Kindergarten Round-Up

Since when did kindergarten become an expense? Kindergarten used to be something that everyone attended and it was all equal in the level of education the kids received. That's apparently not true anymore. Our school district (Liberty) currently has a full-day kindergarten that all students attend. When we first moved here, I was a little surprised at this since we had only ever done half-day kindergarten for the boys. I was worried that Jackson, who was just entering 1st grade, would be somewhat behind his other peers because of this. Now, because of all the budget cuts our education system has received, our school district has decided to offer the full-day class at a cost, leaving the half-day option free. Basically, it boils down to this- do we give our kids the bare bones educational beginning, or do we give them the meat and potatoes option, allowing them a greater advantage as they progress in school? Is it really fair for those who can't afford the $140/month fee to have their kids not get the level of education they deserve? This isn't a private school. It's a public school and charging tuition for students to get what they already deserve isn't exactly fair.

After attending Alora's kindergarten round-up this evening, I am more convinced that she deserves the full-day class. The extra time in class will grant her the following:

• skill building (examples: library, computer, physical education)
• hands-on enrichment (reading, math, writing, social studies, science, social skills)
• fine arts (art/music/creative play/writing)
• calendar time (patterns, counting)
• story time (class read aloud)

If she goes just half-day, she won't receive the science and social studies portion, or any of the fine arts. Gone are the days when we went to school. Kids no longer need to know the alphabet or how to count to 20 by the end of kindergarten. These kids now leave kindergarten knowing how to tell time, count coins, write discernible stories, and read simple books. It's crazy how expectations how changed! So do we suck it up and somehow figure out how to come up with another $140/month for our child's education that should already be free?