Full-day kindergarten program launched at James S. Bell.
Diana Webley brought her son Keyaane, 5, to James S. Bell Junior Middle School on Tuesday morning for his first full day at kindergarten. The south Etobicoke school is one of 101 in Toronto to offer the newly launched Early Learning Program this year.
Staff Photo/CYNTHIA REASON
Diana Webley's biggest worry about sending her five-year-old son Keyaane to the newly launched full-day kindergarten program at Etobicoke's James S. Bell Junior Middle School is the loss of his midday nap.
"I'm just hoping he doesn't get tired," she said Tuesday morning, Sept. 7, outside the school while waiting for the bell to ring. "That's my main concern - his energy level."
Webley is far from the only parent a little apprehensive on the napping front. Principal John Currie said the issue was the biggest and most popular to come up at an open house for parents and children held at James S. Bell in May.
The school is one of nearly 600 phase-one schools across the province and 101 in Toronto to roll out the full-day Early Learning Program this week. The open house was held to suss out parents' concerns with the switch from a half-day to a full-day (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) learning experience for their children.
"That's what the overwhelming question on every parent's mind was: will my child get a nap?" Currie said. "My answer is that we'll treat each child individually. If they need a nap, they'll get one. If they don't, they won't have to."
Veteran kindergarten teacher Olga Kobylansky, who's teaching in one of three full-day kindergarten classrooms at James S. Bell, said she's nevertheless prepared in case of the former.
She recently purchased a bunch of yoga mats, cut each of them in two, then rolled them up and put them away - just in case the half hour of "quiet time" after lunch turns into "nap time" for some of the younger students. In her class of 28, which she'll teach with the assistance of a registered, full-time early childhood educator, there are several three-year-olds mixed in with the four- and five-year-olds.
Nap time aside, Kobylansky, who's taught kindergarten at James S. Bell since 1996, said she's confident the transition to full-day learning will be a successful one.
"The full-day program will be an adjustment for some of the kids, but in the end it will provide a much smoother transition," she said. "Many of the kids in years past were in a day care situation anyway, so this way they're staying in one building."
This way parents are also seeing daily savings in the cost of "skyrocketing" half-day day care fees, noted Webley - another huge plus for parents of all budgets.
By the 2015-2016 school year, full-day kindergarten will be available in every school in Ontario, with an estimated annual price tag of $1.5 billion.