[Loughla]

The rationale I've seen, in the public schools in my area, is to cram more reading and writing into the day. They eliminated nap time, and have alternating recess - mornings for 30 minutes one day, afternoons the next.

If your child can't read and write their own name by the time they get to kindergarten, they are considered behind age appropriate. This isn't an affluent area of the US, either. It's a rural, poor area.

The quest to test is what's eliminating all 'extra' times in schools. We have to beat China, Korea and all of Europe on standardized dick measuring tests, so our children get to suffer (unless you can afford alternate private schools like forest schools or something similar).