My little guy is finally entering Kindergarten, but as of now I am not excited about it in the least.
While many schools across this country have already started their year, here in my little neck of the woods we don't start until AFTER Labor Day. That I don't have a problem with at all. What I do have a problem with is that it is now August 17th and I have no idea if my son is going to be in morning or afternoon Kindergarten. Less than three weeks away and I can't make a plan as to what I am going to do with him the in the other half of the day that he is not in school.
What takes so long?
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| Hard to believe he is going to kindergarten |
I remember back in April I had to fill out about 317 pages of redundant nonsense in order for me to register him for school. Surely sometime in the past four months they could have come to some sort of conclusion as to which kids would be slotted into which time. There are a total of 36 kids that will be starting Kindergarten in a few weeks, 18 in the morning and 18 in the afternoon, we just don't know which kids are going when.
How are parents supposed to plan their lives this way?
When my oldest son was in Kindergarten I was still working, so we made the choice too keep him in a private school. It was a full day so there really was no need to plan for anything else. My wife would drop him off at 9:00 and I would pick him up at 3:00. But I am not working anymore so we made the choice to put my youngest in public school, where the day either starts at 8:30 or 12:30. For me I would rather my son be in morning Kindergarten, but since I AM a stay at home parent I will just make due with what we are given.
While it is a major inconvenience to not know when my son is going to be in school, at least we have the ability to have a parent home the other half of the day. I don't know how families with two working parents are supposed to manage. How do you plan for alternate child care if you have no idea when you are going to need it for? Why does this decision take FOUR MONTHS?
The school knew back in APRIL who was going to start in the fall. A-P-R-I-L!!! It's not like all of these kids are coming from parts of town that they don't already send a bus to. How hard can it be to split up 36 kids? We should have been told at the end of the last school year at the very latest where our kids were going to be slotted.
Why has it come to this anyway?
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| That was me in Kindergarten |
Why do we still have half day kindergarten? I know for a lot of kids going to half day Kindergarten will be less school than they already have been going to. My sons PRESCHOOL was a full day. He was in daycare for a full day before that. And now when he enters the public school system he only goes for a half day? That makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Maybe it made sense 30 some odd years ago when I was in school, but in this day and age when it seems every kid has gone to some sort of preschool program, the idea of half day Kindergarten just seems so archaic. I know the whole story about how schools are being forced to cut programs and teachers. I get it. I'm not completely opposed to doing that, my property taxes are through the roof. Certainly somewhere the money can be found to make Kindergarten a priority, because right now, with a school day that is only 2:45 long that doesn't seem to be the case.
I don't know when we will find out what time of day he is going to school, maybe I will get excited for him then. But in the meantime I just find myself more annoyed than anything.
