Full-day fine, but not in schools
Times Colonist (Victoria)
March 5, 2009
Comment By: Tronie Brown

A writer's view that half-day kindergarten is preferable because five-year-olds do not have the capacity to learn for more than 2.5 hours is an inaccurate assumption and short-sighted. I run a four-hour preschool/junior kindergarten program and children are actively involved in learning, often wishing to stay longer!

There are several schools in Victoria that run full-day kindergartens. These programs strike a good balance between learning outcomes in the morning and physical education in the afternoon.

A kindergarten program offering longer hours ensures that five-year-olds have the time required to build on firsthand learning experiences, complementing their introduction to learning from previous programs like preschools and daycares.

I would, however, agree that it would be "a poor use of education funds" for the four-year-old program to be implemented in schools. Whilst teachers are qualified to teach five-year-olds, they are not qualified to teach four-year-olds. Who then would be teaching? With no curriculum in place and no qualified teachers to teach this age group, how is this going to work anyway?

There are huge differences between three- and a four-year-olds' interests and capabilities; schools are not set up to accommodate the nurturing environment (as well as the green spaces for outside play) that some daycares and preschools have worked so hard to provide.