Half Day Vs. Full Day Kindergarten? - Fort Collins,CO

It all depends on his temperment. Talk with your son's preschool teacher. She/He will be your best resource.

We didn't have a full day option with our first child but I know she would have excelled in it. The hardest transition for her was to go from 2 full, one half day KG to 5 full days of 1st Grade.

Full day came around when our second was ready for Kindergarten and her preschool teacher told us she was very ready to learn and would do very well in full day. She has excelled and has begun reading well at an earlier age than the first. The transition to 5 full days wasn't too difficult because summer was inbetween and she wasn't napping much anymore (her preschool time was in the afternoons).

Now, our third child is a boy, 4, and in his first year of preschool. He has one more year b/c his b-day is December, so it will be interesting to see what he will be ready for. He doesn't care much for table top activities such as coloring, gluing, etc. but will sit down and do the minimum.

Good luck!!

Hi K.,
My son turned 6 towards the begining of Kindergarten too. I had him in preschool 2 1/2 days a week and decided to put him in full time Kindergarten. It was worked out great! I was nervous to put him in full day, but yet I felt the extra time in Kindergarten would serve him well. I spoke with his preschool teacher and got her opinion on the matter and she felt he was ready for full days. At first he came home a little tired, but that didn't last long. I truly am happy with the choice we made to put him in full time. One other thing to consider...is the part-time K class every day for a half day or is is full day for two days with one half day?

Now that he is in 2nd grade, I also feel the full day K helped him transistion much better to 1st grade. 1st grade is a world different from K, so I was glad that he was ready for it.

I hope this helps!

It depends on the kid, and your job. If he likes sleeping in or taking an afternoon nap then he should go to half day kindergarten. If he goes to half day kindergarten be sure you or someone you know can pick him up. If your job doesn't allow you to do that or he likes ot wake up early and doesn't take afternoon naps then he should go to full day kindergarten.

Hi K.! If you like the half-day and full-day kindergarten teachers equally, and your son seems emotionally and academically ready for either situation, then my suggestion would be to make the choice that works best for YOU given that you have a new baby on the way. Both of my kids did full-day kindergarten and thrived through the experience. Kids are so resilient that he will adjust to the change just fine whether it is 3 hours a day or 6. I know whatever decision you make will be perfect for all of you! My best to you and your wonderful family.

This is from a Mom/Gramma/gr.gramma, having raised several boys. I would not put him in full-day kindergarten..he still needs his nap obviously. Just the 1/2 day x 5 is like learning a whole new language and will be stressful for him but also challenging...double this and you can create some blocks within him due to extreme stress. I even waited 'til a couple of mine were nearly 6 to start kindergarten and they became top students, very successful adults. They learned numbers/letters, some reading & writing at home pre-kinder, but mainly enjoyed being little kids.

The school that my daughter went to was going to put my daughter in afternoon Kindergarten because we lived in town. I knew my daughter who needed her sleep, and an afternoon nap. She would take a three hour nap and also go to bed at 8:00 faithfully and willingly. They kept insisting that she would adjust, but I am so glad that I held my ground. By first grade she was ready for all day classes. YOU know your son. Just listen to your heart, and you will do what is best for him.

One thing that kind of tippd my decision toward 1/2 day was the simple fact that this is the LAST time he will ever be able to spend half of his day with Mom.
Along with the fact that he may still need to nap (I don't think any Kindergartens actually nap any more), he will also be sharing Mommy with a sibling who will really develop a personality during that year. If your baby girl is born in May, by Fall she will probably be fairly predictable in terms of nap times. While he feels like a big boy going to school 1/2 of the day, he will also be able to look forward to a little special time with Mommy. (You might want to talk to the school about the fact that he still needs an afternoon nap, and would do better with the morning class.)

Another thing to consider is what you mean by very social. Can he play alone at times? Does he need to have other kids or playmates around all the time? If his need for social interaction is that high, then all-day might be better. It could be quite difficult to manage playdates or even give him your attention all afternoon with a 4 month old who needs fed, changed, etc. as well as a nap. (The nap can make playdates especially difficult to manage.)

As far as "academics", he is probably already in pretty good shape having gone to preschool. But IF there were anything in K that he had some trouble with, I think you working with him 1-on-1 will be much more effective than hoping someone at school will find time to give him extra help in a class of 20+. Likewise, if he is ahead enough to be bored, it might be easier to deal with 1/2 day.

Good luck with your decision. I have known kids entering K who had previously been in daycare all day, and 1/2 day was just weird to them. And some kids who loved school so much, and wanted other people to interact with so much that full day K was a good fit for them. Also, whichever one you choose, if it turned out to be very wrong for your child, you should expect the school to help you solve that, too.