Tuesday, May 6, 2008

North Carolina Shout-Out

I know this isn't a typical post.... but... it doesn't seem like Asheville offers a half-day Kindergarten program. Even the private schools I've perused (not religious) only offer a full day program. Does anyone have any insight into this?
Kid's system will be going through quite a bit of shock if she has to go from 3 afternoons a week at preschool to 5 full days in Kindergarten.

17 comments:

Kiki said...

Mrs. F, I think I know a blogger who lives there, or close by, I'll do some research...and get back to you!!

Mrs Furious said...

Hey thanks Kiki!
I've tried searching online and can't get any info on the public school's hours.

STACI said...

Mrs. F~
My boys went to all day Kindergarten after going to preschool for 3 hours 3 days a week. (M-W-F)

The great thing about all day K is that KID will be stimulated all day and be wore out when evening comes. It was an adjustment at first, I'm not going to lie. The key is an early bedtime. After a few days of all day K that won't be a problem. :P

My boys always went to bed at 7pm and slept until 7am when they were KID's age.

Heck, we just moved their bedtime to 8pm this year! That's for a 10yo 5th grader and a 8yo 3rd grader. :P
But, we STILL have nights they ask if they can go to bed earlier! :)


From what you've shared about KID I think she would LOVE all day K.
Mom...maybe not so much.
But, you will learn to love school days. :)



I know you're looking for NC school hours but just to share...
School starts at 8:20am here and dismisses at 3pm.

Good luck in your search and with the whole job/move!

Kiki said...

I found a bunch of Asheville bloggers, but I don't know any of them, do you want me to send you the link to their blog??? I found them because of the North Carolina part on their profile and then I found one with Asheville and clicked that which narrowed the search. Okay, here's one,look at her profile and click on the Asheville bit, if you want.
http://realitiesphotography.blogspot.com/

Mrs Furious said...

Staci,
I'm sure you're right.
Boo hoo :(

The schedule is going to be difficult though. She currently goes to bed about 10:30 and gets up between 9:30 & 10. She's always been that way. I was hoping (and here we could do it) to have her in afternoon K to kind of ease her into it.



Thanks Kiki... I'll go trolling!

Torey said...

Mrs. F--my Mother in Law used to work for the Charlotte-Meklenberg (sp?) schools in her previous life. I know it's not Asheville, but maybe she has some insight. I think N's cousin's wife is a teacher in Asheville. . .I could look for her contact info.

Any chance you guys would be moving to the mountains outside of Asheville? How does Mr. F feel about a 45 min. commute. . .? Then I could get you all the info on the schools in Burnsville!

Jennifer said...

My son went from 2 days a week at pre-k (3 hours) to full days in kindergarten. Not many schools do half days anymore, too much money for busing. The first month or so they gave the kids nap time at school. My son did just fine and loved it. He was exhausted when he got home .. and that was hard because he went to bed so early that I never got to spend time with him. By the time I got home from work and gave him dinner, it was his bed time and sometimes he even fell asleep while eating dinner! But by mid-year he was just fine.

It is harder on the moms then it is on the kids. I remember the first day of school he fell asleep on the bus on the way home! The bus driver had to go back and wake him up! Poor thing.

Our school hours are 9-3. Not that it helps for your situation, but some schools are later.

gooddog said...

hey mrs. furious,
i've been evesdropping on your blog for a couple months and love it. love it. love it.
anyway, i live in greensboro, nc (couple hours from aville) i thnk you'll love aville- very progressive, liberal and FUN. seems like it's fit you guys well. no trader joes in this state, though, except in raleigh. drives me nuts. ok, the kindergarden thing is true. not many, AT ALL, 1/2 days. look into magnet schools/charter school there- they are publis and lottery system and sometimes have 1/2 day. they are very in demand here. that's all i know! hope to have you in the tarheel state soon!

Jenny O. said...

I just sent my sister to your site so she can answer your question. She lives in Asheville and has a Kindergartener. Hopefully she'll be able to help. Good luck!

Noah said...

Full-day Kindy is the new rage. It's all about early childhood developmnt and recognition of the new reality of most parents working full-time.

There was a huge nation-wide study (the Perry study) that showed that during the period where a child's brain grows the most, schools spend the least on their education. In part, full-day kindy is meant to keep-up with their brain development.

That said, it may not be as flexible as you and Kid need it to be. All-or-nothing is bad school policy...

