Kindergarten: Who's going and what are the hours?

[Bev]

I guess a lot of us have kids starting kindergarten this year. So, who's going and what are the hours?

Mason will be in Junior Kindergarten (must be 4 before Dec 31st; he'll be 5 on Jan. 3). He will be going every day in the afternoons, 12:50 to 3:25pm. He'll do the same thing next year for Senior Kindergarten. (JK is a total waste of time IMO, but it saves on daycare money. :lol: )

I specifically requested afternoons so he wouldn't be stuck in a morning class with a bunch of 3 year olds who nap every afternoon. It also is a smaller class size so there is more 1 on 1 attention AND most important, I don't have to get up and rush around every morning. :)

[Alyssa]

Aidan is going 9am-2:30pm. I consider this the first of two years of K for him, since he's just 5 weeks before the age cutoff and I really want to send him twice so he ends up on the older end of his class.

[Jenn]

Peyton starts Pre-K on Monday and she'll be going from M-F from 8:15-2:45. For Pre-K, you have to be 4 by August 31st and it's a state funded program that is typically at daycare centers, montessori's and church preschools. We only have to pay $20/week for breakfast and lunch. :thumbsup:

We had a meeting this past Tuesday and got to meet her teachers and everything. I think she's going to have so much fun!

[sheila]

Maggie starts Pre-K Monday, 8-2:30. She is so excited! Stagg and I went to the orientation tonight, and tomorrow morning, I'm going to take Maggie in to meet her teachers and see the room.

[Alyssa]

We only have to pay $20/week for breakfast and lunch. :thumbsup:
Oh, the pain. That's not even a 1/2 day of Aidan's FT school. :complain: (We don't have public K in our town, it's all private.)

[BonnieG]

Dugan has a late birthday (turns 5 on Nov. 27th), so all his friends get to go to Kindergarten this year and he does not. I decided to enroll him in Preschool for this year though, so at least he will start to get the feeling of a school enviroment. He will only be going M/W/F from 9-11:30. He is in a 4 year old class, so he will probably be one of the oldest, but I think (and hope) that he will have alot of fun!!
The only thing that we are really trying to work with him on is, um...wiping himself!:shuffle: He can do it, he just gets stubborn and chooses not to. I have told him though that his teachers will NOT do it for him and he doesn't want to get icky underpants...so he has been doing really good. We have created a sticker chart for him to work on this, and some other things, and for each sticker that he gets, he gets $.25. Then before we go to Disneyworld next month, we will total up all the stickers and go to the Disney Store and buy him some Disney Dollars to use on the trip.

[Jayne]

We don't have a JK or PreK class. When Alyssa goes to Kindergarten it will be 5 days a week from 8:30 - 3:15. Same hours as her brother who this year is in 5th grade. She will go to a preschool class this year with Kara's little one (Austin) from 8:30-11 for 5 days to prepare her for the all day class!

[Mary DK]

Eliot is going... full day (8-2:45), 5 days a week.

[Clare]

Our school year is different, it runs from Feb till Dec. Harry is in kindergarten at present, which is equivalent to your pre-school. He goes Tues and Thurs from 9pm till 3pm. In Feb he will start Pre-Primary which is the same as your kindergarten :crazy: which will be 8.50am till 3.10pm Mon-Fri. The cutoff is turning 5 by June 30 so he will be one of the oldest in the class, seeming as he's turning 5 in 3 weeks time.

[Cami]

Addison is going M-F 9:00-3:30, starting on Sept 6. The kids have to be four by Aug 31, I think it was, so it's for kids who turn five between Sept 1 2006 and Aug 31 2007.

[MrsPeacefrog]

Our school year is February to December and the cut off to start Kindergarten is that you must turn 5 by June 30th. Aiden definatley fits in that category as he turns 5yrs May 11th, and I went to go enrol him and everthing (it's full time M-F 9-3pm) but we changed our minds and will be holding him back a year because of his speech delays, even though he is doing really well. It means he is going to be one of the oldest when he starts the next year :blue: but I think it's for the best.

So next year we plan on keeping his 2 days of daycare then he will go to preschool for the other 3 days which is 9am-11:30am.

[Karri]

Aidan starts on Sept 5th! WOO! He'll be going M-F, from 8:30-11:10. We just got his teacher assignment 2 days ago :biggrin: In 3 weeks we have orientation one night, and then meet the teacher another night. I am quite excited :biggrin:

Next year he'll go full days. I'm definately looking forward to that :lol:

[Bev]

Next year he'll go full days. I'm definately looking forward to that :lol:
Will he be in grade 1 next year? I'm asking because I think he's about 2-3 months younger than Mason and Mason still has half days next year for Senior Kindergarten.

