When my oldest daughter was in her preschool 4’s class, we were faced with the question of whether or not we should send her to kindergarten the following year. With a mid-summer birthday (and now CMS requires a child be five on or before October 16th), we could have gone either way. Actually most families (and many private schools) would have held her back, no questions asked. But I struggled with this because my daughter was emotionally ready to go to kindergarten. She was the social queen of her class – wonder where she gets that from?! Maybe not the smartest in her class, but definitely advanced socially. I keep telling myself that this will take her very far in life someday! She was particularly good with logic and reasoning. I mean that child could negotiate with the best of us and come out on top every time! I of course interpreted this as her being gifted, which is very comical to me now. My current elementary school principal shed some light on this recently when I volunteered to help with the school Open House. She prepped us before we opened the doors to our new prospective families. And the one thing she said was, “now everyone thinks his child is gifted, and that’s ok. Here are the advanced learning programs that we offer blah, blah, blah” and I just cracked up out loud. Because I was SO that person the previous year! I’m pretty sure she directed the question just to me!
There is no perfect formula that determines when a child is truly ready for kindergarten. But here is a basic checklist (I searched high and low on many websites!) to see how well your child is doing in acquiring the skills found on most kindergarten checklists.
– Listen to stories without interrupting
– Recognize rhyming sounds
– Pay attention for short periods of time to adult-directed tasks
– Understand actions have both causes and effects
– Show understanding of general times of day
– Cut with scissors
– Trace basic shapes
– Begin to share with others
– Follow rules
– Recognize authority
– Manage potty needs
– Button shirts, pants, coats, and zip up zippers (no, they don’t technically need to tie shoes but if this is an issue, just buy Velcro for a while!)
– Separate from parents without getting upset
– Speak understandably
– Talk in complete sentences of five to six words
– Look at pictures and then tell stories
– Identify rhyming words
– Identify the beginning sound of some words
– Identify some letters of the alphabet
– Recognize some common sight words like “stop”
– Sort similar objects by color, size, and shape
– Recognize groups of one, two, three, four, and five objects
– Count to ten
– Bounce a ball
– Hop on one foot
– Write his/her name (mine was close, messy but oh-so-close!)
– Familiar with address/phone #
There are tons of books and flash cards you can pick up at Wal-Mart, Target and Learning Express or on Amazon to prepare your child for kindergarten and kindergarten testing. I looked at my books and the three brands I have are Jump Start Kindergarten Workbook by Scholastic, Big Kindergarten Workbook by School Zone
All that said, I did send my oldest to kindergarten two months after her fifth birthday. I have no regrets. The academic aspect has been humbling but she’s doing very well. Now we’re faced with the same dilemma with our second child with a summer birthday. We’re holding her back for a variety of reasons. Bottom line, every child is different and you just have to go with your gut instinct. Listen to what your preschool teachers tell you – they are armed with so much knowledge about each child they are teaching. Also, if it makes any difference, it seems that most boys with summer birthdays (starting May or later), seem to be held back. Boys tend to be less emotionally mature than girls and some families think about sports.
Good luck! On Sunday I will talk about the Charlotte kindergarten process.
Feel free to add your comments on Kindergarten readiness because I am not the expert. This was just based off my experience.
7 comments
Thanks for the article. I had somewhat struggled with the thought of holding my son back next year from Kindergarten, his birthday is Oct. 11th and he would start Kindergarten at 4 yrs old and always be the youngest child. My husband and I talked about it for a while then spoke with my son’s preschool Director, Pediatrician, a Kindergarten teacher, and friends who all supported our decision very strongly, which made us feel so much more comfortable. They all seemed to have one comment, that boy’s don’t mature as fast as girls. Plus, he’s our only child and I’m in no hurry for him to grow up, this will give me one more year of having him home! I may sing a different tune when he’s a teenager!!!
As a former private school admissions director in the South, I have a few thoughts to add. Due to the academic nature of most private school curriculums and many suburban public school curriculums and due to the testing pressures of No Child Left Behind,academic content is often pushed down from the grade above. Kindergartners in some schools are being challenged with what previously was first grade work,so extra maturity helps kids to cope. Also, the 16 year old 11th grades that I currently teach are at a disadvantage when they take the SATs because many of their peers are as much as a year and a half older. Jen is right on about making decisions based on each child’s strengths and challenges and on the advice of pre-school teachers. The previous comment is also really good advice. Check with all of people who know your child’s development. In the end, no decision is perfect so you just pick the “problems” that seem easiest for your child to live with.
As a former private school admissions director in the South, I have a few thoughts to add. Due to the academic nature of most private school curriculums and many suburban public school curriculums and due to the testing pressures of No Child Left Behind,academic content is often pushed down from the grade above. Kindergartners in some schools are being challenged with what previously was first grade work,so extra maturity helps kids to cope. Also, the 16 year old 11th grades that I currently teach are at a disadvantage when they take the SATs because many of their peers are as much as a year and a half older. Jen is right on about making decisions based on each child’s strengths and challenges and on the advice of pre-school teachers. The previous comment is also really good advice. Check with all of people who know your child’s development. In the end, no decision is perfect so you just pick the “problems” that seem easiest for your child to live with.
As a former teacher of gifted children for many years (now a stay at home mom) I give you this advice if you’re on the fence. If you have a little girl who is socially and verbally advance, send her on. If she is shy, hold her back. For boys I would always recommend to hold them back a year. That one year will make a world of difference. After all, you want to send your child to school with the best chances of succeeding. The only children I ever had that benefitted from going on at age four were the girls I mentioned above. I taught first, second, and third grade.
Thanks for the great information. Also as an FYI, the cut-off date will change to August 31st in 2009. That makes the decision an easy one for some September/October birthday kids! Another question I hear a lot of moms asking is the difference between 4 year preschool programs, pre-k programs, and t-K programs if you need a future topic.
As a former public school teacher, I do have one major concern with holding children back who meet the correct age requirement. Classrooms of children contain a WIDE range of levels. It is extremely difficult for teachers to meet the needs of individual children due to the fact that some are so much more advanced than others. When we hold children back who are probably qualified to go to Kindergarten, it widens that gap even more. For example, it is very likely that a child who has JUST turned 5 and has never been to preschool will be in a class with a child who is six years old with four or more years of pre-school education. In the end, these differences end up hurting all the children. The teacher constantly tries to challenge the advanced children, who may often become bored. Then the teacher tries to give help to the younger children, who are often left struggling. The child who falls right in the middle often gets overlooked. I realize that this situation is less likely to happen in private schools, but in public schools, most underpriviledged children will begin Kindergarten as soon as they meet the age requirement.As stated above, we must look at every child individually, but please think about the reasons why you may be considering holding your child back. If he or she has a learning disability, or is extremely immature, by all means the child may need to wait one more year. It is not worth the struggles that the parent and the child may endure. If a parent simply wants their child to be at the top of his/her class, that is where problems arise. Thank you for letting us share our opinions.
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