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Should Your Child Wait to Enter Kindergarten?
August 26, 2008 07:48 AM
New research suggests that holding kids back a year before kindergarten because of late summer birthdays has questionable benefits.
Email ThisThe Kindergarten Debate
For parents of kids with late summer birthdays, the decision about when to place a child in kindergarten isn’t always easy.
While some parents can tell that their children are quite eager to start learning, others have concerns about their child’s mental, social and emotional readiness to start kindergarten. “His intellect is not an issue,” Ruth Ann Houghton said of her son in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article. “It’s his attention span and maturity level. Because he has a late birthday, he is probably going to be the youngest in his class.” Houghton admits that she had a hard time deciding whether to enroll her son in school at age 5 or 6.
“Kindergarten redshirting” is an issue sparking debate around the United States. Some parents hold their children back to give them an advantage over other kindergarteners the following year. Children may not retain that edge for long, however. New research indicates that most advantages gained from delaying entry into school are lost by third grade.
While some parents can tell that their children are quite eager to start learning, others have concerns about their child’s mental, social and emotional readiness to start kindergarten. “His intellect is not an issue,” Ruth Ann Houghton said of her son in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article. “It’s his attention span and maturity level. Because he has a late birthday, he is probably going to be the youngest in his class.” Houghton admits that she had a hard time deciding whether to enroll her son in school at age 5 or 6.
“Kindergarten redshirting” is an issue sparking debate around the United States. Some parents hold their children back to give them an advantage over other kindergarteners the following year. Children may not retain that edge for long, however. New research indicates that most advantages gained from delaying entry into school are lost by third grade.
“That fade occurs in part because all kids learn so much more once they start school that the head start earned by being older becomes very small once all kids start raking in knowledge,” the Orlando Sentinel explained.
Todd E. Elder of Michigan State University and Darren H. Lubotsky of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign conducted the research on when children should enter kindergarten, and conclude that “Rather than providing a boost to children’s human capital development, delayed entry simply postpones learning and is likely not worth the long-term costs.”
Todd E. Elder of Michigan State University and Darren H. Lubotsky of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign conducted the research on when children should enter kindergarten, and conclude that “Rather than providing a boost to children’s human capital development, delayed entry simply postpones learning and is likely not worth the long-term costs.”
Related Topics: Hard work vs. intelligence; benefits of preschool
Hard work vs. intelligence
New research indicates that praising a child’s brilliance may be ill advised, a finding that reignites an old debate regarding the relationship between nurture, intelligence and success. Writing in Scientific American, Carol S. Dweck reports that rewarding children for their intelligence can easily encourage the belief that intelligence is a fixed quantity—either you have it or you don’t.
Source: findingDulcinea
Pushing kids too hard at an early age could be detrimental to them. In the era of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are encouraging their students to excel at an early age, and parents, concerned that their youngsters might be left behind in kindergarten, are driving for success even earlier. While some schools in the United States frequently test kindergarteners to see how they’re progressing, countries like Wales have banned such exams because they were “sucking the soul and spirit out of their children's early school experiences.”
Source: Newsweek
Advantages and disadvantages of preschool
“The chance to interact with other children is the benefit of preschool in a nutshell but it is far more than what those few words say,” according to Barbara Callaghan, who has worked as both a teacher and a school principal. Preschool can teach kids social and listening skills, and concepts like turn-taking.
Source: FamilyEducation
For parents whose child isn’t ready to enter preschool—whether it’s because the child is nervous about being away from home, doesn’t do well in overly stimulating situations or isn’t toilet trained yet—not attending preschool isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “It’s not so crucial. It can be a nice thing and a fun thing, but it’s not like if a kid doesn’t go to preschool, he or she won't be able to socialize, read, or write,” psychoanalyst Gail Saltz says.
Source: WebMD
© 2008 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