Mrs Furious said...

Torey,
Somehow I don't think he's going to go for a 45 min commute. Although I do want to seriously investigate the surrounding areas before we decide.


Jennifer,
AHHHH you guys are killing me with the full day K stories...
weep weep



Gooddog,
Thanks for commenting :)
I saw that there are a bunch of charter & magnet schools... I wonder if we'd have any chance of getting in if we won't be there until the summer? Probably not. As soon as we get the word I'll start making some calls.
I am so not prepared for this since half day is more of the norm here!

Mrs Furious said...

Jenny O,
thanks :)



Smitty,
I can't hear you. ;)

I get the need for full day... AA offers both at most schools. I just don't personal agree with a structured learning environment for that age for that length of time. I don't think it will actually fit Kid's natural learning style. Plus I'll kill myself ;)

Brenda said...

I'm with Staci, we were a 7 to 7 family for a long time. Now we're at 9 (my 9yo) and 10 (my 11yo). If outside the home school is your plan, you might want to just start moving the bed-time over the summer, like a half hour every few weeks to get her slowly acclimated to a new schedule. What time do you usually put Baby down?

My boys also both did full day kindergarten, and it is a bit of an adjustment. My oldest used to fall asleep during quiet reading time... But don't think of it as a structured learning environment all day. A lot of Kindergarten is really just social interaction with peers and playing. They say elementary school isn't really a full day of academics until 3rd grade. Knowing the kind of parent you seem to be, I'm sure you'll be supplementing and supporting the academics at home like we do, to fit Kid's learning style. (No public school is really going to do the whole job.)

Anyway, the full day thing is way harder on the moms -you'll definitely miss her. I've found through the years that slowly letting go can be both satisfying and heartbreaking. But you get through it! :)

Chrissy said...

Mrs F - I live in Charlotte, NC - I think all elementary schools are full day starting with kindergarten. What is interesting in Charlotte-Meck is that not all of the elementary schools go the same hours due to busing, car-pools, morning traffic, etc...at our new school, we go from 9:15am - 3:30 pm. The elementary school we went to last year goes from 8:30 - 2:45 pm. Our schools are only 2 miles apart. Not sure what Asheville school district is like. I'm sure Kid will adjust well - I know that Kindergarten knocks their socks off the first few weeks - she'll be fine.
Oh yeah - Trader Joe's just came to Charlotte last summer - I'm sure Asheville area will get one soon. There are so many co-op / farmet's markets in Asheville - you won't have a problem! And Mast General store is the best!

michelline said...

Tori went to 1/2 day Kindegarten, but by the time Libby was Kindergarten ready they changed it to a full day. They both seemed to handle it about the same. Of course, our 1/2 day K was from 8:30 to 1:30 and the whole day is from 8:30 until 3. So that extra 1.5 hours didn't seem to really matter all that much.

Mrs Furious said...

Oh shoot... I wrote a comment that got lost.

it was something to the effect of...
No, no, no, no, no... I'm not ready for this!

No seriously I had just settled on which AA school to send her to... and had geared myself up for the medical issues. But that was thinking she'd be out of my sight for 3 hours... no all day.
I'm going to have to stew on this for awhile.


Gigs,
Baby goes down at 9:30 and has about a 12 hour night (as we all know that is not straight!).
She could be bumped up much more easily than Kid... her natural rhythm is more "mainstream" but it is much easier to have them on a similar schedule.

Kid came out a nightowl. Always has been. When she was Baby's age she'd go to bed at 12 or 1 AM and sleep until 11:30-12 the next day. She has always gotten as much sleep just kind of in a different time zone. Since I didn't work and Mr F is a total night owl it worked for us and we didn't mess.
Going to bed at 10:30 is an effort as is. Seriously. I know most kids sleep better and longer going down early but you can't get much better than 11 hours straight through the night which is what she pumps out. And as a baby if we tried to move her bedtime up she'd wake up all night. Just not her circadian rhythm. And I've researched it and yes it is genetic!

Julie said...

Oh, Mrs F, that is too bad about no half day program for kindergarten. I sent both of my kids to the half day program. It just seemed to fit for both of them. We actually have to pay for full-day if we want it. The other option is 2 1/2 days, which I think is kind of strange.

My oldest has a similar night owl sleep rhythm. Always like that.

Hey, I wish my kids would ask to go to bed earlier...I am envious of your situation, Staci:)

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