Kindergarten Readiness in CT: Is your child ready for school?

excited preschool children ready for kindergarten
A child’s readiness to start school is based on each child’s uniqueness.
Understanding Readiness

Parents of preschoolers need to be mindful of their child’s readiness for kindergarten.  This is particularly true in Connecticut which is the only state that allows a young child to start at age 4 – as long as that child turns 5 by January 1 of the kindergarten year. But, is your child ready for school at age 4? Does your child have a late birthday? Determining your child’s readiness to start school is based on your child’s uniqueness.

As you plan your child’s 17-year educational career path through college, it is crucial that your youngster begins kindergarten when it is best for him or her.  Just because it is permissible in Connecticut to begin at age 4 doesn’t mean that starting kindergarten based solely on age should be the primary driving criteria. Getting off to a strong start – at the best age – will support your child’s love of learning, motivation, confidence, and self-esteem in the years to come.

Why Readiness Needs to be Considered

In Connecticut, public school kindergarten classes may have children ranging in age from 4 to 6 in one class!  The developmental differences among these children can be huge.  To understand the age difference more clearly, think of it this way: what was your child able to do 1 ½ years ago as compared to his accomplishments today? The developmental progress is significant.  This developmental difference becomes a disparity when it exists in the same classroom between a 4 year old and a 6 year old.  And, that is your child’s peer group – not just for the year but throughout his educational years.

Imagine at parent-teacher conference time, you are told that your 4-year old child cannot sit still through lessons and isn’t able to sustain focus without distraction.  If your child is one of few or the only 4-year old in the class, then it may be that she is being compared to her peers who are older and more maturely developed. 

The Importance of Kindergarten Readiness 

Kindergarten readiness focuses on a child’s social, physical, and cognitive development. In actuality, very few children are equally competent in all these areas. Each child will develop at a different rate. That is because every child is unique. And, similarly, each child has a unique personality and set of capabilities, needs, strengths, interests, learning styles, physical or behavior challenges, and learning differences. Understanding your child’s uniqueness will be key to making sure that he or she is developmentally ready to learn and participate in classroom activities.

Read more: see https://cecsolution.org/kindergarten-readiness/

Assessing Your Child’s Readiness    

Intuitively, parents have a sense of their child’s readiness based on their observations.  Sometimes your child’s readiness is clear cut.  In other instances, it may be confusing.  Parents who have a child born from September through December may decide to hold a child back (Redshirting) because the child isn’t developmentally ready for kindergarten: either cognitively, socially, or emotionally.

Seek a consult with your child’s doctor and preschool teacher. That information combined with your observations will help to provide clarity.

In conjunction, kindergarten readiness assessments offered by private independent consultants will be informative and useful.

If you are applying to a private school, assessment tests are common. It is important to note that most private schools require children to be age 5 by the start of the kindergarten year.

Last, visit a kindergarten class in the school in which you plan to enroll your child. This can give you invaluable information. Observe how the other children are behaving, how they play with each other, and what kinds of skills they have. Then, picture your child sitting in one of those chairs and joining in an activity.

Benefits to Delaying Kindergarten Enrollment                                                                                                      

As mentioned, delaying or postponing enrollment in kindergarten has been referred to as “redshirting”. Parents who choose to “redshirt” do so because they believe that their child is not developmentally ready in one area or another.  Frequently, if a child has a late birthday, the child may not be as socially mature as a slightly older child.  Particularly if the child is a boy, educators have long recognized that boys mature later than girls and can greatly benefit from waiting a year to start kindergarten. In other instances, a child may be receiving physical or speech therapy and may also benefit from waiting a year.

Conclusion

The academic success of children in later years depends heavily upon their kindergarten readiness. The first few years of education and preparedness are the most crucial to establishing a solid foundation from which children can adapt to school systems and learn successfully. During this period, children develop primary skills that form the foundations of reading, counting, and social interaction.Think of kindergarten as the start of a line of dominoes”, shares Deborah Gross of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.  “If a child begins this first stage of formal schooling already lagging behind socially, for example, that can predict a pattern of setbacks in their future education”. This is based on new research from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Give your child the benefit of a great start! Your child’s first years in school will set them up for the rest of their academic career. For that reason, it’s important to make sure that they’re ready socially, cognitively, and physically to enter kindergarten.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/childrens-health/in-depth/kindergarten-readiness/art-20048432

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp