As California’s major expansion of public education—the addition of TK, a new grade level for 4-year-olds—wraps up its second year, tens of thousands of parents statewide are struggling with their own versions of Hagooli’s question. Their individual decisions may determine the success of the program. California is in the midst of a $2.7-billion initiative to provide an additional year of free, high-quality education during the crucial early years. Yet while TK is a statewide program, the details that often matter most to parents—the balance of play and academics and how the program differs from preschool—vary greatly by district. The last major assessment of TK curriculum was done in 2016, long before the current expansion, and the state is not currently evaluating TK classrooms to see how districts are educating their youngest students. In an online FAQ, the state department of education calls TK “the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum.” That description was an “unfortunate decision,” said Alix Gallagher, director of strategic partnerships for Policy Analysis for California Education, based at Stanford University. Many school districts took that to mean that TK should look like kindergarten—a grade they were already familiar with—instead of the “developmentally appropriate, play-based curriculum” that the department calls TK in a separate FAQ for parents. But since each district can choose their own curriculum, the reality varies widely. In some classrooms, children are sitting at desks and doing letter worksheets. In others, they are exploring outdoors, building Legos and playing make-believe.