  | Tuesday » January 12 » 2010 | ||
| All day kindergarten arrives Full day care for children now in B.C.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 The Abbotsford School District will start full-day kindergarten classes at 19 of its 31 elementary schools in September, in accordance with a provincial decision to have the classes in all schools 2011-12. The Abbotsford District, which already has about 400 full-day K students, will have an allotment of 893 spaces. "This is good news from the Ministry of Education on funding for full-day kindergarten in Abbotsford as it allows us to offer full-day kindergarten to a few more schools than we had originally anticipated," said Cindy Schafer, chairwoman of the Abbotsford board of educationo. There will be no additional curriculum requirements attached to the extra hours of instruction. There are more than150 ministry-prescribed learning outcomes for kindergarten including language arts, fine arts, health and career, mathematics, physical education, science and social studies. For example, by the end of kindergarten, the student should be able to print most of the letters of the alphabet, his or her own name, some words, take part listen to and talk about pictures and stories. Not all parents are giving a standing ovation to the provincial decision. "I have made the choice to stay home with my kids. Why would I want them to be away for a full day?" said Jennifer Cucheran, a mom with a child going into kindergarten this fall. Parents at two local private schools seem to agree. The staff at MEI Elementary and Abbotsford Christian Elementary conducted surveys with their parent base asking if they wanted to go with full-day kindergarten instruction in 2010, the implementation year, or to stay with the half-time program currently offered. "The result was two to one in favor of the half-time program," said Ernie Janzen, principal of MEI Elementary. "For that reason, we are sticking to our current program until 2011 when all schools are required to go to full-day kindergarten." With similar results, Abbotsford Christian Elementary will do the same. To other parents, this decision is a welcomed change in the school district. Arlene and Herbert Lambart believe this move by the province will be a lifesaver to many parents. Their son Sasha is already in a full-time kindergarten at Alexander Elementary. "For parents like us who both work, all-day kindergarten is fantastic because we don't have to pay for daycare," said Herbert said. "It allows me to work while our son gets to learn in a safe environment. His teacher is fantastic, and we are very happy," added Arlene. Starting Jan. 18, parents can register their children for kindergarten - full-day, part-day or in choice schools. To be registered for kindergarten, children must turn five years of age between January 1 and December 31, 2010. Proof of age (a birth certificate) is required. Proof of residence is also required for students with no siblings in a district school. Parents not in favour of sending their children to full-day kindergarten next year, can send their child to a different school out of their catchment area, hold their child home an extra year if they feel the child is not ready for kindergarten (not officially recommended by the school district), or to check alternative programs such as Abbotsford Virtual. Abbotsord Virtual offers a kindergarten program with resource packages, a support teacher, educational field trips and bi-weekly optional classes to cover the same ministry mandated prescribed learning outcomes. Complete and updated information is available at the school district website, at www.sd34.bc.ca or contact your neighbourhood school. |
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