Abby's parents ask if you think she should wait a year to start kindergarten since she won't be 5 until July. Zach's parents are worried that his immature social skills will be a problem in kindergarten next year. You wonder if there's some kind of "test" you should be giving Zach and Abby to see if they're "ready" for kindergarten. You're not sure what to tell their parents. Unfortunately, there are no simple answers to questions like these. Understanding some of the underlying issues may let you be more helpful to parents.
There is a common idea that it is best to keep the youngest children, especially those with summer birthdays, out of school an extra year. While this may be something that, after careful consideration, parents may decide is best for their child, it's not a good solution in general. First, it doesn't recognize that there will always be a group of children who are youngest. If all children with summer birthdays are kept out of school, the children with spring birthdays are likely to lag behind the oldest children, at least in the beginning. Further, delaying the entrance of the youngest children for age alone doesn't make sense because research has demonstrated that the effect on academic skills of being the youngest disappears for even the highest-risk children by third grade. In addition, because of this concern with the youngest children, states keep adopting older cut-off points for kindergarten eligibility. The problem with this approach is that many schools have changed their kindergarten curriculum and expect young children to do much more academic work than in the past. So, in an ideal world, children would all enter kindergarten as soon as they become eligible according to their chronological age alone - and schools would be ready to help all children succeed.
Unfortunately, we don't yet live in an ideal world. Schools vary greatly in their expectations of what they want children to be able to do as they enter school. Believing that they can know when children are "ready," some elementary schools give children "readiness" or developmental screening tests. But no test for preschoolers currently available can reliably predict whether or not children will succeed in school. Perhaps that's because, as many kindergarten teachers acknowledge, a child's curiosity and eagerness to learn are as important to school success as knowing numbers or letters.
So, what can providers do that will be helpful as parents try to decide when to send their child to kindergarten?
Get Information About Kindergarten In Your Community. Since even in one school, kindergarten teachers may differ a great deal in their ideas about "readiness" and in their kindergarten curriculums, try to talk with and observe more than one teacher. Ask questions like, "How important do you think it is for children to be able to get along with other children BEFORE kindergarten or do you plan to help children with this in kindergarten?" If you can get away during the day, go observe some kindergarten classes. Share the information you gather with parents and encourage them to talk with teachers and to observe kindergarten classes as well.
Share With Parents What You've Observed About Their Child's Development. Try to give as much objective information as you can: "He has trouble skipping, but hops and runs easily" may be a useful addition to "His motor skills seem normal for his age." Talk about the child's total growth and development and try to point out both strengths and areas that are still improving. Parents often focus on one area where they see their child is behind. But in order to make good decisions about children's school entry, it's important to think not only about specific skills, but also about physical, social, and emotional development. For example, a child who doesn't use pencils or scissors as well as most children his age may do fine in kindergarten and first grade if he's not sensitive about having his work corrected.
Help Parents Think Not In Terms Of Their Child's Readiness Or Lack Of Readiness, But Rather In Terms Of The Fit Between Child And School. While thinking about the child's strengths and needs, also consider the potential school environment. Some questions to suggest parents might consider include:- Is the kindergarten developmentally appropriate (that is, designed for the interactive ways most five year olds learn best) and designed to meet children's physical, social, and emotional as well as cognitive development or is it mostly academic and highly structured? - How well is the kindergarten prepared to meet the individual needs of the child?- Will other children attend who are close in age to the child or does the school encourage most younger children to wait a year?- If the child doesn't attend kindergarten, what will she do instead? Will these experiences be challenging and satisfying for her?
Resources for further reading:
Graue, Elizabeth. (1998). What's wrong with Edward the Unready? Our responsibility for readiness. YOUNG CHILDREN (53, #2), 12-16.
NAEYC Position Statement on School Readiness. (1990). YOUNG CHILDREN (46,#1), pp. 21-23
Resources to share with parents:
Getting your child ready for school . . . and the school ready for your child - booklet available from the American Association of School Administrators (1-888-782-2272).
Ready or not . . . What parents Should Know About School Readiness - pamphlet available from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (1-800-424-2460).
To be successful in school, children need a wide variety of experiences in the preschool years. As child care providers, we know that preschool children are affected not only by what they do with us - things like listening to stories and playing with other children - but also by things outside the child care setting. For example, whether parents can afford healthy food or good quality childcare and whether the community provides parent education classes and safe playgrounds can affect children's readiness for school.
The School Readiness Project has a website that can provide you with information about the many things that influence the growth and development of children from before birth through the early school years. It provides access to information not only about early education and care, but also about health, nutrition, parent education and parent support, and other community services. There are annotated links to background information and data, information about conferences and other training opportunities, organizations that can provide further information, and addresses of electronic links to others with an interest in each topic. Do you need to know how to recognize fetal alcohol syndrome or attention deficit disorder? Want information on discipline strategies to share with parents? Do you want to know what kindergarten teachers expect of children these days? Or want to be part of an on-going electronic network of child care providers? Check out The School Readiness Project
The Wisconsin UWEX School Readiness Project provides support to community collaboratives that promote the optimal growth and development of young children. It is a state strengthening project of the Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) initiative of CSREES. Further information about the project is available on the Web site or by contacting the Coordinator, Gay Eastman, Coordinator School Readiness Project School of Human Ecology University of Wisconsin-Madison 1300 Linden Drive Madison, WI 53706-1575 geastman@facstaff.wisc.edu (608) 262-1115 FAX (608) 262-5335