The social kindergartener: comparing children’s perspectives of full- and half-day kindergarten

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe objective of the present study is to capture children’s voices to compare traditional half-day and play-based full-day kindergarten children’s perspectives on two research questions: What is important about kindergarten, and what is your favourite thing about school? Children’s responses were compared for emerging academic and social themes. Half-day kindergarten children reported academic activities significantly more often as being important compared with their full-day counterparts. No significant differences were found in children’s reports of their favourite thing about school, demonstrating that regardless of programme, children most enjoy play and social activities. These findings reinforce the importance of play-based full-day kindergarten programmes.