Whatever Happened to Half-Day Kindergarten?

I don’t know about you, but I went to a half-day kindergarten. And that was a pretty common thing at the time. In fact, I have vivid memories of getting home from school and changing out of my clothes and into my pajamas to take a nap after lunch.

Nowadays you will be hard-pressed to find a kindergarten in Dallas that offers half days, let alone a nap time. And that was a problem for me as I began researching schools for my oldest child several years ago.

You see, at the age of four, my daughter was still taking a nap almost every day. And I didn’t envision that suddenly stopping (without some ill-effect) as soon she walked through those kindergarten doors. Second, I felt like she was a bit immature to be in an academic setting for eight hours straight. And my tour of schools had made it clear: Kindergarten was no longer finger paints, ABC’s, and play time. It was full-on reading, writing, and arithmetic with very little down time.

But my instinct told me that my daughter still needed time to pretend, to play, to be outside, and, yes, to rest.

Now, I understand why half-day kindergartens (and even half-day preschools) are disappearing. Schools have to cater to the rise of two-working-parent families. But instead of marketing it that way, schools seem to tout their advanced curriculuma—taught at much younger ages than decades ago—as if to persuade parents that more school equals better students.

But a little research shows that’s not necessarily the case.

You may have read recently about how compulsory education in Finland does not start until the age of seven—yet their students rank among the top in the world. And studies seem to show that it’s not an earlier start to academics that determines student success, but, unfair as it may be, a family’s household income¹. And here’s a shocker for you: Did you know kindergarten is not even mandatory in the state of Texas?

Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great if a child can write paragraphs and read chapter books in kindergarten. But most developmental specialists will tell you it is not age-appropriate to expect all kindergartners to do so². It’s like walking: The child who walked at nine months is not necessarily a better athlete later in life than the child who walked at 17 months.

Let me give you a non-scientific anecdote: A few years ago, I had four different friends who were advised to get their kindergarteners tested for dyslexia because they were having trouble reading. (None of them did and they are all reading fine now.)

My Facebook feed is filled with editorials about our overworked and overscheduled children. How they are deprived of the glory and free time of childhoods past because they go from eight hours of school to an extracurricular activity then straight into several hours of homework, while often not getting enough sleep. And we read how all of this is related to the rise in depression and anxiety among children³. Yet we start them on this path when they are in kindergarten.

My husband and I chose to send out daughter to one of the few schools in Dallas with a part-time kindergarten and (gasp!) first and second grades. I remember that year, we’d often eat lunch at the park, and other moms would be in shock that she was spinning on the merry-go-round instead of sitting in a classroom. I was constantly asked if I was homeschooling her on the side so she wouldn’t get behind, all while learning that many moms in my area were having their children tutored before they even started kindergarten…

Three years later, my middle child is about to start kindergarten. My husband and I really considered more school for her because she was a preemie, so I feel more pressure for her to “keep up.”

But as we see our third-grade daughter, who’s now reading books like The Secret Garden and doing four-digit multiplication, we realize these things will come in due time. We’d like to think the extra time enjoying the pleasures of childhood—and the additional time I have to nurture her and encourage listening and respect—will serve her far better in the long run.

In a few years we will consider what’s best for our third child. If for some reason I am no longer able to stay at home, I will surely look for a kindergarten that offers more time to play and rest. If one even exists.

¹ Why Finland’s Schools are Top Notch, Parental Income Now a Strong Indicator of Success

² Requiring Kindergarteners to Read – as Common Core Does – Harms Some

³ Give Childhood Back to Our Children