When do you start school: When should kids start kindergarten?

When should kids start kindergarten?

This fall, 4-year-old Luke will be starting kindergarten in Centerville, Ohio. He’ll be one of the youngest in his class — turning 5 just before the school year begins — and his mother is concerned.

Historically, the starting age for kindergarten has varied widely. In the past five years, both states and districts have pushed the minimum age to start kindergarten up so that more and more kids are at least 5 years old when they start school. (See minimum Kindergarten entrance ages for all states as of 2014.) Still, in states such as Connecticut and Maine (and certain districts in Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, and other states), you can easily find a 4½-year-old and a 6½-year-old in the same kindergarten class. That’s exactly what worries Luke’s mom, Deb Nelson, who has seen the difference just a few months can make, whether at home with her three sons ages 6, 4, and 3 or at school with the kids in her older son’s kindergarten class. Some kids are ready to read and write; others have trouble sitting still and paying attention. Being younger is particularly problematic as kindergarten becomes increasingly academic.

Delaying kindergarten is on the rise, both because state minimum ages are higher and because some parents are opting to wait until their children are older to start school. According to the most recent data available from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in the 2010-2011 school year only 6 percent of kids started kindergarten at age 4, 42 percent of kids were between 5 and 5½, 43 percent were between 5½ and 6 years old — and more than 9 percent of kids starting kindergarten had already turned 6. But will this benefit or hurt children in the long run? Educators and parents are wondering just that, as they weigh the potential risks of starting kids in kindergarten when they’re either much younger or much older than other kids in their class.

Why redshirt?

Nelson’s not only worried about kindergarten. “It’s junior high,” she says. “I don’t want him to be 11 when everyone else is turning 12 and have him be practically a year behind everybody in sixth or seventh grade.” Both concerns — for a child’s success in kindergarten and through adolescence — are driving forces behind the popular practice of “redshirting,” or delaying a child’s kindergarten entry by a year or more. (The term is borrowed from collegiate sports, where athletes will practice with the team for the first year, but sit out competition while they get bigger, stronger, and more competitive.)

Parents typically hold a child back because they feel he isn’t ready — cognitively, socially, or emotionally. Others may want to give their child a leg up, on the assumption that being older will make him more advanced. “In a lot of circles, it’s become the fad,” says Gary Painter, an associate professor at USC’s School of Policy, Planning, and Development, who authored a paper on redshirting. “Particularly in upper-middle-class circles where parents want to give their children every advantage, and want their kids to be ahead of their peers. ”

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The NCES data backs up Painter’s assertion. Of the roughly 6 percent of children clearly designated as “delayed-entry kindergartners,” parents tended to have at least a bachelor’s degree, and their family incomes tended to be well above the poverty line.

Does redshirting make a difference?

Short term, the results for redshirted kindergartners are promising. According to the 2010-2011 NCES data, redshirted children scored slightly higher on reading and math scores both at the beginning and end of the year compared to kids who started kindergarten at 5 or younger. However, the difference is slight, and there is not yet any data on the long-term effects.

Painter’s work, on the other hand, is based on a longitudinal study that looked at academic and social outcomes of delayed kindergarten entry over the course of about 20 years. He followed children starting at age 4 or 5 through age 25 or 26. Incredibly, he found no academic or social benefit to redshirting (The one exception? Varsity football. ) In fact, he found a small benefit to being younger in terms of slightly higher college attendance rates. But is Painter’s information, which is necessarily old (his subjects are now all in their 30s), on target? “There’s other research out there from here and abroad that finds older kids do slightly better than younger kids while they’re in school,” Painter says. “We need to keep a close eye on it.”

Overall, research on has found mostly unfavorable results for being older than your grade-level peers, including academic achievement that disappears in later grades and an increase in social and behavioral problems in adolescence, when being older (or different in any way) can create problems. But much of this data is old, and, in many cases, linked to studies on grade retention, which is likely more of a social stigma for a child than starting kindergarten later.

Mixed results

A Canadian study suggests that redshirting can have positive academic outcomes, including a reduced chance that the child will repeat the third grade and in tenth grade improved math and reading scores. According to this study by the NBER, the effects are highest for boys (who are more often redshirted) and low-income students. Additionally, the researchers’ estimates suggest that not only is delayed kindergarten better, but starting too early may have negative consequences for kids.

Given these mixed findings, redshirting clearly needs more study, especially since the average age of kindergartners is on the rise. In the past 40 years, scores of states have raised their kindergarten cut-off dates. In 1975, only nine states required that kids be 5 when they start kindergarten. By 2014, 32 states had that requirement, with 11 more requiring that kids turn 5 by mid-October the year they start kindergarten.

Ready or not

In the meantime, it’s up to parents to determine their child’s kindergarten readiness on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration social and emotional readiness, as well as cognitive ability. For many parents, evaluating a child’s kindergarten readiness isn’t easy. Former preschool teacher Tracy Gibb delayed her son’s kindergarten entrance because he was immature socially. “I’ve worked with kindergarten teachers for many years, and what they want are kids who can sit still and behave themselves well enough to learn, rather than a child who understands what’s going on but is a discipline problem because he’s too young to handle the responsibility of kindergarten,” she wrote in an email. Now, she thinks her 11-year-old son is on a par with his fifth grade peers emotionally. “This is a decision I have never regretted.”

When 4-year-old Delilah’s preschool teachers suggested she might not be ready for kindergarten, her mother, Los Angeles-based songwriter and music teacher Deborah Poppink Hirshland, was impressed with how the teachers explained their conclusion. In kindergarten, they told her, there are a lot of three-step processes, such as get a piece of paper, draw a shape on it, then cut out the shape. “Delilah went to the teacher after every step to ask what to do next,” Poppink Hirshland says. After an assessment, Poppink Hirshland learned valuable information about her bright daughter, who grew leaps and bounds thanks to occupational therapy. Now, 6-year-old Delilah is thriving in kindergarten.

The school Nelson’s sons attend offers a young 5s program for kids who may not be kindergarten-ready. At a pre-enrollment panel discussion with four local kindergarten teachers, Nelson raised her hand and asked the all-consuming question: “When should my son start kindergarten?”

“One teacher said, ‘In my 35 years of teaching, I’ve never encountered anyone who wishes they hadn’t done the young 5s program, but I’ve encountered some who wish they had done it,’” Nelson recalls. She was sold, and asked to have Luke evaluated for the program. The assessment included tests of Luke’s fine- and gross-motor skills, attention span, attention to detail, ability to follow directions, number knowledge, ability to spell his name, alphabet knowledge, color vision, and a hearing test. Luke scored high and showed no discernable deficiencies. So despite actually being a young 5-year-old, he was deemed ineligible for the program.

Still worried her son wasn’t ready, Nelson went to the principal. “[The principal] said in his case, because he doesn’t have any deficiencies and scored so high, maybe a regular classroom would be better for Luke,” recalls Nelson. Still worried for her son down the road, Nelson made plans with the principal to have Luke take kindergarten twice. “We just tell him that he gets two years of kindergarten. He doesn’t have any feelings of being held back or retained.”

Yet another part of the equation with today’s high-stakes testing is that we expect more of kindergartners. Unfortunately, they’re less prepared for success. “Kindergarten is much more academic than ever,” says Emily Glickman, a Manhattan-based educational consultant. “Many people feel that kindergarten is the new first grade.” Reading expert and author of Raising Confident Readers: How to Teach Your Child to Read and Write — From Baby to Age Seven J. Richard Gentry, PhD says the problem is exacerbated by parents failing to prepare their children for reading. Nearly half our nation’s kindergartners aren’t set up for reading success, he says. “The big question is whether a child is ready for formal reading instruction,” says Gentry, who explains that in terms of brain development, kids aren’t ready to read until age 6. But starting from birth, parents need to start preparing their kids to read with “joyful literacy activities” such as reading aloud, drawing, and playing writing games. According to Gentry, too many children aren’t getting this kind of preparation. “About 1.5 million kids come to kindergarten and they can’t write their name or retell the story of a favorite book,” he says. “They’re already behind. They’re the achievement gap.”

Who gets helped — and who gets hurt

Simply staying home and being a year older in kindergarten isn’t the answer. “We need to consider what the child is doing, when otherwise he would’ve been in an educational and enriching environment,” says Shane Jimerson, professor of school psychology at University of California at Santa Barbara.

Educational researcher Melodye Bush agrees. “It’s not good to start everyone later,” she says. “It’s not good to have everyone start at age 6. What we see is that the earlier you start [kids] learning to read and write, the better. As far as ability to retain knowledge, it’s better to start them at age 3.” Bush speculates that with time-strapped, stressed parents, “kids aren’t getting the necessary pre-learning they need.”

Both Gentry and Painter say that ultimately redshirted children from engaged, middle-class families “won’t be helped, but it likely won’t hurt.” But the practice puts a strain on families that don’t have the resources to pay for an extra year of preschool. If these younger kids have to compete with older, better-prepared children, it will, “exacerbate the achievement gap that already exists,” Painter says. “I don’t advocate that school districts ban redshirting, but it’s a caution to keep in mind.”

