Full-day kindergarten a good investment

Editorial from Seacoast Online

The Seacoast Online Editorial Board featured a piece supporting full-day kindergarten funding in their Sunday edition. It “has true educational value and deserves the state’s support,” wrote the board. Here’s an excerpt:

A majority of studies have concluded full-day kindergarten boosts long-term student achievement. It is especially vital to students who may not have access at home to enrichment materials or a parent who is able to introduce them to reading, writing and arithmetic.

Most parents probably don’t need an exhaustive study to know that increasing the amount of classroom time in proportion to the time spent traveling to and from school, taking off and putting on jackets, boots, hats and mittens and settling down for learning, yields better results.

Studies show full-day kindergarten allows teachers to provide more individualized attention to each student and allows time for childhood favorites like art, music and physical education.

In addition to introducing children to reading a year earlier, full-day kindergarten also helps children begin to make the transition from unstructured play to the more formal school learning environment. They begin to learn to work cooperatively, to respect others and to transition from one activity to the next.

Source: Seacoast Online | Full-day Kindergarten a Good Investment