Pledge your support for full-day, every day Kindergarten

When I saw the announcement of full-day, every day Kindergarten last year, I thought to myself, ‘FINALLY the Saskatchewan government has seen the light!’ I posted a gratitude message in my Instagram stories… and was shocked to read a reply from a friend saying that funding for the program hadn’t come from the government, but from Saskatoon Public Schools Foundation. She told me, private donors were paying for the pilot program until 2025.

I can’t be the only one who assumed that full-day, every day Kindergarten was being funded publicly. And I bet a lot of folks don’t know it’s a pilot project with its time ticking down. Indeed, Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces that doesn't publicly fund full-day, every day K.

…Yet.

Saskatoon Public Schools Foundation has a campaign right now called Early Learning, Equal Start, which you might have seen on billboards around the city… and on my TikTok, where I posted the above <scroll through>. SPSF’s hope is that we pledge our support for this very important program to continue. I encourage you to join me in signing the pledge.

My experience with early childhood education, as a mom, began when my kids were only 2. My family was fortunate to fit tuition for private Spanish Immersion pre-school and Kindergarten into our budget, and I watched my children absolutely blossom every day. Although everyone in our lives was supportive of our decision, I did hear from a few outside voices that they were too young. “Keep them home and enjoy your time with them.” But let me tell you, I enjoyed plenty of time out of school with them and I felt ZERO mom guilt about their time at school.

The one thing I did feel guilty about is that not everyone had access to the head start. Especially because I knew my kids weren’t the ones that could MOST use the boost.

Not only were my kids learning new concepts, the full days of pre-grade-school taught my kids to LOVE going to school. Despite switching from Spanish to French in Grade One, their transition was seamless. They were both readers right out of the gate. And they were excited to learn and be with friends.

My kids’ full-day, every day schedule also allowed me room for a professional life. Although my job is flexible, for most working parents, most workplaces don’t accommodate staying home if your child doesn’t have Kindergarten 2 or 3 days every week. Do people just pay for a full week of care? That inconsistency in schedule sounds frustrating to navigate.

And let’s be real about how investment in education works: we pay for literacy early and reap the rewards of lower crime rates, health care costs, and social safety net payments later.

Here are the facts:

🕮 Children who don't read at grade 3 reading level by grade 3 are 4x less likely to graduate 

🕮Right now, up to 60% of students don't achieve that critical milestone of grade 3 level literacy in grade 3

🕮Over 80% of children in full-day, every day kindergarten achieve grade 3 level reading by grade 3!

🕮Low literacy is linked to poor health, high unemployment, & crime rates. Investing now to raise our literacy rate later benefits everyone in the long run.

🕮Children enjoy kindergarten! And it makes the transition to grade one so much easier.

🕮For parents, child care is made so much easier when school is full-day, every day.

Socially. Fiscally. All-day, every day Kindergarten makes sense. Please sign the pledge and pass this message along however makes sense for you.

Maygen