So after a friend published their very first blog entry I thought that I would get back to blogging myself. My ideas for this blog have only changed slightly as I have spent a lot of time lately reading about various things. I intend to write about what is happening in my life, career, family and anything else I feel is important to share.
I have always been extremely passionate about certain hot topics in education. The first one I am going to tackle is the practise of Full Day Kindergarten and 3 year old JKs. Here is some insight from a person who has spent a fair bit of time sitting a little chair at a little table in many Kindergarten classes.
The World of Education has changed dramatically since I entered in my Kindergarten year (1990). You had to be either turn 5 if you had a fall birthday (September 1st to December 31st) or already 5 if your birthday fell from January 1st to August 31st to even be enrolled in school. Also we only went every other day for full days. We had carpet instruction where we learned as a group or were pulled during free play time to work with our teacher. We had limited free play time in the class and also had 3 different recess times where we were outside or in the gym playing sports. We sat at tables to do our writing, art and reading. We only had 19 other children in our classes and only 1 teacher. It was a great life!!!!
Now, many kids start school at 3 years of age for Junior Kindergarten and struggle because they did not have that extra year at home. They have a hard time with being at school for 5 full days without an opportunity for a nap. These children who have later birthdays are the youngest students in their classes. They can sometimes lack the physical and emotional maturity to thrive in their class. This could be potentially detrimental to those young souls, but not every 3 year old that enters JK is going to fall into this category. Some JKs are ready to be at school and thrive.
Some parents combat this by keeping their kids home one or two days a week; I can empathize and understand this choice but how does that set the child up for success? Well it offers them the chance to catch up on some sleep, which will help them grow and mature over time. This also sets them up for success if they have a routine of when they go to school and when they are home. Some parents opt for half days and some parents keep their children home for all of their JK year. The government mandates that a child MUST be registered for Grade 1 unless special arrangements have been made so keeping your 3 year old home for a year would be completely fine.
Just to play devil’s advocate here, if a parent decides to keep a child home for their JK year, the child could have significant challenges with successfully integrating into the school routine. The Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) program in Ontario is a Play-Based Learning Model which provides invitations to investigate, discover, learn and master certain skills. This model was developed specifically to allow the younger students to develop skills that they need to become more independent like their older Kindergarten peers. There are of course certain drawbacks to this program too. There are up to 30 students in a class and 1 teacher and 1 Early Childhood Educator (ECE). The FDK program has allowed the school boards to hire ECEs which is great because they are specialized in childhood development up to including 6 years of age.
In the end deciding whether parents should enroll their children in JK is a personal and individual choice. For too long the parents have judged educators and educators have judged parents for certain choices. I think it is a family’s choice as to when they start their wee souls at school. Parents need to do what is best for their 3 year old’s wellbeing.
Alphonso, C. (2017, March 7 of The Globe and Mail). Kids with late birthdays can wait a year for kindergarten if needed.
A Look into the Life of an Educator 