Your Child and Full- or Half-Day Kindergarten

What You Need to Know

Drop your child off at 10 and pick him or her up at noon? Or is your child in an all-day classroom, complete with meals and rest time? When it comes to kindergarten schedules, you have plenty of options. With such a broad range, how do you decide which program is best for your child?

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten cohort, a nationally representative sample of over 8,000 kindergarteners and 500 U.S. public schools can help answer some of your questions about the pros and cons of both types of programs. Here are the latest findings from the study:

• Students who attend full-day kindergarten programs learn more in literacy and mathematics in comparison to half-day programs
• Students who attend full-day kindergarten spend 30% more time on reading and literacy instruction as well as 46% more time on mathematics
• The full-day advantage in literacy amounts to slightly more than one month of extra learning and the advantage in math is slightly less than one month
• Full-day kindergarten is equally effective for children of different social backgrounds

How You Can Help

Despite the length of a program, research shows that small group and individualized activities, as well as child-initiated activities, are important successful kindergarten programs. Successful programs include plenty of time for play and view teachers as facilitators of learning. That’s why it’s important to make sure a program includes both education and play. The best way to do this is to visit different schools and spend some time observing what the kids do throughout the day.

Also consider your child's unique needs and abilities when you make this decision. If you think your child isn’t ready to be away from home all day, you’re probably right. After all, no one knows your child as well as you.

Finally, be sure to include your child in the decision. Ask him how he feels about going to school at certain times and being picked up at certain times without expressing a preference for either half-day or full-day schedules.

For more information on all-day and half-day kindergartens, check out our full article:

www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Full_Day_vs_Half_Day/