Full day kindergarten in Ontario

[ZS Worotynec]

Hello people.

I'm hoping it's possible to have a discussion about the full day kindergarten program, as proposed by Charles Pascal. See the Ministry of Children and Youth Services website to read the report: http://www.ontario.ca/en/initiatives/early_learning/STEL01_139326

Over the last week or so, there's been some response from both the education sector and the child care sector (con and pro) on the issue of having Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) staffing the program with kindergarten teachers.

I've seen responses from the ETFO, the AECEO (prof assoc of ECEs), advocates (Child Care Coalition of Ontario), but not so much from individual ECEs, kindergarten teachers, and parents and I am wondering how folks feel about a full day kindergarten program for 4 and 5 year olds, staffed with a collaborative team of ECEs and kindergarten teachers.

Thanks.

ZS
http://immigrantchildren.ca
http://www.twitter.ca/immigranttalk
http://www.earlychilddiversity.wordpress.com

[Annie Kidder]

Hi there,

In June when the report was released, we put out a press release that said this:

Toronto (June 15, 2009) PEOPLE FOR EDUCATION TODAY APPLAUDED THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PREMIER’S ADVISOR ON ALL DAY EARLY LEARNING.

“Last week, in our Annual Report on Ontario’s Public Schools, we called for a renewed vision for education in the province,” says Annie Kidder, Executive Director of People for Education. “The vision described in Charles Pascal’s report is a huge first step.”

The parents’ organization supports Pascal’s call for schools that act as community hubs, and for policy to foster strong partnerships between municipalities and school boards. Integrating services and programs for children and families will ensure that all young people have an equitable chance for success.

They are also pleased that the new programs are intended to be universally accessible to all families and children. As the Early Learning report says, "…programs targeted solely to disadvantaged communities actually miss the majority of vulnerable children."

“We will be pleased to support the province as it implements the recommendations from the report, and we look forward to providing input on programs for parents,” says Kidder.

People for Education surveys schools and parents annually to track the effects of policy and funding changes. They intend to add all-day programs for 4 and 5 year-olds to their tracking surveys for the coming years, so that they can report on the province’s progress.

[Annie Kidder]

And more.....

Yesterday, we sent out this message to our listserv:

Action soon on all-day early learning

We hope we’ll be hearing a series of announcements soon on the province’s new program for full-day early learning. School boards and municipalities need time to get ready for the first round of changes that should be coming next fall, so they will need to know some of the details as soon as possible.

If all goes according to plan, three years from now parents will be able to find a range of support in their local school or Child and Family Centre. Children will get a combination of teaching and early childhood education as well as other supports; professionals will work together; and policy decisions will be based on an overall vision for children from age 0 to 12 as well as their families – as opposed to the mishmash of policy and programs we have right now.

It is not necessarily going to be easy to make all the necessary changes, and it’s going to take lots of compromise, and many revisions as the kinks are worked out. But it is a great plan, and it’s going to make a real and lasting difference for kids and their families across the province.

This new model will lay the groundwork for community hubs, community schools, partnerships and integrated services and programs. Click here to read the full report and the recommendations. (It's well worth the read. It's wonderfully written, very clear, and describes very concretely how the model should work and the steps necessary to get us there.)

You can write to the Premier to encourage him to move from "report to reality" as soon as possible at: [e-mail]

[Catherine]

I did not send my kids to either JK or SK because I chose to stay home. As it was there were kids in my childrens' half-day Kindergarten who couldn't last even half a day.

I really don't like how the teacher union is bullying the ECE folks in all of this. It appears once again to be the bluster of unions trying to gain new members and not really what's good for children or communities.

In my rural community all the taxes we pay come out of the same pocket...MINE! We have build new recreations facilities with meeting halls and have just one pool.

Having schools out here be the centres of community sounds nice and fuzzy but the demographics and economics just will not allow it. Making folks choose between supporting their municipal facilities or their schools is pathetic.

This is an idea that is better suited to larger urban centres - clearly, just how it looks outside of the GTA
needs more understanding because it's pulling folks in too many directions.

[Christine]

What a great topic. I am not a teacher or ECE, just a parent, so can only offer that perspective.

I have a very different opinion than Catherine...though I live in the GTA now I grew up in a rural area, and feel it could benefit rural communities as well.

My son was in full-time daycare until grade 1, and loved kindergarten. I would have been happy to have kept him in daycare rather than kindergarten (there was a better child:teacher ratio, all the social benefits were there, and the programming was excellent) but he was adamant. For children who are unable to attend daycare I believe very strongly that full day kindergarten could only benefit them, provided that there is adequate planning and support for teachers.

Some parents have raised concerns that it will be a cheap alternative to daycare, and therefore not as fulfilling for the children, because teachers do not receive as much training for that age group as do ECEs. I would be interested to know if that is the case? A combination of ECEs and teachers seems ideal. This would also help reduce the current waiting lists for daycares.

We are in a socially and economically diverse neighbourhood, and I think this is also hugely important re: child poverty. Daycare is simply unaffordable for too many, so this could help a lot of families everywhere.

Social skills were the main benefit of the kindergarten years, and we wouldn't have missed it for anything! I am sure there are exceptions, but the few children who didn't attend daycare or kindergarten lagged far behind their peers in grade 1. My daughter will (hopefully) be starting full-day kindergarten when the time comes, and I look forward to it.

This is a fantastic site, by the way!

[Catherine]

Unless parents are hermits and unsociable the benefits of socialization are overstated sometimes.
Kindergarten is still optional in Ontario and in fact when my kids went to from half-day kindergarten there were 2 children in each of their Gr. 1 classes whose parents did not enroll them in kindergarten. They were no further ahead or behind the other kids.

