Thousands of 5 and 6-year-old children will soon be stepping foot into their first classrooms. With the start of school just a few weeks away, kindergartners are gearing up to enter elementary school.

Here in Lincoln, it's the first year all kindergartners will be spending a full day learning.

Soon-to-be kindergartner Cody Mantonya said he's ready to learn. He is one of nearly 3,000 Lincoln kindergartners who will be attending all-day kindergarten.

Several Lincoln Public Schools have already phased in full days, but this year the last eleven, including Cody's school Fredstrom Elementary, will complete the transition.

Cody's mom Becky said it will be an adjustment, but thinks her son and other children are ready for the challenge.

"I know with having kids in school all day, they have more time to learn and with this era of No Child Left Behind and testing, testing, testing, kids need time to be in school, and school's a pretty good place to have kids,” said Becky Mantonya, Lincoln.

While Cody's ready to step into his first ever kindergarten classroom, some Lincoln kindergarten teachers are prepping for a beefed up school day.

"I'm really excited about teaching a full day this year. We've had the same amount of curriculum to teach in a half day, so it's going to be nice to stretch it out and go a little deeper,” said Cheryl Richter, Fredstrom Elementary kindergarten teacher.

Mrs. Richter will be Cody's teacher, and she's got a lot on her plate as she not only prepares for a full day of kindergartners but also preps her classroom in the midst of construction.

“I'm the only one that's going to know everything's not done,” she said.

Richter said she thinks the biggest challenge will be keeping the children busy.

"I know they're going to get tired that first week or the first few weeks and just keeping them engaged in what they're doing,” she said.

But Cody's already ready to get going for his first full day of school.

Some principals of other Lincoln schools already have all-day kindergarten. They say it's been a gift to the students and improved the learning curve. It's also given teachers a chance to be more creative and focus more on each child individually.