Next: Kindergarten: ready or not

Kindergarten Age in USA – What Age Do Kids Start School (A Guide for Parents)

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• Things to Remember When Determining the Kindergarten Age for Your Child

• State-Wise List of Kindergarten Entry Age

School life is one of the best times in a child’s life and this is the place where the child steps in the world of formal education. Many parents often wonder at what age should they start sending their kids to kindergarten and where most may take the age factor into consideration, factors such as kid’s social skills, motor, and physical skills, attention span, interest in learning, behavior, should also be considered. Let us find out in the following blog about the state-wise age criteria of different states and what are other important factors that can help the parents in determining the right kindergarten age in the USA for the kids!

Things to Remember When Determining the Kindergarten Age for Your Child

Here are some things that you should keep in mind or remember before you decide when to send your kiddo to kindergarten:

1.

Taking Inputs From the Preschool Teacher

You know your kiddo well, but your kiddo’s teacher at preschool may help you in providing you with the valuable inputs regarding your child’s readiness to go to kindergarten. The teacher can help you how your child’s motor skills, social skills, confidence, and other skills are developing, which are of great importance as the child enters the next phase of schooling.

2. Thinking Long Term

As parents, we are often excited about our kid’s milestones and may find ourselves always in the rut to help our child achieve them as soon as possible and the same may sometimes apply in the case of schooling too. However, it is important that you think your decision thorough because it has implications such as if you start sending your kiddo to kindergarten at a younger age, this could mean getting a driver’s license early, early admission to college, etc. This could have its pros and cons.

3. Find Out Age Rules of Your State

You may think that your child is ready or not ready, but finding out the age rules for admission to kindergarten is also an important factor. Different states have different ruling regarding the kindergarten age limit. Make sure you check the age rules according to your state.

4. Every Child Is Unique

What may be suitable for one may not for the other child. This means that age criterion is an important parameter in determining at what age do kids start kindergarten, however, that is not the only criterion. If you feel that your child should wait another year before joining kindergarten, well, you should definitely consider that.

State-Wise List of Kindergarten Entry Age

In the United States of America, different states have a different kindergarten age range for kids. If you are wondering about what age to start kindergarten by state, well, it is important to note that as many as 32 states require the child to be of five years of age by or before September 1 in that academic year. However, around 11 states have this age cutoff limit before as September 1 to October 15, and Connecticut is the only state with January 1 as the cutoff age limit. There are seven US states which have local school-age rules eligibility. So, if you are interested in knowing kindergarten age in Texas, New York, Alaska, or other states, well, have a look at the following table, which will help you in providing a complete state-wise age guide:

Table Source:

• https://www. superpages.com/em/age-to-start-kindergarten-by-state/
• http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/MBQuest2RTanw?rep=KK3Q1802

No matter what age your child starts going to kindergarten, it is important that you as well as your child should be comfortable with the decision. Make sure you make the decision after taking into consideration or thinking about your child’s cognitive, social, and emotional readiness.

Also Read:

Ideal Age to Start Preschool for Children
Should Your Child Repeat Kindergarten
Preparing Your Preschooler for Kindergarten Admission

Previous articleKindergarten Curriculum Guide – Know What Your Child Will Typically Learn

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Gauri Ratnam

Gauri Ratnam completed her Masters in English Literature from the University of Pune. She began her journey as a German translator soon after completing her graduation, but later moved on to pursue her passion for writing. Having written for both digital and print media in a varied range of industries, she has the ability to write relatable and well-researched content, benefical for anyone seeking advice or direction.

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When Do Kids Start Kindergarten? Guidelines and Readiness

If you’re on the fence about when your child should start kindergarten, you’re not alone. Each year, parents across the United States are faced with determining school readiness for their 5-year-old — the minimum age most states set for school eligibility.

And while some states require school attendance at age 5, many others have compulsory school attendance laws that begin at age 6 or later, which leaves parents looking for guidance about sending their child to school.

Most kids start kindergarten at 5 years old, although they may begin as early as 4 or as late as 7. Whether they’re eligible to start generally requires turning 5 years old before a specific date — usually in August or September.

It’s likely your state offers kindergarten, but not all states require children to attend. As of September 2020, there are only 19 states plus the District of Columbia that require children to attend kindergarten based on state statutes or regulations, according to the Education Commission of the States.

For parents in the other states, the decision to send their child to kindergarten depends on personal beliefs as well as the compulsory school attendance laws in their area.

According to data from 2018, in some states, school is compulsory beginning at age 5. But compulsory schooling doesn’t begin until age 8 in others.

For example, Arkansas, Hawaii, and Maryland require kids to start school at age 5. Colorado, Florida, and Georgia set the age at 6 (Pennsylvania recently changed their age to 6 as well). And Washington doesn’t require kids to attend school until age 8.

The differences in rules as well as the developmental range of individual children can leave many parents wondering what factors affect the age kids should start kindergarten.

Several factors affect a child’s readiness to start kindergarten, including emotional, social, physical, developmental, home environments, preschool experience, and reading skills.

According to Cheryl Broadnax, senior director of district improvement at StriveTogether, some of the key factors that families consider when making this decision include:

• Cost of child care. Many families face financial challenges with this and thus elect to enroll their children in free kindergarten as soon as possible to alleviate financial concerns.
• Maturity. Is the child able to do self-care things like buttoning, zipping, and other skills needed to use the restroom independently? Is the child ready to be away from home and engage in instructional activities within a classroom?
• Academics. Some kids have outgrown being home or in settings that focus on socialization. They need to be stimulated and expand learning.
• Individual development. Preexisting conditions that delay physical, emotional or mental development may also factor into the decision to wait longer, although some may opt to enroll earlier for more access to early intervention programs.

When it comes to signs that your child is ready for kindergarten, Rebecca Mannis, PhD, a learning specialist at Ivy Prep Learning Center, says to consider the following abilities and skills.

Does your child have:

• the ability to sit in one place and take turns
• strong language skills
• an interest in books, sounds, and words
• the maturity to engage with other children
• the skills to manage their frustration
• the body and postural strength to sit in a chair for extended periods of time
• the ability to both get started on their own and to adapt to the demands of a group
• the ability to hold a pencil and do beginning drawings
• frustration tolerance
• the ability to respond to structure and redirection “on-demand” with some cueing toward transitions?

Additionally, Broadnax says there are several key academic indicators that a child is ready for kindergarten. These include:

• Writing. The child is beginning to write letters of the alphabet and write their name.
• Letter and sound recognition. The child can name letters of the alphabet and give sounds. They can even name a word that starts with that letter.
• Numbers. The child can count to 10 or 20 and be able to visually recognize and name numbers.
• Colors and shapes. The child has a basic recognition and understanding of colors and shapes.
• Reading. The child knows how to hold a book, understands that words go left to right, and can recognize rhyming words.

Of course, it’s important to recognize that not all children will have the same preparation for kindergarten. If your child doesn’t already have the skills listed above when it’s time to enter kindergarten their teachers will work with them (and you) to help them to learn.

Some families choose to “redshirt” their child. Though this term was typically associated with a college athlete sitting out a year to develop both physically and mentally, redshirting is now part of a decision matrix for kindergarten readiness.

Mannis says by waiting a year, or by enrolling a child in a program with a tactical birthdate cutoff, parents ensure that their children will be among the older students in the grade.

“This has been useful, in particular for some boys, where they then have time to develop their focus, as well as other developmental goals such as holding a pencil and starting to write in invented spelling,” she says.

For some students and families, Mannis says redshirting reduces frustration because the older children may be stronger, more socially mature, and better able to handle the attentional and other neurological expectations of formal academics.

Many experts, including those from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggest that delaying school entry can prevent children from being in the best learning environment.

In fact, early intervention programs available through the public school program can offer support that can improve educational outcomes.

Although this practice is happening in public and private schools, most parents are enrolling their child in kindergarten on schedule or when they are eligible, according to statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics.

When children have the emotional, physical, and cognitive skills in place, Mannis says they’re more likely to absorb and participate with success and enthusiasm.

But when they don’t have the requisite underpinnings, Mannis says there is a mismatch between where the child is and the expectations of the school.

“Some kindergarten programs remain more a continuation of early childhood ones, which are more play and exploration-based, while other kindergartens mark the start of formal education,” Mannis explains.

So it’s critical that parents understand the culture and approach of the school they’re considering as they ask themselves, “Is my child ready?”

Nowadays, Mannis says, we know so much more about how kids grow, learn, and thrive. “The more parents think about their child’s temperament, learning profile, and context of the school and community, the more they can make well-considered decisions for their children,” she says.

For example, if a child is slower to warm up in temperament and doesn’t have well-developed language skills, Mannis says it may be challenging for them to adapt to a structured, pre-academic kindergarten.

“Rather than a structured kindergarten class that comes with an expectation that they will develop phonics skills and manage workbooks, they may need more floor time and open-ended art projects,” Mannis says.