I have to say though that the Grade One teacher in my childrens' case made more of a difference in their education future than did Kindergarten.

In my community the number of families with stay-at-home parents are greater than two-parent working families so that full day SK and JK while attended are often attended because mum wants a day off to go shopping or...just a break. Is that wrong?

Our municipally run daycare and nursery schools has been the only one needed in our small town. Will the addition of full day JK and SK have parents compete for that service?

I also worry that schools are turning out to be all things to all people and at some point that's going to really work against how we look at schools in general.

[Gay Stephenson]

It's great reading everyone's posts! Great topic for discussion... thanks ZS.

Just to let you know, today People for Education is participating in a press conference on this topic. Here is a link to the joint press release and the joint letter we signed to the Premier along with folks like David Crombie, Fraser Mustard etc. People for Education is endorsing the implementation of Dr. Charles Pascal's Report on Early Learning which includes Early Childhood Educators (ECE). These recommendations fit so well with many of the things we've been talking about in our reports over the years, and with the ideal of schools being at the centre, or an integral part of their communities. Here's a quote from Annie in the press release, "This blueprint shows the government how to transform Ontario’s schools into vibrant, family-centred learning hubs for children and their parents."

[Gay Stephenson]

The Toronto Star has now devoted an entire page on their Parent Central website to this topic. It includes all the articles that have appeared in their newspaper and more... here's the link:

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/earlylearning

[John Smithie]

Hi

I believe firmly the Charles Pascal and team put enormous effort into crafting theeir report and I found it quite compelling. I found it particularly useful as he allocated the funds required to the various segments of his proposal. I am rather annoyed at what appears to be attempts to cherrypick through it and alter his proposals to accomodate matters that don't seem to be overly beneficial to children. If we employ solely teachers, rather than the mix of teachers and ECEs, as Pascal recommends, it would quite probably oblige a significant reduction in the number of capable staff in the system and I can't really see how that would lead to improved education for children. We're already hearing of potential class sizes of 26, far in excess of the 20 children per class which is deemed acceptable for older children, right?

I won't even presume to be an expert on the matters of teachers versus ECE so I tend to see Mr. Pacal as a person who is able to determine which credential is required for which position in the plan he proposes; he doesn't have anything to gain by advocating on behalf of one group over the other.

My one real concern is that the public support for the plan could decline if it becomes perceived as manouevering among stakeholder groups trying to advance their particular cause.

[Cathy]

The only way that this will be realized is if we can pay for it and boards can accommodate. I'll bet anyone here that public support is already declining(as John suggests it might) because the public has been left with a bad taste when they see the giant ETFO appear to pick on the ECEs.

The other issue I have with this is that the success of this initiative will be different in different parts of the province. For example we have a high number of stay-at-home parents in my community. After school programs didn't do well for that reason. Our largest employer closed and there are forecast to be fewer and fewer children here....period. So for our board to jump into this with both feet would be a mistake.

The discussion that needs having before this is implemented is at the local level. Top-down from Toronto rarely looks for feels anything close to how it's rolled out.

[Rick Collins]

"Community" is a very common word describing goals and policies for schools. I don't think it exists.

We have English, French, Early French immersion, Late French immersion, and special needs schools. Repeat across "Public" and "Catholic" boards. The ministry has a school-finder at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/sift/PCsearch.asp I have 20 elementary schools within 4 km. It seems that there are too many schools serving any given area. There is little community when the students are all going different directions.

How much community is generated when kids sit on a bus? There is much more community for the people walking to school. This includes the parents walking their children to JK and SK. For us, in an urban setting, there are less than 25% of the students walking to school.

If anybody wants to seriously use the word "community", then they should consider cutting the number of boards in half. Call the new board something politically correct, but we need to cut down on the number of boards and duplication.

Teach a child about environmental responsibility, but don't answer questions about why 7 buses of elementary kids drive past our house (not counting the 3 that go to our local school).

I don't think this is the environment to stretch to full-day kindergarten.

Regards,

Rick Collins

[Gay Stephenson]

Rick, you've raised lots of thoughful points in your post. Do you have any theories on why only a quarter of students are able to walk to your school although it's in an urban setting? I guess there is going to be lots of debate on early learning as the province has announced their implementation plans today.

They made a decision to phase in full day kindergarten over five years with teachers leading the classrooms. Class size for 4 and 5 year olds in JK and SK will be allowed to grow to an average of 26, but they are also going to include an early childhood educator (ECE) to keep pupil-teacher ratios similar to childcare standards.

There will be lots of details to work out over the next five years in schools and childcare centres. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about it in the news over the next few days. Please post any links here so we can share information with one another!

Here is a link to the Star today: http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/article/716593--price-...

And the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-makes-kinderga... (Globe links expire after one week)

I'm personally pleased to see a provincial government willing to invest in early learning. All the research shows that for every dollar invested in young children, in programs like this, we save $7 later on (in terms of social assistance, jail, and other costs). I know the devil is in the details! Implementation will be a challenge in many different ways in terms of school space, busing, childcare centres staying viable etc. Hopefully the five year phase-in period will help us figure those details out!

[Mike Hunt]

I foresee many problems with ECE's and teachers sharing the responsibilities of a full day programme, although it is a fabulous idea from an ideological perspective, teachers and ECE's are apples to oranges.
I do think enhanced opportunities for learning and stimulation can be good for many young children - especially advanced asyncronistic learners (and maybe this shift will bring with it earlier testing and identification for special needs children) - what can not be denied is the many benefits children realize by spending as much time in the nest as possible, when possible and we need other social programmes which will help to support such a paradigm. The first 5-7 years last forever.