During the PC Leadership campaign, Premier Alison Redford pledged to introduce full day kindergarten within one year of forming government. With this support, Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk has said he will be discussing the issue with school boards and requesting funding from the Treasury Board to implement full day kindergarten in the 2013-2014 school year.
Currently, kindergarten is not mandatory but over 95% of Alberta's children participate.
Eight years ago, Alberta's Commission on Learning Report and Recommendations called for the establishment of full day kindergarten (see pages pages 46-47). A Calgary Board of Education Report summarizing research is cited in the report, and an excerpt follows:
• A developmentally appropriate full-day program benefits children academically and socially - especially children from low socio-economic or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds
• Teachers preferred full-day to half-day programs
• Parents reacted favourably to the full-day schedule
• Full-day kindergarten may reduce the long-term costs for special and remedial education.
'“... All studies indicated a positive relation between participation in full-day kindergarten and subsequent school performance. Higher achievement in academic development as well as greater growth in social and behavioural development is consistently reported ... All studies reviewed here suggest that a full-day developmentally appropriate kindergarten program is especially beneficial to children from low socioeconomic levels and/or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.”'
The Calgary Board of Education began providing full day kindergarten in 2005 to children who would benefit most.
What do teachers have to say about full day kindergarten? Check out this Alberta Teachers' Association article.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment