Step 2 for Paper 1

Claim: Full Day Kindergarten is more beneficial than half day kindergarten and therefore all schools should have Full Day Kindergarten.
Qualifier? The claim was qualified because while kindergarten itself is helpful to students, it is proven that they get more out of going to full day kindergarten.
Reason you are an authority? I am an authority because I have studied the topic by doing research using Educational websites and article databases.

Reason one: Full Day Kindergarten will allow teachers to extend learning during the day and focus more on the individual needs of his/her students.
What makes this reason relevant? Full Day Kindergarten allows teachers to get to know the students on an individual basis and to get to know their basic needs.
What makes this reason effective? Having full day kindergarten would allow the teacher to broaden his/her topics that would be studied. The class would be able to dive into topics that aren’t covered in half day.
What evidence supports this reason? Children go onto middle and high school. Their basic core subjects are instructed upon heavily. Kindergarten and throughout elementary set the building blocks for those core subjects later on in middle and high school.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because the information is from ERIC which is an educational database. The article which I used discusses full day kindergarten benefits verses half day.
Reason two: It would be beneficial to teachers, parents, and students.
What makes this reason relevant? Full Day Kindergarten would allow students to interact more with other peers. Teachers could broaden their subjects instructed upon. Parents would have the option of sending their children to an after school program. This way, parents wouldn’t have to worry about transportation.
What makes this reason effective? Most parents today would rather have their child attend full day kindergarten because of the benefits it provides.
What evidence supports this reason? “Researchers who have studied social and behavioral outcomes found that children in all-day kindergarten programs were engaged in more child-to-child interactions (Hough & Bryde, 1996) and that they made significantly greater progress in learning social skills” (Elicker & Mathur, 1997). Parents as well as teachers feel that this is the best option considering it does benefit children more than if they were to go to half day kindergarten.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because it is from ERIC which again is an educational database which does studies and articles on education.
Reason three: Children extend their social and behavioral skills while in full day kindergarten.
What makes this reason relevant? It is proven that most of the time children who are in full day kindergarten go through elementary with better social and behavioral skills.
What makes this reason effective? Children are in school for a longer period of time during the day which allows them to interact more and at a more consistent rate.
What evidence supports this reason? “Researchers who have studied social and behavioral outcomes found that children in all-day kindergarten programs were engaged in more child-to-child interactions (Hough & Bryde, 1996) and that they made significantly greater progress in learning social skills”. Students would have more time to engage with each other and increase their social skills.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because it is from ERIC which is an educational website devoted to debating education and allow viewers to read articles.
Reason four: Kindergarten is the basic stepping stone for elementary school.
What makes this reason relevant? Kindergarten is the stage between preschool and 1st grade.
What makes this reason effective? Kindergarten is important since it is a transitional period between preschool and elementary. Social skills and behavioral skills are learned here.
What evidence supports this reason? “Teachers and parents indicated a preference for all-day kindergarten because of the more relaxed atmosphere, more time for creative activities, and more opportunity for children to develop their own interests” (Elicker & Mathur, 1997). Teachers and parents feel that full day kindergarten would offer more socially to children.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? Yes because it is from ERIC which is an educational database.
Reason five: Schools could save money by not having the buses run for half day kindergarten which could be used for full day kindergarten and the materials needed.
What makes this reason relevant? By not having the noon bus on route, that money that would go to the bus drivers could go to full day kindergarten and the resources needed.
What makes this reason effective? The money used for paying bus drivers can be used for full day kindergarten and the extra resources that would have to be available.
What evidence supports this reason? ERIC, an educational resource database offers the negative points for half day kindergarten and discuss positive points for full day kindergarten saving money is one of them.
Is this evidence sufficient and credible? ERIC is an educational resource that has credible information about educational topics.

1. Objection: Children may not be mentally and physically ready for full day kindergarten.
Rebuttal: Preschool allows children to interact with others. Full day kindergarten would be less rushed because they is more time to go over material. They are going to learn more at a slower rate rather than learning a lot in a small amount of time.
2. Objection: There may not be enough teachers to teach full day kindergarten.Rebuttal: Many reports show that teachers, along with parents prefer full day kindergarten for various reasons but one that is narrowed in upon is that teachers would have more time to get to know students on an individual basis.
3. Objection: The schools may not have enough room for all of the children that are in full day kindergarten.Rebuttal: If full day kindergarten is put into place, then every school is going to have to put the program into effect. If schools don’t have enough room, then they’re going to have to make room by adding and dividing up classrooms.
4. Objection: Funding for full day kindergarten may not be to the level that it needs to be.Rebuttal: If half day kindergarten is cut, then that money can go to full day that would originally go to half day. The state or government would have to provide the rest of the money for buildings, etc.
5. Objection: Children learning capacity may not be strong enough to go to kindergarten for the whole day.Rebuttal: Children of any age are anxious to learn and to discover new things. Full day would allow them to learn but at a slower rate than the rate learned during half day. Preschool starts the building blocks by learning shapes, etc. As children grow, their learning capacity widens and gets better.