The case for full-day learning
June 16, 2009
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Kenyon Wallace
TORONTO STAR
6 a.m. Vivash and her husband, Mike, wake up Jack, 4, and his sister, Grace, 2. Eat breakfast, wash face, brush teeth.
7:45 a.m. Load car, leave their East York home.
8 a.m. Vivash drops Jack and Grace off at daycare.
She never sees Jack's school. "As a working mom, I hardly have any contact with his school. If they're in the same building, I'll be able to see his classroom. Now I'm really limited to the occasional phone call ... notes back and forth with the teacher, and the work that comes home."
12:20 p.m. Jack and his classmates begin the 20-minute walk
from daycare to his school, along a busy thoroughfare that is a main
route for buses and fire trucks.
"As a parent, you have that worry of them walking.
"What if one of them gets loose or what if there's a car accident or somebody gets sick?
"With
buses and with the fire trucks constantly driving along the street,
there's just that one extra chance that something else could happen."
1 p.m. Jack's junior kindergarten class begins.
3 p.m. Class finishes and the kids begin their trek back to daycare. Every weather eventuality has to be planned for.
"My
biggest worries happen around weather-related issues. My mind always
starts going around 3 p.m. I look out my window at work. Is it raining?
Is it windy? There's always that big worry when your child leaves a
secure spot to go to another location. He's got the full rain boots,
all of that, because you never know what the weather is going to be.
They don't not walk when it's weather like that. If they're going to
get wet, they're going to get wet. Winter's a little bit harder. They
have an 'always walk' policy unless it's –30."
5 p.m. Vivash leaves work and usually has to fight traffic to make sure she gets to Jack's daycare before 6 p.m.
5:45 p.m. Pick up Jack and Grace from daycare.
"We've missed the 6 p.m. cut-off sometimes.
"You always don't want to have to be the one parent whose children are standing here, waiting for you to pick them up."
6 p.m. Arrive home. A weary Vivash sets about making dinner for the kids.
More:
Complete coverage on our Pascal report page
Can teachers, daycare staff play together?
'Seamless' program urged for kids
Not known which schools will get kindergarten program
More on the parentcentral.ca editor's blog
Toronto Star