By Marc Ransford
Communications Manager

MUNCIE, Ind. -- A proposal under consideration by the Indiana General Assembly would double the time kindergarten students spent in school, benefiting both youngsters and teachers, says a Ball State University educator.

Studies show that children do better academically and socially in later grades as a result of a full day in kindergarten. Teachers would have more time to spend with youngsters, allowing them to relate better to their students and provide more educational opportunities, said Patricia Clark, an elementary education professor.

“Several surveys have discovered that children do better in first grade after having attending a full-day kindergarten program,” she said. “Also, children will no longer have to deal with all the transitions of having to go to school and then to a day care center or back home. They are more apt to learn and enjoy school.”

Kindergarten is believed to have started in the mid-1800s in Germany. The tradition of a“child's garden” was brought to the United States by immigrants in the late 1800s and integrated into the American public school system at the turn of the century.

However, it wasn't until the late 1950s and early 1960s that the majority of American school children began attending kindergarten as their first introduction into public school. In the 1990s, the number had increased to about 98 percent.

Clark believes the trend toward full-day kindergarten programs is based on the growing number of two-income families and single-parent families who have less time to shuttle children back and forth to school during business hours.

“Initially, kindergarten was a time for transition between staying at home and public school,” Clark said. “However, today children are used to being away from home for all or part of the day at daycare or preschool programs that are doing much of what kindergarten was designed for years ago.

“It doesn't make a lot of sense for them to spend six to eight hours in day care or preschool at age four and then split the day between kindergarten and day care at age five,” she said.

Kindergarten teachers would also benefit from expanding hours of kindergarten classes, allowing more time for planning activities and educational opportunities. Most teachers feel rushed under Indiana's current half-day format, Clark said.

“You can't get everything done in two to three hours,” she said. “Teachers need more time to get to know children and their parents. We need that time so we can properly address their needs.”

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Clark by E-mail at pclark@gw.bsu.edu or by phone at (765) 285-8571.)