 Well four-year-olds at Pine River back of schools are getting a glimpse into kindergarten through full-day preschool. For this week's Golden Apple, Sarah Winkleman talked to the school to see how the new program is working. The person who drew the pictures is called the illustrator. After riding the bus to school and starting at 8 a.m. the preschoolers will take on a full day of normal school activities. Eight, nine, ten. We go to the library, we get to go to the computer lab, we get to go to music class, the cafeteria, use the gym in the elementary school. Each week, Miss Molly introduces a new letter into the classroom. This week's lesson on the letter F. Frog! More parents are working so just to have the kids go to a place where they're not only taken care of, but they're also learning as a blessing. Last school year, a trial period took place to get feedback on the possible program. That we were able to, you know, kind of tailor our program to what works for families, people that are working or whatever and those types of things. There are currently 40 full-day preschoolers who come to school two days a week, including three different combinations of days to attend depending what works better for the families. We feed them all breakfast and lunch and it's free for all kids, so there's no tuition, there's no cost at all to families. With just a small increase in cost for the school. Definitely was an increase in staffing costs, but we were able to offset a lot of that with the voluntary pre-K dollars we received from the state. A change that parents, staff members and children are adjusting well too. Most of them do just fine, a little bit tired in the morning if they're not used to getting up, but for the most part they are here, they are happy and they are playing and learning. A shift to full-day preschool that will likely continue to expand in the future. The state of Minnesota and our administration here at Pine River Backus is really putting a lot of effort into noticing early childhood and its importance, so I hope that other school districts are starting to consider this too because I think the benefits are really, really positive. For this week's Golden Apple, Sarah Winckelman, Lakeland News. And for parents who can't commit to full-day preschool, there are still half-day options available. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.