Full Day Kindergarten VS. Half-Day Kindergarten Margaret Circele

Emerging Trend: full day kindergarten Full day kindergarten is becoming a very popular trend in the United States. In % of children enrolled in kindergarten attended full day kindergarten Catholic Private: 78% Private: 63% Public: 57%

Emerging Trend: Full Day Kindergarten Its important for parents especially to be informed about this emerging trend because more than likely in the next few years they will have a choice in their school district to send their child to full day kindergarten or have them attend a regular half-day kindergarten setting. Right now only 9 states require attendance of full day kindergarten: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

Typical Full Day Kindergarten Schedule Starts at 8 a.m. 9:00-10:00 a.m. Language Arts ( shared reading/Read aloud activity, word work, vocab development, journal writing, response to story.) 10:00-10:30 Recess 10:30-11:30 Writing Workshop (Literacy based activities based on students needs, phonics instructions) 11:30-12:30-Lunch & Recess 12:30-1:20 Rest time/Quiet time snack time 1:20-2:00 Mathematics using manipulatives 2:00-2:30 Work time (learning centers) 2:30-3:00 Clean up, evaluation of the day (what did we do today?) and Dismissal

Typical Half-Day Kindergarten Schedule 8:00-8:15 Play Time & Directed Activity 8:15-8:30 Opening Activities (songs, calendar, poems, chants, and counting) 8:30-9:40 Language Arts (read aloud, shared reading, writing activity, language experience, independent reading, phonics instruction) 9:40-10:10 Center Time (talk about the day so far) 10:10-10:50 Mathematics 10:50-11:00 Recess 11:00-11:15 Social Studies/Science 11:15-11:30 Prepare for dismissal

Full Day Kindergarten Pros More time spent on lessons to better prepare students for elementary school. Students will already be use to being in school for a full six hours once they graduate to 1 st grade. Helps ESL students. Helps parents.

Full Day Kindergarten Cons Less free time at school, not enough time for “kids to be kids.” Too demanding for students and teachers. Funding

Half-Day Kindergarten Pros More time for children to be at home Eases them into a elementary hourly schedule Better hours for their age Less funding

Half-Day Kindergarten Cons Less instruction time. Less readiness for elementary school. Difficulty for parents with older children that are in school full time.

Making Up Your Mind… If your planning on teacher at the kindergarten level, this is something that will definitely impact your job. Having schools switch over to full day has only gotten more popular over the past few years so there is no telling when or if all school districts will switch over. Its definitely something to think about!

References Full day & half day in the United States: Findings from the early childhood longitudinal study, kindergarten class of National Center for Education Statistics. 28 October Full Day Kindergarten: A study of state policies in the United States. June Education for child development. 26 October us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id= us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=464004http:// us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id= A sample of half day kindergarten schedule & A sample schedule of full day kindergarten. 15 December Pennsylvania Department of Education. 26 October &early_childhoodNav=%7C10702%7C 68&early_childhoodNav=%7C10702%7C 68&early_childhoodNav=%7C10702%7C