By Dorie
Dear Dorie, I have a preschooler that is going into kindergarten next year. His birthday is in late August and I’ve heard a few conversations about holding back boys for an additional year of preschool in order to more adequately prepare them for kindergarten. What’s the latest scoop on kindergarten?
Preparing to leave PreK Dear Preparing, Public school kindergarteners must be 5 years of age by the cut-off date of December 2; private schools can set their own policies but most require age 5 around September 2 (there are rumors that the state will change the public date to September but nothing official yet). That means that your son could enter kindergarten after just turning 5, and he might be in the classroom with other 4, 5 or 6-year-olds depending on their birth date.
For the last few years, there has been a trend toward holding “late birthday” kids back for another year of preschool until they are more mature. The parent assumption has been that this will set them up more adequately for academic and social success. Typically, these are parents of boys, as they tend to mature a little later than girls at this age.
Most research supports the conversations you’ve been hearing that children who enter kindergarten at a slightly older age have an academic advantage over younger children. The caveat is that this difference typically disappears within a relatively short period of time. There is also no conclusive evidence that younger children acquire less knowledge than older children. So, ultimately the decision must be based on your knowledge of your son – your gut instinct on whether he’s ready or not.
I do recommend that you ask yourself a few more questions while you make this decision: ■ Is your son’s preschool prepared for a third year student aka is your son going to be bored with the same teacher/classroom/curriculum while he “matures”? ■ Is your class loaded with six year olds? This is difficult to find out in a public school as the enrollment process is ongoing through the summer, but some private schools will give classroom demographic information that may guide your decision. ■ Is it economically feasible to continue preschool for another year?
Have you had a conversation about this with his preschool teacher? If not, that’s a great starting point.
DORIE MEEK is director of the Infant & Family Support Program, provided by Saint John’s Health Center in partnership with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 24, 2007. Read the original PDF.