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Full-day kindergarten
I was a little annoyed to hear about McIntyre rushing to implement full-day kindergarten for next year! I don't think it's appropriate to place the onus for 3rd grade reading score improvement on the five-year-olds. I am hoping that he'll lay out his plan soon because there are so many different ways it can go. If he's planning to include down-time in the schedule, then it wouldn't bother me as much.
I appreciate that he wants children to be solid readers by third grade, but there are so many ways this plan can be laid out, and so many ways it can go wrong. I'm bothered by the rush. It doesn't give much time for meetings with the public or weighing pros and cons. We all know that it's a lot easier to DO something than to UNdo it. My fear is that this is going to be a disaster because it hasn't been thought through, but it will take years to get back off of the books.
If anyone has links to his plan, please share them. All I see is a meeting on March 29th where he defends his budget proposal. It sounds as though full-day kindergarten is a-go regardless, and I'm not one to sit back and not ask questions.
A full-day kindergarten with no rest period or down-time is more than I'm willing to ask of my kids at that tender age. Exhausted children learn but poorly.
sailrmerc2
Don't assume the kindergarten teachers want it. Most of these pushes are from the state, not the teachers, TRUST ME.
I work full-time and see no problem with it. While, yes, I am glad that my daughter will be with a certified instructor for more time during the day and will be with a daycare worker less time, that is not the main reason I like the change. My daughter loves learning, and I know she will learn more in the classroom the longer she is there. In after school care, she'd be playing games or having a snack, both of which we can do at home for free. So for me, I disagree with the statement that most working moms "don't really support it because they actually think the extra time is important to their child academically." I do. With all of the time out of the day taken away for "special areas" and transitions and breaks, I'm glad to have the extra time for her to learn. Then again, I have a daughter who is going to be 6 right after K starts, so she may be more ready. She is also already in preschool from 7:30 to 4:00 every day, so it won't be a problem with her. I guess what I don't understand is the negativity from moms who seem to want to keep their kids babies for longer. It's foreign to me. Maybe I will understand with my second, but I'm really excited for my first to go to K. I loved school, and I have a feeling she will, too, so I'm trying to be positive about all of it.
Apr 4, 2012
tessmom
It is some about me not wanting to 'let go' I will admit. Also, I work 2-3 evenings a week so for me it means on those days I will see my DD only about an hour or so which is really hard to imagine. But I guess we will all adjust!
Apr 4, 2012
Hoodwinked
Knox County full-day kindergarten is finally here! I think it is a great thing. If you look at the counties surrounding Knox County, most if not all have had full-day kindergarten for 15 or more years. When compared to those school systems, our kindergarteners are behind by about 360 hours in instruction which comes out to almost a quarter of a school year. My kids go to KC schools, and I teach in KC schools. BUT, my kids went to kindergarten in another county: FULL DAY! They were excellent readers when they left kindergarten. No school system has all the answers, but until the sole measurement of a student's success is NOT a single test score, every school system must find ways to increase the academic rigor to meet that goal.
To the person who made the biased remark "what about the areas of Knox County that have fairly wealthy parents who work very hard and probably care deeply about their child's education", I take offense to that. There are people who are not wealthy but still work very hard and care deeply about their child's education. They work hard because they want better lives for their children. Lack of money is not an indication of lack of diligence or lack of love. I know, see, and care about those parents every day. My mom always said, "Walk a mile in their shoes..." It applies here.
Jul 28, 2012