March 7, 2006

On behalf of the Children's Alliance of NH, an organization with a long history of advocating for kindergarten in NH, I am pleased to comment on an issue facing voters in the Fall Mountain School District, who will have the opportunity to consider the value of kindergarten -- specifically, full day kindergarten -- on March 14.

The reasons for full-day kindergarten are both educational and economic.

Children who attend full-day kindergarten start grade school more ready to learn. Studies of the effects of full-day (defined as about six hours) kindergarten have found that students, particularly from disadvantaged families, learn more than in half-day programs. Studies that have tracked kindergarten students into grade school report strikingly similar results.

Kids who had attended full-day kindergartens were better prepared to succeed in first grade: they were more-independent learners, more engaged in the classroom and more thoughtful. They also were more socially and emotionally prepared, worked more productively with other students, related more positively and confidently with teachers, and were less prone to anger, blaming, withdrawal and shyness.

The economic argument is two-fold. In the short term, quality full-day kindergarten supports today's workforce. In New Hampshire, 61 percent of parents with children under age 6 depend on family, friends and center-based professionals to care for their children while they work. Those parents are more productive workers when their child is settled for the day in a high-quality program, rather than being shuttled from home to a friend's house to kindergarten to day care.

In the longer term, quality full-day kindergarten creates and strengthens tomorrow's workforce. Children who love to read and learn at age 5 are more likely to stay in school, graduate from high school, and be good learners for the rest of their lives.

I hope that this information will be of assistance to kindergarten supporters as Fall Mountain School District voters cast their ballots on March 14.

Ellen J. Shemitz, President,

Childrens Alliance of New Hampshire