Wow! Kindergarten Is Only a Few Hours a Day! What About Grades 1-8? - Cupertino,CA

Yes, kinder is generally a 3 hour program (some schools have full day kinder, mostly private). Once students get into first grade it is a full day. Kinder is not mandated/requried by the state. Parents do not have to send their children to kinder and can start them in first grade, although I do not know of anyone who would do that, especially with what is required for 1st graders to be able to do. Kids need the foundation of Kinder to help build their future skills.

I taught 1st grade for 7 years and I have twins who will be starting Kinder next year. Personally I think they would do great in a full day program, although it is a long day for many kids that age. When I taught 1st grade, the first 3 weeks were really hard. Many of the students had a rough time with the full day.

J.

Once they are in first grade and beyond -- it's HEAVEN. 6 or 7 full hours a day!!!!!!! Freedom!!

at our school, K is from 8:45-12:15. Grades 1-3 attend from either 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. (early bird) or 8:45 a.m. -2:50 p.m. (late bird), grades 4-5 attend from 8 a.m. - 2:50 p.m.

My daughter was in full day Kinder(8:30 am-2:30 pm). She is in 1st this year and on the same schedule. When I was in school, Kinder was 8:35-12:30 and it was a full day from 1st grade on up (8:35 am-3:15 pm).

I had the same shock when registering our son for kindergarten. I couldn't believe kindergarten was shorter than preschool! Our school does the half day (3 1/2 hours) sessions, too. First grade is much, much better and runs from 8:45 to 3:00.

Hi Kristen

My son goes to private school and since Kinder as always gone from 8:00 am to 3:00pm.
3pm may sound like a long day, but my son adjusted to it. In addition, they did have nap time (although, he never slept):)
At first I thought, wow, seems like a long day for a little one, on the other hand, since he has adapted quite well to it, I am happy with those hours. He is now in 2nd grade and still gets out at 3pm... the days fly by..

I guess it depends on the district you're in. We do kindergarden for 3 and 1/2 hours a day. 1-6 (elementary) is 8-3 and 7-8 (junior high) is different but we're not there yet so don't know the hours. Good luck, school is a big change!