Expanding kindergarten: An idea worth pursuing
Metrovalley Newspaper Group - Abbotsford News
September 6, 2008

Thousands of kindergarten students are taking their first steps in school shadowed by parents and caregivers who are wondering, "Where did the time go?"

Now, those parents and caregivers are being asked if full-day kindergarten for their three-, four- and five-year-olds is a good idea, with the response of many expected to be "Are you kidding?"

The importance of daily naps, favourite blankets and stuffed animals aside, there are many benefits to universal kindergarten, even for very young children, according to research.

Playing with peers and participating in early learning opportunities has been widely reported as helping to smooth the gaps in language, social and emotional development among socio-economic groups.

B.C. isn't alone in pursuing the goal of expanded kindergarten. Ontario has offered it and many U.S. states have made it law, with varying degrees of success.

One of the chief obstacles, of course, is money.

What the U.S. experience has shown is without consistent funding, the goal of providing pre-K programs for all children in all communities will never be achieved.

Instead, even a phased-in implementation of expanded kindergarten will be subject to the typical expansion and contraction experienced by other social service programs.

Government-funded daycare is one notable example where funds rise and fall depending on the budget priorities of the party in power.

Other implementation challenges stand in the way of expanded day care. Who will deliver it, schools or daycares?

…. Still, the question is worth pursuing. The Early Childhood Learning Agency, which is studying this option for B.C., could learn a lot from studying the successes and failures of similar programs in other jurisdictions.