At a department meeting the other day, the topic turned to kindergarten. My son just started, and much to my surprise, he is enjoying it immensely. As I was expressing my delight, someone asked me what I thought of all-day kindergarten. As anyone who has read this blog before already knows, I am rather opinionated; I jumped up on my soapbox to expound upon the evils of this idea. I was quickly reminded, however, that I work in a university because several people stepped up to provide a different perspective.

Unlike most people who deign to disagree with me, my colleagues in academia usually tend to be very diplomatic and polite in debate. This occasion was no different. So instead of feeling attacked and belittled, I was intrigued. So intrigued, in fact, that I have let the discussion ramble around in my head for a while before trying to write about it. It’s complicated, and I had never really considered the opposing view much before now. Here is what my colleagues brought up:

1. Many children need the structure a kindergarten classroom provides, and the more the better.
2. Many parents cannot keep up with the needs and demands of a kindergartener all day long.
3. Half-day kindergarten creates scheduling havoc for working parents.
4. Most other states provide full-day kindergarten, so Indiana’s children are falling behind the rest of the nation.

After several days’ consideration, I’ve decided to modify my stance. I would like to see free all-day kindergarten as an option for public school students. (It is an option in some places, but it costs parents money.) I am still opposed to mandatory all-day kindergarten, though, and here is why.

1. Yes, some children need more structure. Some are holy terrors at home, but they tend to calm down in a classroom setting. Other children, however, thrive in less structured environments. My son is very bright, independent and creative. At home I have given him as much freedom as possible with as many opportunities and tools for learning as I can provide without making him sit down and do structured activities on a strict schedule. I believe that part of the reason he is now enjoying school so much is that he enjoys a little structure as a change of pace, but I fear that when he goes to first grade, the full day will squelch his active imagination. Full-day kindergarten may be right for some kids, but they are still only five or six years old. If they can be free, let them be free a while longer.
2. Yes, some parents have a hard time keeping up with a kindergartener. They are demanding little critters. But the parents are the ones who decided to have children, not the state government or the taxpayers. Why should the state foot the bill for all-day kindergarten just because some parents are too tired to run after their kid anymore? And what makes people think that a teacher with 25 of the active little darlings is going to be able to deal with them better than their parents?
3. Half-day kindergarten is a scheduling nightmare for working parents. It’s also a scheduling nightmare for stay-at-home parents and for parents who work part-time. But public school is supposed to be more than state-sponsored daycare, and I think it’s more important to consider the needs of the child than the schedules of the adults. The hassle of arranging for childcare should be the last concern of parents trying to decide whether to put their child in part-time or full-time kindergarten.
4. Finally, there is the issue of Indiana’s falling behind the states that are offering free full-day kindergarten. Now, I’ve never been one to do something just because everyone else is doing it, but I’ve also never been one to tout Indiana’s educational system as superior. If other states are offering all-day kindergarten, good for them. I don’t think Indiana should just assume that we need to do it just because everyone else is, though. This state is falling behind educationally for a lot of reasons, and we must use our limited funds to address the most pressing of those reasons. Kindergarten is important, but I’d like to see some studies that indicate full-day kindergarten students end up with higher GPA’s in high school or that they are more likely to graduate or go to college or something concrete like that. Don’t just tell me that everybody else is doing it. Tell me why it is good that everybody else is doing it.

Here’s my last point, and then I will shut up. Say we do add four more hours to the school day. What exactly will we be adding? If you have children for the entire day, you have to feed them. You’re down to three and a half hours. Hopefully, they’ll add some physical playtime, preferably outside since this state is already struggling with overweight kids. Now we’re down to two and a half or three hours. I don’t know many five- or six-year-olds who can sit still and concentrate for more than about half an hour at a time, so you will have to incorporate some other unstructured, free time. Now you’re down to about two hours. For little children in school for the first time, eight hours is a lot of time away from parents just for a couple extra hours of instruction.

So despite the thoughtful comments of my colleagues, I’m not on the all-day kindergarten bandwagon yet. It would be a nice option for some kids, but it really is already. People just don’t want to pay for it. I’d still hate to see it mandatory. Let our kids be kids for just a little longer.