RE: Mandatory Kindergarten/Alternate opinion

I agree with your vision of kindergarten and that's why I think it is so important for kindergarten to be full day and mandatory.  The opportunities to do just those things you mention are not there anymore and THEY NEED TO BE!  The English philospher, John Locke, back at the end of the 17th century said that children learn best by "sport and games."  Learning how to read and write in kindergarten can and should be playful and fun as well as leading to literate success.  I think it is our responsibility to create an educational system that benefits all children, not just the children who are fortunate to have supportive families behind them every day.  There are many little children who send themselves off to school in the mornings, rely on the breakfasts and lunches provided by the school, and have their teacher as the only adult that they can have a conversation with routinely.  We have an increasing high-risk-for-life population in our state, not just a high-risk-for-literacy one.  Some little ones spend their early years at daycare where their companion is the TV, or they are at home in front of it for hours at a time, sometimes alone, often with a parent who is drunk or under the influence.  They come to school with undeveloped language, a frightening condition considering that the window to learn to communicate verbally closes around or even before 5 years old.  If we are going to beef up our preschool education, it just seems illogical to not start with making sure every child in the state has the right to attend kindergarten and parents who want to not send their children should be required to homeschool their children.  That way the little ones who have irresponsible parents would be protected and not at the mercy of their parents.