ALL DAY KINDERGARTEN...

When we lived in Utah, and PJ was in kindergarten, it was only half-day. I loved it. He went to school in the morning for a few hours, then came home and had lunch, and a short nap. We still had plenty of time together, and it was a pretty easy adjustment into school. When we moved here to Bentonville, the year that Tessa started kindergarten, it was MUCH different. The kindergartners go all day long. The school day is from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., but they are supposed to be in their classroom around 7:45, because they start some daily tasks at that time, and then the tardy bell rings at 8:00. Tessa was still napping half the time, so when school started, she was exhausted and emotional, and it was a very traumatic adjustment (for both her and me). She has always had a hard time adjusting to new situations, so that only made it worse. She had a melt-down every morning before school, and then came home and napped for a couple hours every day after school, for the first couple months. It was horrible (but she did finally adjust).

Well, Jonah just started kindergarten last Monday. The first day he was SO excited. I walked him in and he was all set and ready to go. He loved every minute of it and was so happy after school, and still had plenty of energy to run around and play and ride his bike and everything (he just learned to ride without his training wheels a few weeks ago too). Then on Tuesday, he wanted to walk in by himself, but I walked him in one more time (for my sake). Again, he had a great day and was excited and happy. He told me after school that he missed me when he was gone all day at school. I told him I missed him too, but I was glad that he wasn’t sad, and that he was having lots of fun and that I’d just have to give him lots of extra hugs and kisses when he was at home. Then on Thursday and Friday his teacher said he got kind of sad, and was emotional a few times, but when he got home, he was happy and energetic and said he had fun, but got sad because he missed me.

Well, yesterday and today has been a little harder. He said that he liked preschool better, because it wasn’t so long (he went 2 days a week for 3-1/2 hours each day). He still loves school and learning and playing and all of that, but it’s just so long! He starts to get sad and teary-eyed as I leave him at school. It breaks my heart! I really do like the school system here. It’s great and they have really good scores and everything, but I think that a 7-hour day is just way too long for a little 5-year old! I think they could learn just as much in 3-1/2 hours a day, as they can in a 7-hour day (they could have lunchtime, rest time, and snack time at home). They might not have all the extra classes like Spanish, computers, art, music, P.E., but I’m sure they would pick it up and learn just as much in 1st grade.

It just seems that there is so much pressure on kids now, compared to when I was a kid. Not that that’s a bad thing, but come on—-they are 5!! Like I said, I really do like the school system, and they offer the kids a lot of great opportunities, but I hate all-day kindergarten. My kids have all done great in school and we’ve loved their schools and their teachers, I just think that society wants to push kids to grow up too fast. But that’s just my opinion…