Looking for a Half-day Kindergarten Program

I always thought halfday kindertaen was the norm.

All the public schools in the area are ONLY half-day. The catholic schools around me are half-day, with full-day optional.

Are you looking for a regular public school? If so, my step-son goes to Chestnutwold Elementary, which is in the Haverford School district and they only have kindergarten 1/2 days. Hope this helps.

i had a hard time even finding half-day preschools.
If you are looking for kindergartens near the Philly area, I would suggest you just look up schools in the phone book and start making some calls, at least as a place to start.
Good luck

If your local school district doesn't offer half day kindergarten, check your area churches. You may find that they can be less expensive than daycare centers and such.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat
chat and events within 2 hour radius

not sure where you are located but i live in washington pa and there are several private schools that offer 1/2 day. my son goes to JFK, there is also first christian. in canonsburg there is central assembly. most churches offer 1/2 day programs, they are pricey but you can get financial aid which is what we do, its worth it. hope this helps.

Hi,

I have no idea where you might be located, but if you are near Pittsburgh Pine Richland still has half day kindergarten.

I am with you on wanting a half day kindergarden program... fortunately they haven't made ours full day yet (though I hear the parents are trying for it... ugh, I hope that doesn't happen for at least 3 years).

Anyway, the YMCA might have something... I would just go into the yellow pages and call every single place listed! I'm not familiar with your area, so I can't help specifically.

I'm not sure where you are located, but Wilmington Friends School in Delaware offers a half day program. I must tell you that very few kids use the half day format and most teachers will tell you lunch is a major learning experience. My child attends full day kindergarden there and loves to go to school every day. The sticker shock might get you, but you get what you pay for and in my opinion private school is worth every penny.

If you are a stay at home, why do you want to send them away. You can do your own pre-k and k with a program called Joy School. It is set up for moms for do-it-yourself with songs and learning and such. I did that twenty years ago. And, that is a good place to start for home school. I know there are groups in Phila, but we are in York and have a huge group. You might like to look into homeschooling and then you are in control, not handing off your authority and responsibility to strangers in a building. There is a lot of help in PA.
york info will still help you www.yhsa.org
or www.phea.net
or www.hslda.org
or http://www.valuesparenting.com/

The Joy School info has changed and you can set up your own "school" and I did not see on a quick view the K curriculum. http://www.joyschoolco.com/

We just gathered 3-6 families together and the moms took turns for the early years and then when first grade came along, we did our own homeschool and started a support group for homeschooling in the area.

just some other ideas where you custom make the school.

AND compulsory school age in PA is 8-17, so you do not have to report anything to the school district until after the child is 8, so you can do kindergarten, first and second on your own without oversight of the district.

http://www.pde.state.pa.us/home_education/site/default.asp
tells you all about homeschooling in PA from the Dept of Ed.

D.

Half day kindergarten is not normal? Does that mean most districts offer only full day? That's sad.

Where do you live? It's been awhile since my kids have been in kindergarten. Last I heard in my district, they offered both half and full day.

HI C.!
We send our Brianna to Montessori school only for 1/2 days. She loves it!
~L.
Butterflylindamarie at yahoo dot com

Hi C., I realize you want a half-day program but from personal experience you really should go for the full-day program that your local school offers. I had one child that went full-day, one child that started full-day and then we moved to a school district with half-day mid-year, and one that just had half-day for a year. In my experience the full-day program was the best. I know it seems like a long day, but with all the "specials" that they do in kindergarten (gym, music, library, computer, & art) plus all the school assembiles there isn't much actual teaching time on a daily basis durring a half-day program which puts them behind for PSSA's. So then in first and second grades they are rushed through alot of material. When they have a full-day program their days are more balanced. The children have an opportunity to learn and asorb more information which really results in a more balanced over all school experience in the long run. Ir really isn't about "shipping them out the door" it is about giving them the best opportunity from the start. I am glad that PA is going to full-day programs and I was disapointed when we moved her from Ohio and went from a full-day program to a half-day. I think that the lack of teaching time in the half-day program really hurt my youngest in the long run. I think took us twice as long to "uncover" her reading problems because of the lack of real "teaching time". If you are really determined to find a half-day program I suggest you look into the day-cares/pre-school facilities in your area. Good luck and best wishes.

HI C.,
I live in South Park and we have half day kindergarten. I am amazed at what they have learned in only a few hours per day. The district is broken up geographically and that is what determines whether you get morning or afternoon Kindergarten. It's not really a "choice" unless you have special circumstances.....Goodluck!

****ADDED**** Whoops, sorry...just realized you're near Philly, not Pittsburgh!

I used to work for Crafton Children's Corner. Last that I know about, they have a Kindergarten Program that was optionally full-day. Most of the children only attended half day in the morning. There is a small class size and the teacher is wonderful! Call and ask for Margie. ###-###-####. They are located in the Pittsburgh area... Thornburg, PA (very close to Crafton) in the old school building. Very cute and located right next to Thornburg Park.

Ridley school district is strictly half day kindergarten. Most catholic schools offer half day as well ( at least here in delco.)

Hi C.,
I don't know where you live, but Robinson Township Christian School continues to have a 1/2 day program. They work on the basics of colors, numbers and letters, but also start an early phonics reading program that helps them prepare for 1st grade. The teacher is kind and loving with the kids, and there is busing for most districts at least to school in the AM. Some districts have stopped noon busing for their own students, so most parents have to pick up their children. There is a very low teacher to student ratio with most elementary classes only having 10 or less students. The phone number is ###-###-####--ask to speak to Bobbi (the office manager).

Hi,

If you are in the Pittsburgh area, the North Allegheny School District has 1/2 day kindergarten. You could also consider homeschooling your child for kindergarten. There are so many good resources out there for help and materials, and the compulsory school age in PA is 8, so you do not even have to register as a homeschooler or jump through any hoops to be able to do it.

I'm not sure where you live or if you arer searching for info on a public school district, but the one I live in has half day kindergarten. We live in Plesant Hills, which is in the West Jefferson Hills School District. Hope that helps you some!

Good Day C.,

Have you considered home schooling?

My husband and I homeschool Our children and enjoy it very much. We use the Agora Cyber School which just made the news. Here is their website: www.k12.com

There are several other schools just google them on the computer using the keywords "home schooling"

Just a thought.

I. B.

Mom of 4 Grandma of 1