AGREE!!! My almost 4 year old daughter is home with me full time. She has never once in her life used an iPad! She does not watch TV. She plays in the garden while I garden, she goes for mile long walks with me, she looks at books or plays with toys (like building blocks and lincoln logs, play kitchen, playdoh, she does many things, but ipads, TV and computer she NEVER does. We will introduce movies and such at age 5 when she can watch occasional quality programming and educational videos, and truly understand plots and whatnot. Computers will be used when she’s learning and they will be used for learning, not for video games or watching nonsense. We have no relatives or babysitters, so being screen free is a lot of work for us, but we prefer not using the ipad as a babysitter.

Every time I hear parents use the “can’t afford to stay home” line I don’t know whether to laugh or roll my eyes. You all really think all us SAHM are rich and privileged don’t you? Well, hey, my husband is turning wrenches right now, probably splattered in grease. He has no college degree but plenty of years experience, some trade school, and a reputation for being clever, responsible, and working like a beast of burden. His friendly personality helps. But rich? We haven’t had a vacation since our honeymoon, 5 years ago. We had to go over a year with only one car – in a completely rural area – so I was marooned when weather didn’t allow my husband to commute on his motorcycle, thus saving money on gas and being able to leave me the car. We can’t renovate our kitchen. We just prioritize. Healthy eating of good food, me being home with the kids, are higher on our list of priorities. We also moved to a less expensive area further from the city, so we have a beautiful home and property for a fraction of the price. Husband’s commute is longer, but these sacrifices made for quality of life. That’s all. As such, I can cook good meals, grow much of our produce in my massive vegetable garden, take care of home, husband and kids, and our kids aren’t always sick or bringing home bad behaviors from daycare. And my husband is no chauvenist, he’s happy I’m home but would absolutely support my decision if I chose to work. He is helpful around the house even after a long day of work, with no asking or nagging on my part. And I am not a 50’s throwback, before I married and became a mom, I owned my own little home, worked, started a business renting my own office space, and supported myself for many years as a single woman. It’s all about priorities. Many of us SAHM find the money thing insulting. We are not all rich, none of the local SAHM are rich, in fact, their families earn less than mine does, they are blue collar, hardworking and simple people. PS, I’m an ex-city-slicker, so I’m not a rural chick by birth, either. Husband also grew up in the big city.

It’s sad that kids would be in daycare from 7am to 6pm. Extremely sad. Why would you have kids only to have someone else raise them 5 days a week for the majority of there waking time. Don’t bother having kids if you feel that it is ok to have them in baby prison, I mean daycare for 11 hours a day. Just sad.

Here many children start school the term after their 3rd birthday in a Nursery class which is usually half-day [until about 20 years ago any school with a Nursery unit frequently admitted children full-time anytime from their 3rd birthday]. In the September following their 4th birthday, children enter full-time school in the reception class. Compulsory education if from the September following a child’s 5th birthday. NB: Our academic year runs from September to August. It is rare for a child to delay starting school until they turn 4 and almost unheard of to wait until they turn 5.

As you can see, by 5 years old most children have already been at school full-time for over a year and will have spent a year or more prior to that attending school half-day. I’m of an age where I have both been a student and a classroom assistant in classes of 5 to 7-year-old children that were expected to sit at their desks and learn – this is no longer the case but even then bad behaviour was the exception rather than the rule. Now our curriculum is less ridged but with more emphasis on learning through play. In my part of the UK, Early years education covers 3 to 7-year-olds regardless of whether they attend school or a daycare centre. If the way full-time kindergarten is structured in your area causes such behavioural issues, I would suggest you research how early education is managed in other countries.

Justine, below, mentioned taking the children out to explore nature – this is definitely something the education structure in my area allows for as you can get so much out it educationally. e.g. counting the spots on a ladybug, learning the colours of the things you see, developing descriptive and positional language, and all this while the children think they are having fun.

As an early childhood educator + child advocate with twenty years experience… YES. Preach on my friend. We desperately need this perspective.

My daughter is 3.5 and I have just said she will be doing half days as she is only turning 4 in June and had to start at the beginning of this yr. We have 4 yr old kindy then preprimary and then yr 1 in Australia.
They do 2 full days 1 week then 3 full the next.
She is 3.5 and never been away from me…I am relieved to have said no I want her to do half days. x

I’m in!! Sign me up and we can take a stand.

That sounds beautiful, Lulu! I must go to Australia! I completely agree that the pressed and forced curricuclum that is not age or developmentally appropriate is the underlying reason why full day kinder is so hard for some!

I’ve seen some tutorials on guest blogging that were for sale and pretty good! The info you shared here ranks right up there with the guides being sold – THANKS for sharing!”

I find it offensive and narrow minded that you believe kids sit in front of TV/iPad/Computer when mom is “busy”. While that may be the case for some, it is not most. Romping in the mud, exploring, chasing butterflies are precisely what children should be doing at home, not on taxpayers dollars in full day kindergarten. It is sad that so many parents buy into the idea that being in a controlled environment with 20+ other children is what is best for their 5 year old. The stress of imposing a 30 (or so) hour week on a five year old cannot be of benefit in most instances. As an educator and mother of three, I would not recommend full day kindergarten for a five year old.