All-day kindergarten benefits today's child
Times Colonist (Victoria)
February 19, 2008
Letters By: Carole Mackenzie-Lyon

Re: "Excitement over early start in school misplaced," Feb. 16.

As a parent and an educator, I'm surprised about all this talk about three-year-olds going to all-day kindergarten.

Perhaps the writers are misinformed, but children enter kindergarten either at five or almost five, not three. Even then, parents have the choice to delay entry if they so wish. By age four or five, many of these children are in full-time daycare, sometimes for over eight hours a day.

French schools and First Nations children have been offered all-day kindergarten for many years now. All Ontario children are offered a full-day kindergarten program. So why not provide full-day kindergarten for B.C. children?

Times have changed. By age four or five, most children have had two years of preschool and are more than ready to be in school for a full day. …