The Karns City School Board is doing the right thing in planning to offer full-day kindergarten at the start of the 2005-2006 school year. By making this investment is school readiness, Karns City will join the ranks of some 60 percent of school districts across the country offering full-day kindergarten.

The benefits of full-day kindergarten are clear, and they outweigh the costs to the district in terms of space and additional staff. Though it is true that not every child needs full-day kindergarten, it can also be said that every child benefits in some way from the longer program. More important is the fact that those who need it most will benefit the most. And in this light, full-day kindergarten is an upfront investment in children that can reduce latter-year expenses in remedial instruction as well as the larger social costs associated with truancy and drop out rates.

A full-day schedule allows children to get much more out of their kindergarten experience compared with the half-day schedule, which remains the norm at most school districts in Butler County. While academics clearly are clearly given more emphasis in a full-day program, the equally benefits of socialization and play are also enhanced.

With half-day programs, teachers and children often have to rush to cover the basics. And transition time between one activity and the next trims more scarce minutes from the time teachers have to actually work with the children.

Kindergarten teachers quickly determine which children need extra help to be on par with their peers, and shifting to a full-day schedule will give Karns City teachers the time to work individually with those students to help ensure that they will be ready for first grade. Without that additional help in kindergarten, some children will start out well behind their peers in first grade, and from that point forward catching up is more difficult. It's better to make the additional effort in kindergarten than in the later grades.

The longer school day gives kindergarten teachers the luxury to spend more time with those students who need it. This added time in a full-day program also allows the teacher to reinforce social skills and review concepts taught earlier in the day, so skill-retention improves.

A class of students properly and equally prepared for first grade benefits not only those students but also the first grade teachers, who can concentrate on moving the entire class through the first-grade curriculum rather than spending time bringing the lagging students up to par.

Other districts in the county should follow the Karns City lead in offering full-day kindergarten. If not quite ready to make the change, other districts should keep in touch with Karns City officials for feedback on what can be expected be a positive experience for district students, teachers and parents.