EDITORIAL: Kindergarten needs mature approach

Kids may be ready for more kindergarten – but are the grown-ups?

This month, parents, educators and care providers are being asked to discuss whether the government should take over the responsibility for pre-school for children ages three and four, and make kindergarten go from half to full days for five-year-olds.

But the time for consultation is short – just a few weeks – and the issue is immense.

While many countries and some other Canadian provinces, such as Ontario, already provide early education opportunities for children, such a system would be new in B.C. and extremely contentious. That’s because private operators already offer the kind of programming that would be required of an early learning setting.

Grafting a public system onto the existing mix of for-profit and non-profit care providers would take a mighty heart, a well-thought out, long-term plan involving all stakeholders and consistent, sustainable funding.

But such an effort could pay off if it means all children would have access to quality early learning opportunities, regardless of their parents’ ability to pay.

Even so, there are many hurdles. For one, the public would need to understand the benefits of expanding kindergarten – and it’s not about providing free daycare for working families. Research has proven good quality early education provides a solid foundation for the transitions children will have to make in life, regardless of whether their parents work outside or work in the home.

Still, many people would have to be convinced. Right now, school gets a bad rap as a place kids go to become good workers. Many parents want their children to enjoy their childhood and fear more school will cut it short.

Expanding kindergarten, whether in schools or existing private facilities licensed and accredited by a local authority, opens up a world of possibilities for children. It could be a kind of un-school, where children learn through imagination and play, not worksheets.

But for that to happen, the adults will really have to commit to the idea — then act like grown-ups to make it happen.