Kinder Start?

What is the right age for a child to begin their academic career?  We’ve been trained to believe that each step in school is ordered by age and time. But what if we were to change the way we do things by changing when our kids start school? Most children are enrolled into Kindergarten along with the year of their fifth birthday. It’s a great age because they are just learning their ABC’s and 123’s but what else are they trying to learn? A very important part of school is learning. No kidding right? But children need something very important in order to learn things and that’s attention. Of course, the attention of their parents, teachers or other guardians but more importantly, their own attention.

 A child at the age of five is most likely a rambunctious little one with a fire for play time, snack time and occasionally, a small amount of time for retaining information. Studies across the world have shown that a child starting their education at such a young age could cause issues and hinder them in their learning capacity over the next few years. Beginning Kindergarten at age five versus age six won’t keep them from attending an Ivy League school or alter their grade point average in high school but for the first few years of elementary school, they may have a better handle on retaining the information being given to them. The studies coming from Stanford University have shown that holding a child back for about a year, and introducing them to Kindergarten at age six instead of five could potentially give the child the opportunity to better grasp their instructions.

Not only will it help the child in academics but it can also give the child a better sense of self control and this understanding of their own selves has been shown to stay with the child for years. Yes, one year doesn’t seem like a lot but in comparison to the disposition of a five year old to a six year old, I’m sure we could all notice the difference in self reliance as well as behavioral maturity. A six year old may be better suited for a classroom because they may be able to understand how to focus on, comprehend and execute what the teacher is relaying to them. 

With any change to a the academic career of a child, even the slight changes in teacher work days or when the appropriate time for breaks are; it’s hard for some families to be able to accommodate. When it comes to delaying the school age of a child, it means that the child won’t be attending free education but will still need supervision. For some families that’s not feasible because no school will mean daycare or day time sitters while their parents or guardians work. But if your household is able, do you see a great benefit for holding back your child for a year to start their school career?