A shorter option, which she feels would offer a softer transition for young kids, seems to be far less common these days.
“Who decided that a full day of school for kindergarteners is a good idea?” asked Lindsay.
“Is it not mind-blowing to everyone else out there that we are going to be sending our five and six-year-olds to school full-time for the first time away from us for six hours a day?”
“Why is my daughter, who will be barely five years old when kindergarten starts, going to have school days that are just as long as a 12 year old?” she continued.
“I think the transition would be so much better for parents, teachers, and most importantly, the kids if they started with a half day or a shortened day. Six hours seems crazy.”
Many commenters echoed Lindsay’s concerns.
“kindergarten teacher here ... and I agree! school started this week and the babies are EXHAUSTED!” commented user 308308.
“i went to kindergarten in Nevada and I went from 8-12. I can’t find anything like that now with my son and it drives me crazy how this is ‘normal,’” said kiley gabel.
However, many commenters disagreed. While some shared their own children’s positive experiences with full-day kindergarten, many more pointed to the fact that for working parents, kindergarten serves as necessary childcare.
“My daughter went to daycare for 10 months because people gotta work. Then kindergarten plus after school care. It’s fine I promise,” said AnxietyBlob.
“Because most parent’s can’t work 4.5-5 hours and then leave to pick up their kids. They also can’t afford aftercare every single day,” added mamarogers1719.
Full-day kindergarten has become the dominant choice over the past 40 years, growing from only 28 percent in 1977 to 77 percent in 2013, according to Child Trends.
And there are plenty of benefits: the National Education Association found that full-day programs produced greater reading and mathematics achievements and improved social and emotional skills for kids.
At the same time, other research has found that the benefits of full-day kindergarten can be dependent on things like class size and that initial benefits might “fade out,” evening the playing field by the third grade.
However, the choice between full or half day may be most dependent on what’s available to you. Despite their popularity, public options for full-day kindergarten may not be quite as prevalent as you would expect.
Only 18 states even require children to attend kindergarten, according to the policy organization Education Commission of the States. While 45 states require school districts to offer kindergarten in some form, only 17 require school districts to offer full-day programs.
So, what’s the answer? Full-day or half-day?
Well, the choice is yours, and maybe also your school district’s.
