Moms Talk: Full-Day Kindergarten

Moms Talk is a new feature on Vienna Patch, part of a new initiative to reach out to moms and families in Vienna.

Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms will start a discussion about issues important to those who care (or have cared) for children, asking questions, answering them, giving advice and sharing solutions.

Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community will have a new resource for questions about local neighborhood schools, the best pediatricians, 24-hour pharmacies and the thousands of other issues that arise while raising children. Moms Talk will also be the place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic. Do you know of local moms raising their children in the Tiger Mother's way and is it the best way? Where can we get information on local flu shot clinics for children? How do we talk to our children about the Tucson shootings? How can we help our children's schools weather their budget cutbacks?

You can meet the members of the Moms Council here.

We want readers to join in the conversation, too.

So grab a cup of coffee and settle in as we start the conversation today with a topic that was covered by Vienna Patch last week: full-day kindergarten.

In approving a draft of a $2.2 billion budget for fiscal year 2012 , the Fairfax County School Board directed Superintendent Jack Dale to The plan could cost $8.1 million.

The program would add full-day elementary programs at Vienna, Louise Archer, Flint Hill and Wolftrap elementary schools, if it is approved as part of the school board's final budget in May.

Full-day kindergarten was always the plan for all elementary schools in Fairfax County, school officials have said. The county began rolling out the program in 2006, but the effort was stalled a few years later because of a faltering economy. Shaista Keating, a founder of the advocate group Fairfax for Full Day Kindergarten, took up the effort again as the board began planning for the upcoming fiscal year.

"We all want equity in education for five-year-old Americans," she said.

Wolftrap Elementary School Principal Anita Blain said she piloted full day kindergarten in 1986 for the parochial school system in San Francisco, and that she supports implementing the program in Fairfax County.

"I saw the benefits for the students in the eagerness to learn, the rate at which they learn, and the joy they had being in school," she said. " I am hopeful this grass roots efforts by the parents will be successful in finally bridging the inequity of what we now have in our schools where full day kindergarten is not an option at all Fairfax elementary schools."

Dr. Timothy Curby, assistant professor at George Mason University said full-day kindergarten "has consistently been associated with academic achievement.”

But some parents have said they think a full day of kindergarten overloads students with information they cannot process -- that a student cannot focus for seven hours and still absorb the material they need to. They also say other issues, like adjusting to seven hours away from home and needing more time to expend energy and play, could interfere with the learning process, and more importantly, they say, the fun process of being a kid before they grow up.

Did your child attend full-day or half-day kindergarten? What were the pros and cons? Which would you choose for your child, if you had the choice? Do you agree with the school board's decision?

Join in the conversation in the comments below.

If you have a suggestion for a topic, e-mail it to erica.hendry at patch.com.