LANSING - A push to get children in school younger – and keep them there longer – may take effect in the next few years.

A bill calling for a lower minimum age for kindergarten would also require students to stay the whole day instead of just half a day.

About 330 of Michigan’s 781 school districts – which include all public and charter schools – provide full-day kindergarten.

A full day of kindergarten would not require an increase in local taxes because the state provides funding for kindergarteners no matter how long their school day is, according to the bill’s legislative summary. Lowering the minimum age of enrollment from 6 to 5 years old, however, could cost an additional $72 million.

As long as physical activity and playtime remain a vital component of the curriculum, a full day of kindergarten could be good for children, said Ariel Anderson, professor of early childhood education at Western Michigan University.

“Some kids are able to handle the whole day while others find it more difficult,” Anderson said. “The most important criteria, however, is what is being offered in terms of the curriculum.

“If it’s a developmentally appropriate practice for young children, an all-day program might suit them very well. If it’s an academic curriculum with children being asked to sit at a desk and do a lot of pencil paper work all day long, that’s not good for a young child.”

As for lowering the minimum age, Anderson calls it a mistake.

“Given that a lot of placement for young children is developmentally inappropriate or teachers don’t have the flexibility of meeting each child’s individual needs, it would be a mistake to push it down,” Anderson said. “There are places other than kindergarten that give children what they need.”

Nearly 65 percent of kindergarteners in the U.S. attended a full-day kindergarten in 2003, according to Child Trends, a Washington-based nonprofit, nonpartisan research center. The number of full-time kindergartens has been climbing since the 1970s.

“In the short-term, children attending full-day programs tend to do better in school than do children attending half-day programs, and show stronger academic gains in kindergarten,” the organization said. “Full-day kindergarten programs may be especially beneficial for children from low-income families.”

Anderson said that depending on the situation, school might be a healthier environment than a child’s home.

“What matters is the quality of the environment and the quality of care the child is receiving,” Anderson said.

Five-year-olds can attend kindergarten but are not required to do so. Children must enroll within the school year of their 6th birthday if it falls before Dec. 1. If their birthday is after Dec. 1, they must enroll the following year.

Rep. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, the bill’s primary sponsor, introduced similar legislation last year that died in committee.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm included a full-day kindergarten in her list of educational goals for the state, saying that it would “make a dramatic difference in the life opportunities of many of our youngest citizens.”

The bill is under review by the House Education Committee.