FullDay Kindergarten: Educational Revolution or FullDay Babysitting

1
Full-Day KindergartenEducational Revolution or
Full-Day Babysitting?
By Katie Brockway Source MSNBC, April 5, 2004

2
Are kids ready for this?

• Full-day Kindergarten beneficial says
  educational community.
• Educational opportunities for children 5 and
  younger
• Research abilities of young children
  underestimated.

3
No Child Left Behind

• Government pushing schools to improve learning.
• Penalties if they dont.

4
Less Prepared

• Children less prepared for school.
• Parents spend less time with their children.
• Full-Day Kindergarten helps with this.

5
Reaching them early

• 95 of 5 and 6 year olds in school.
• 52 of 3 and 4 year olds in school.
• Research younger children can handle all-day
  school.

6
Whos joining in?

• 15 States added Full-Day Kindergarten since 2002.
• Arizona is the most recent addition.

7
Costs

• Adding full-day kindergarten is added expense.
• Twice as expensive as 1/2 day program.
• Many districts dont have the money.

8
Appropriate Learning

• Not all programs created equal
• No state standards for kindergarten

9
Full-Day babysitting?

• Some say programs are glorified day-care.
• Critics children not physiologically and
  psychologically ready.

10
Full-day kindergarteners can
Write sentences that make sense Read beginner
books Make friends

11
So what happens now?
Continued research Improved programs and
standards More parent involvement Help
with funding Seeing the results first hand