Starting on the right foot helps kids begin schooling feeling more confident and having success. Broadnax says this can have long-term effects with students feeling good about school, which means more engagement, more progress, and less likelihood of dropping out or disengaging over time.

“Being ready helps students have lower stress, frustration, and anxiety while at school. And coming ready gives a strong foundation schools and teachers can build upon,” Broadnax says.

Whether to enroll your child in kindergarten earlier or later depends on a variety of factors. If you live in a state that requires school attendance at age 5, you’ll need to send your child to school or declare that you’re homeschooling.

But if you live in a state that doesn’t require school attendance until age 6 or older, the decision comes down to school readiness.

If you have questions about your child’s ability or readiness to start kindergarten, consider talking with the local school district’s learning specialist or elementary education director.

The child does not want to go to school: what to do?

Ekaterina Ushakhina

Children are often nervous about going to school, and sometimes they don’t want to go there at all. The first thing you need to do if your child refuses to go to school or is very nervous about it is to try to figure out what exactly is making him anxious.

We will tell you how to do this in our article.

The first step

School is a scary place for many children. We see direct consequences of this – for example, children may act distantly, often cry or show emotional outbursts. But sometimes they manage to control themselves during the school day, and the reaction comes when they come home.

Calm

The first step is to ask the child simple questions and try to understand his anxious expectations. For example: “What worries you when you go to school?”, “What do you think will happen if you go to school?” Or even, “What’s the worst thing that can happen if you go to school?”

The child may not tell you why he is worried: what if you run to school to solve a problem, make a fuss, and the rest of the children think that he is a snitch? You will probably need persistence to ask your child about fears and anxieties. Give him a promise that you will not take any action without his consent.

Ask the child what he is worried about. Retrieved

If a child cannot describe what is bothering them at school, you should talk to the teacher or someone who knows them well. It is important to be frank with the child if you are going to do this. He should also know that you will do it as carefully as possible. Otherwise, his fear will be exacerbated by fears that he will be bullied even more aggressively.

Give a positive signal

Explain to your child that they need to go to school and that there are benefits to it, such as learning new things, meeting friends, playing sports or music, and so on.

Sometimes it’s hard to send these signals: you may be worried about your child’s progress in school, or frustrated by the way teachers treat his anxieties, social and academic needs.

Help your child change their attitude towards their worries. It is important that he understands that:

1. Everything may not happen as he fears.

2. Even if everything ends badly, he will be able to do something about it.

3. By resisting fears, we learn something new to overcome them.

Help your child change how they feel about their worries. Source

Find a quiet place

It is helpful to find a place on the school grounds where the child can go to calm down and relieve stress (where he will feel more secure). A great option is the library. If your school doesn’t have one, ask your teacher about other options. It is also important to decide who to contact in case of an anxiety attack. In addition, it is necessary to decide how the child will get to this place or this person if he feels depressed during the lesson and cannot talk about it in class.

An anxious child should have a corner at school where he can calm down at any time. Retrieved

Do I need to transfer my child to another school?

Often parents who are faced with this problem wonder if changing schools would be a good idea. Children believe that in the new school they will not worry and will make many friends. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work; perhaps the problems will repeat in the new school.

Children often experience difficulty because they have to be separated from you or another adult, answer in class, take tests, work in groups, interact with other children, and deal with conflict. The same thing awaits them in the new team.

A new school does not always solve problems. Source

On the other hand, a child’s anxiety about school can also be related to healthy reasons: he does not like the very approach to learning; he is being bullied; he has few congenial friends or does not fit into a noisy, crowded, lively environment. Then the school is better to really change.

What to do in case of bullying?

Bullying must be fought. It may involve name-calling, other snarky remarks, or physical aggression such as pushing, hitting, or fighting. All schools have an obligation to combat this phenomenon. If your child is being bullied, be sure to talk to the principal and head teacher so they can sort it out.

It is important that the child feels that he has a way out of this situation. He should be frankly discussed with how the problem will be solved, and he should be able to share any concerns about this so that appropriate action can be taken.

Bullying must be fought under all circumstances. Source

First, the school has the means and the ability to look after your child’s best interests and be responsible for them. The child should receive a clear signal that bullying is not acceptable and that action will be taken. In addition, it will be useful for him to have a clear plan for how to respond to any further incidents of bullying.

Based on the materials of the book “Calm. How to help children cope with fears and anxiety.

Article cover: pexels.com

What school do you go to – Czech translation

To chodíš ze školy v noci?

You walk to such a cool school .

Which school should I go to ?