On Full-Day Kindergarten

I just read an interesting article written by Meredith Martin, an SK-grade one teacher. She points out some interesting effects of the implementation of full-day kindergarten that the average non-kindergarten teacher wouldn't realize or think about. You can read her article below.

http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/rollout-full-day-kindergarten

Essentially, she is not a big fan of full-day kindergarten because it hurts daycare funding, many schools don't have enough classrooms equipped with bathrooms and the like to house all the registered youngsters and the class sizes are too big for any teacher/ECE to effectively look after the emotional and educational needs of students who are under 5 years old.

This is a timely article, given that Don Drummond's report on ways to control provincial government spending in Ontario is likely to suggest that full-day kindergarten be given the ax to save over a billion dollars a year. Whilst many argue that this program needs to be saved, I am going to take the opposite perspective and say that it should go.

Why do I think it should be cut? For the same reasons as Martin, plus a few uniquely my own. It's true that many schools don't have enough space to accommodate the new classes full-day kindergarten will make necessary, and it would cost millions to renovate the schools to make it possible.

Secondly, no kindergarten kid can work in a room with 25-29 other wee, attention-demanding lads pulling on the teacher's arm and telling him/her: "teacher, I have to go, I have to go...oh, too late!" The provincial mandate of 20 for half-day kindergarten is still high, but much more manageable than 30 youngsters for a full day. I know that in theory classes have 2 adults in them now, a teacher and early childhood educator, but that doesn't always happen and 4 grownups wouldn't be enough to sort out all the issues that 30 JK students can have from 9-2:30.

On a more basic note, I also think that a full day of school is too long for a 4-6 year-old, no matter how many nap times you give them. The theory is that students can learn a lot more and be much more advanced by grade 1 if they spend all day in school in kindergarten, but this idea forgets the simple truth that there is only so much a young kid can absorb in a day and only so much time they can spend concentrating.

The provincial government got rid of grade 13 in high schools about a decade ago and has since tried to teach 15 years of material in 14 years, starting with more advanced learning at the lowest levels. The only problem is that students are not ready for more advanced ideas at younger ages, especially JK, so cutting off a year at the top end and tacking on class time at the bottom doesn't even out.

So, all in all, I say scrap full-day kindergarten. I know that it would leave lots of kindergarten teachers and ECE's out of work, which is definitely a shame. But, just in terms of the program itself, it isn't working and the money would be better spent giving those ECE's jobs in daycares and such. They could also be kept on to work in half-day kindergarten classes. Hell, 5 adults could be put to good use in any class with little ones, so why not keep the ECE's on to lend a helping hand?