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Kindergarten Readiness
What Experts Say
How old were you when you started kindergarten? Chances are, you and nearly everyone else in your class was about 5 years old. Not so anymore. These days, kids often start after age 5, whether it's due to their state's age requirements or their parents' choice.
Kindergarten age requirements vary by state; the birthday cut-off -- the date by which a child must be 5 before entering kindergarten -- is July in some states, December in others. But studies by childhood development experts suggest that chronological age should not be the only factor when it comes to determining kindergarten readiness.
The U.S. Department of Education recommends that if your...
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What skills MUST my my child have for kindergarten?
Kids need ot have a great deal of patience and a long attention span to sit through a full day of kindergarten these days. There is a lot of seat work and quiet time that many 5-year-olds just aren't ready for. Ask yourself: Can my child stay focused on one topic with me for about 20 minutes? Can my child wait his turn when others are speaking? Can my child sit calmly during a story that he isn't interested in? Does he respect authority? Those are really great skills that a teacher would welcome in a kindergarten setting.
What about social skills?
Along with the patience and attention span, you have to ask yourself as a parent, is your child ready socially to interact with kids who may be older? Some of the kids in my daughter's kindergarten class were almost six when school started because their parents felt they just weren't ready -- emotionally or socially. I've heard this more from parents of boys. In fact, some private schools will have different age cutoffs for boys and girls, comes down to a maturity level.
What is "red-shirting" for Kindergartners? Does it really help?
This "trend" which only really got a name a few years ago, is derived from college athletics where an athlete might sit out his freshman year to improve his academics, or to grow and develop more. The athlete retains his four years of eligibility and should generally benefit from the time.
The same can apply for your child. If he or she is a bit young to be starting kindergarten, you might hold your child out a year to give them more time to develop physically, emotionally or academically. Since this happens more with boys than girls, the term red-shirting seems particularly apt.
News reports in recent years have also highlighted a trend whereby zealous dads of boys choose to "redshirt" their kindergarten-aged boy in the hopes of gaining an athletic advantage in high school. Just how widespread this "trend" actually is remains uncertain.
My child is very shy. Should I wait to enroll her in kindergarten? Or would it help her to be around other kids now?
My sister had this problem with her son and rather than wait until kindergarten she exposed him to as many social activities as possible... Playgroups, trips to the park and things like that. The more often he was around other kids the more he opened up. Some kids are naturally shy but pre-school could certainly help.
Being a single mom to an only child I am concerned about separation anxiety and sending her to pre- school too "soon" There seems to be conflicting advice as to whether the socialization and making her go will help her anxiety or increase it. Does anyone have any experience with this type of problem?
I started my daughter in preschool right when she turned three. Before that, she had never been in a daycare setting, and it was hard on her for the first couple of weeks. She has always been an anxious child, but after a few weeks she seemed to get comfortable and really liked spending time with so many kids her age. She loves school now! WebMD had a great article on preschool readiness that I read when considering preschool. If you're worried about too much time in school, you could always do a half-day program, or have her attend only 2-3 days a week.
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Helpful Resources
The Pros and Cons of "Holding Out"
The benefits of holding back boys from kindergarten is unsubstantiated by research.
December 26, 2007
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Great site for readiness info
I found this site very helpful when I was deciding when to send my son to kindergarten.
December 10, 2007
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Spring birthdays
It's great to read everyone's stories. Our son has a late spring birthday, and even though Kindergarten is a few years away, we're already talking about whether we should consider keeping him back a year to give him a chance to mature if... read moreOn the young side
I was a young five when I started Kindergarten. I truly believe that starting at such a young age affected my entire school career, although academically I did well. The problem was that I didn't have time to do a lot of the fun activities that kids do because keeping up my grades... read more
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2 weeks ago
Our experience
My girls had two years of preschool before kindergarten but the transition from a few hours of school to all day had me worried. The first weeks they were really tired but boy once they adjusted they did so well. Lilly has an August... read moreNot Acceptable?