RE: Kindergarten entry age, retention, full day

  I agree  with you...and so do the majority of my fellow kindergarten teachers!  At our school, Sandia Elementary in Apple Valley, we have added 1 hour to each day...so we can get "it all done"!  We favor this over all day kindergarten..where 5 year olds just get too tired for quality learning, and the teachers have less prep time.  We also wonder what happened to the entry age changing to 6 by Sept 1 (July would be great..but we'll take Sept.) With the decrease in funds, we are facing loss of classroom aides, which means just 1 adult to do "it all" each day. Quite a challenge!  Parents are unable to come in and help, due to working outside of the home. We jumped for joy when we got 20 to 1 (don't ever take that away!)..then they changed the standards on us!   It's way past time for the decision makers to REALLY put the children first, and support the teachers..helping us do the job we love.      Karen Kathan