My boy turns five soon, so he'll be younger for kindergarten. That's not my concern really. He's very academically ready and will really benefit from all the social interaction in my opinion. He loves preschool (only 4 hours. 3 days a week though).
HOWEVER, I'm having a bit of a mental breakdown over how US public kindergarten is structured these days. He's going to be gone for close to 8 hours a day including bus time. The actual school day is 6 hours and 35 minutes and they get 25 minutes of recess. 25 minutes for lunch. A 15 minute snack. That's insane to me. I know it's not a school level or even a school district level decision and there's nothing I can really do about it (thanks common core and no child left behind). Thankfully his school does focus on play-based learning as much as they can with all the BS standards they have to meet for instructional time. But what the heck? This is just so inappropriate for 5-6 year old brains and bodies.
Am I overreacting? Is it going to be fine? Is it going to be a disaster? I feel sick about it honestly. We're in a good school district in a good education state in the US but I hate that this is our only option. We shouldn't be worried about burnout in effing kindergarten.
I'm curious as to what other parents' experiences have been with this? My child is used to hours of unstructured/outdoor play nearly every day and I'm just so worried about him making this transition and what it's going to do to him. I'm worried it's going to kill his imagination and love of learning.
HELP 😭