Parents split on pros and cons of full-day kindergarten: Some keen to get kids launched, others worry about it being too much
By Cheryl Chan and Damian Inwood
The Province
September 3, 2010 

…."The thought of sending them away five days a week is making me teary," she said …

"Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but I believe it's beneficial for kids to be brought up at home by their parents."….

Some parents are excited about the benefits of full-day kindergarten, which experts say will lead to improvements in literacy and numeracy as well as higher graduation rates from high school and increased numbers going on to postsecondary education.

Others, however, are concerned kids are being thrown into the school system too early and are opting to pull their children out by lunch time or home-school them instead.

Shoni Field, who sits on the board of her son's Vancouver preschool, said many parents are worried.

"There's so much fear and anxiety around the issue, especially if it's their first child," Field said, adding that some parents wonder whether it'll be academic boot camp.

"Do they sit in rows? At a desk? Many parents say, 'My child can't do that.' "

Richmond mom Karen Wright isn't daunted by the extra hours for her son Ryan, who starts at Walter Lee next week.

Wright understands the worries some parents will have but thinks the "coddling" some parents lavish on their kids isn't healthy, either.

"Some kids will have separation anxiety, but if you don't give them the opportunity to spread their wings, how do you know they can't do it?" she said. "I think they will rise to the challenge."…

Vancouver School Board chairwoman Patti Bacchus said the board hasn't received clarification from the ministry about flexibility.

"They will be providing funding for all day for those students and we'd want to know if there'll be any financial implications if some families prefer not to send their kids for the full day," Bacchus said….

Research shows that, compared to half-day programs, full-day kindergarten results in higher achievements in later grades, said Marilyn Chapman, director of the Institute for Early Childhood Education and Research at the University of B.C.

"The children are more developmentally competent and they get less frustrated," said Chapman, who wrote the government's full-day kindergarten program guide.

"People are saying, 'They are making my child go to school all day at five years old.' No one is making you send your child to kindergarten. It's never been mandatory."….