Who are they doing this for, anyway?

I was reading a few new blogs this morning  and the subject of all day kindergarten came up. As I kept reading, I could feel my heart rate increase. That usually means that I’m getting emotionally affected by what I’m reading.

This  particular mom was relaying that in Ontario  Junior Kindergarten is now offering full day  JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN! (I know all caps means I’m shouting). And she wasn’t happy about it, so she has decided to keep her child home some of those days (good for her!). The poor little guy came home the first day and hadn’t eaten much of his lunch. The mom thought maybe he had forgotten there were more compartments in his lunch kit. Or maybe he was just homesick? Or? 

This precious little guy is only FOUR! With possibly 26 children in the class, how can these youngsters get the help and comfort they need for the simple things that are HUGE in their eyes?  I’m sorry, but that really bothers me. 

And so I ask, who is benefitting by all day kindergarten,  Junior or otherwise? Certainly not the children. I know there are those who say some of the children might be better off at school than at home. I say, since when do we make policy based on exceptions?

Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I think young children (or even older ones)  could be best nurtured at home with their mom or some other loving adult close by.  It doesn’t take a university trained teacher to give them what they need at this age, educationally or otherwise. Research shows it.

Now that BC children have the option of fulltime Kindergarten, is mandatory full time  Kindergarten, and then Junior Kindergarten coming down the pipe in the near future?

If it is, I truly am saddened for the children. And the moms.