FullDay or HalfDay kindergarten , please advice.

SSF · Aug 8, 2010

Friends ,

My 4.5 year old son will be going to montesorri school this fall , we registered him for fullday ( i think his class is 5 times a week ) , he never been to daycare or preschool before , im a stay at home mom , will it be too much for him with the fullday class ... I feel so restless and thinking to call the school and change to halfday .. But not sure if the school can change it , i really need advice from you all ..

Please advice ...

DivyaKGCP · Aug 8, 2010

Hi SSF,

Good to know that you have put your son in montessori.. My 3 yr old daughter had started going to montessori this summer(summer school)..

Any specific reason, you have put him for fullday? Full day means till wat time?

In my daughters school, its like morning for studies and afternoon its day care.. kids have a nap, play n there is story time.. We have put her in half day only.. 8.30 - 1.30.. She will have lunch in school n come home have snacks n sleep..Again as soon as she gets up, we go to the nearby park n play.. So wat the kids do there, we do at home..

Ur son happy about going to school? how does he like the place?
I was worried about my daughter too.. but she was absolutely fine..
Your son is 4.5 yrs old.. He will understand things better. He will be doing great.. Dont worry!!

Pavarun · Aug 8, 2010

SSF, what is the children's daily routine like? What time do the "core" activities start and end? In preschools in my area for the 4's age the "core activities" is generally from 9 - 12:30 or 1. In some schools they do have 9-3 but this includes a nap time and snack after that,

So I think your son will get most of the benefit out of the program by attending the half day program.

But the other things to consider are:

(1) Next fall when he starts kindergarten what is the schedule like? Do you think it will be helpful to get him into that schedule/routine starting now?
(2) Do you plan to do something during the time he is away at school? If so a full-day program may be helpful.

Most schools are open to accommodating changes in schedule so I would talk to the school. Don't worry about your child - I'm sure he will get adjusted pretty quickly and have a fun time.

SSF · Aug 10, 2010

Divya and Pavarun,

Thank you so much for replying . The reason why we wanted to send him for fullday is we thought it will be helpful for his english and also he can be with kids at his age , and also he will learn more than the halfday kids , but now after reading so many posts im thinking about changing to halfday , since he never been to preschool or daycare before , i dnt think he can cope with the sudden changes by being in school for such a longer time ( from 8.30am-3.00 pm) .

Once again thank you so much for the replies

DivyaKGCP · Aug 10, 2010

You are most welcome SSF..
I too felt that half day would be more than enough if its for the language and socialising.
You can talk about your concern to his school people. They will understand for sure.
All the best!!

janaki25 · Aug 10, 2010

Hi SSF

My son has just turned 3 and has been going to playschool for the past few days.I opted for him to go for just 3 hrs a day since that is what they call the 'core hours 'where they do they teach the main things they intend to for the day.Since he has never been away from me before or in such a social setting I thought a few hrs a day would be best as it would make the transition gradual.

And in just the few hrs that he goes,he picks up a lot from there.So I would say even half day or a few hrs would be helpful too.