They took away grade 13 in Ontario and replaced it with Junior Kindergarten. :rolleyes: Like that replaces the learning. People figured it's free half day daycare and jumped all over it I guess. I think it's a giant waste of time, but I'll put him in to save the money! :lol:

[WendyK]

We don't have pre-K around here either. It's either pre-school or Kindergarten... We decided to send TJ back to preschool for another year. I pray he doesn't get bored. He is on the verge of reading and actually read many words... However I just felt he wasn't ready for Kindergarten this year. He just turned 5 on 7/29. His preschool will be M, Wed, thurs, and Friday from 12:30-3:00. I wish it was longer.

[sheila]

We only have to pay $20/week for breakfast and lunch. :thumbsup:


We have the same and I am so looking forward to it! I'll be saving over $200/month on her tuition, and I don't think I could be happier about it.

Also, Jenn, it will be interesting to compare notes on the PreK program and what we (and our kids) think about it.

[Jenn]

Absolutely, Sheila! Do all Georgia Pre-K's use the same curriculum (sp?)?

Yeah, the best part is how much we'll save, although, now that I'm working again, we'll still have to pay for before and after school care.

[Karri]

Will he be in grade 1 next year? I'm asking because I think he's about 2-3 months younger than Mason and Mason still has half days next year for Senior Kindergarten.

No, next year he'll be in K-5 (5 year old kindergarten, aka Senior Kindergarten). They go from 8:30-3:20, with a lunch period from 12-12:45 and 3 recess breaks. Just like the big kids!

[Melissa]

Katie is going to preschool this year, Tuesday/Thursday 9-2. :ura: Since we're using the on base preschool our price is dependant on income, and it is cheap at that. Plus, it includes snacks and meals. :up:

[jennp]

Connor is doing another year of preschool. The cutoff is December 16th, but we are holding him back (Oct baby). He will be in school M-F from 8:15-12:15. To the tune of $560 a month!

Next year, if the schedule stays the same, Kindergarten will be M-F from 7:55am-2:25pm (one day is an early dismissal day).

[Lora]

Christopher is spending another year in preschool since he will just turn five this week. He starts on August 30 and will be going on M-W-F, 8:15-10:45. We struggled with the decision to hold him back but in the end we feel that it is a good decision. He is going to the Catholic school at our church. Tuition would have cost us $2000 a year for both Christopher and Patrick (who is going 2 days a week) but we were able to apply for a grant through our diocese. We just fell right within the income guidelines (we wouldn't have qualified if I worked full-time) and much to my shock we got a grant for the whole tuition. :ura1: I would have been thrilled if we got anything but I am ectastic that we don't have to pay any tuition this year.

Lora

[magoo]

Will he be in grade 1 next year? I'm asking because I think he's about 2-3 months younger than Mason and Mason still has half days next year for Senior Kindergarten.
It depends on the school board. My niece (who lives in ON) is in SK and it's full days. JK was full days MWF or TTF.

[Barb]

Liam starts Pre-K on the 16th. He'll go from 8-3:30 with two hours of after school care. (I work nights and his dad works during the day.) It will be a long day for him, but I think he'll be okay.

[Jen]

Kalyssa starts Monday Aug 14th. She'll go from 8am-1:50pm. It's about 2 blocks from our house though so no bus. I'm not looking forward to lugging 3 kids around the corner to drop her off and pick her up. I can't believe they think a 5 year old is going to walk to school!

They are very strict sounding about things so we'll see how it goes. She really liked the Montessori environment of Pre-K so I'm curious to see how she will like public school after that.

[LISA]

Paige did pre k last year and it was the only board that had all day everyday classes:woa: she starts Kindergarden on Sept 5th and again goes all day.

[Chantal]

Kaitlyn starts school this coming Monday. Next week, she will only go on Monday and Thursday - then the following week she starts up full time / full days (8:30am - 2:30pm). She is going into Junior Kindergarten at the full french school.


I like the full day/all week schedule -- I am just really not warming up to the 45min bus ride that she has every day (1 1/2hrs total on the bus every day).

[Chantal]

They took away grade 13 in Ontario and replaced it with Junior Kindergarten. :rolleyes: Like that replaces the learning. People figured it's free half day daycare and jumped all over it I guess. I think it's a giant waste of time, but I'll put him in to save the money! :lol:

Bev, in the french school system - there has always been Junior Kindergarten... at least, it was there many moons ago when I started school :lol: But it has only been in recent years that they have made the program a full-day affair, whereas before it was a half day programme (either AM or PM attendance).

[Bev]

I like the full day/all week schedule -- I am just really not warming up to the 45min bus ride that she has every day (1 1/2hrs total on the bus every day).

Yeah, that's crazy for a 4 year old and scary for the Mom.