There's a lot of talk about this initiative in the teaching community and some questions about the next few years, and today's news will undoubtedly pose a few more questions:
Children benefit from a full day of play-based learning, supported by two qualified educators. ECEs are also responsible for the integrated before- and after-school programs that are offered as part of full-day kindergarten at some schools.When the program is fully implemented there will be up to 20,000 ECE positions supporting full-day kindergarten. Full-day kindergarten is being offered in almost 600 schools this year, and at the start of next year's school year it will be available in more than 800 schools.
All-in-all, a positive initiative...and yes, we have 15 month old twins, so we're biased.
We've provided some news items, press releases, etc. regarding the ongoing implementation of full-day kindergarten in Ontario:
- A Full Day Of Learning For Young Students, Ontario Ministry of Education News Release, September 15, 2010
- Full Day Kindergarten resource site, Ontario Ministry of Education, Early Learning
- Battle lines drawn on full-day kindergarten, Toronto Star, September 7, 2010
- Full-day kindergarten starts, but parents have questions, Toronto Star, September 7, 2010
- Play-based learning will be part of successful full-day Kindergarten, The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), September 3, 2010
- Teachers Applaud Launch of Canada’s First Full-Day Kindergarten Program, The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), January 12, 2010
- Full-day kindergarten in Ontario gets failing grade, Globe and Mail, September 7, 2010
- All-Day Kindergarten or All-day Learning Recommendations, TVO