Half-day kindergarten classes don't offer much time for serious education.  But come September, half-day classes may be no more. The district plans to expand full-day kindergarten from eight to all 14 of its elementary schools -- thanks in part to $2 million more this year in state aid. Program expansion would cost about $1 million and depends on voters' approval of the school budget on April 17.

The old argument that 5-year-olds can't handle a full day of instruction is wrong, said Sharon Lynn Kagan, professor of early childhood and family policy at Columbia University's Teachers College in Manhattan. "So many kids are experiencing pre-K, they're anxious and ready to go. They're ready for it," said Kagan.

This article appeared in the March 30, 2007 edition of the Herald News.

Published Monday, Apr. 2, 2007