Parents often times bring their toddlers to a new school and request to enroll their two or three-year-old child. They are eager and excited to send their child to school. The question is, "Is your child ready for school?"
"The younger child may not be as physically, emotionally or linguistically advanced, or as advanced as regards independence, play, gross or fine motor skills as the older child and the rate at which they progress is very different," Liam Walsh, the headmaster of the co-ed Waterpark School in Waterford said.
Education World reports that the rules regarding the kindergarten entrance age vary in the United States. This is because every state recognizes its own rule. Most children attend school at age four or five or six. In some states, parents can enroll their children in September on or before Jan. 1 of the next year. For other states, they have a cut-off dates of Sept. 1 or the initial.
A report on the Readiness for Kindergarten Parents and Teachers Beliefs was submitted at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It showed that parents of the preschoolers and the teachers don't agree on what particular skills are necessary for kindergarten achievement.
"Parents of a majority of preschoolers believe that knowing the letters of the alphabet, being able to count to 20 or more, and using pencils and paint brushes are very important or essential for a child to be ready for kindergarten while few kindergarten teachers share these beliefs...[C]ompared with teachers, parents place greater importance on academic skills (e.g., counting, writing, and reading) and prefer classroom practices that are more academically oriented. One reason for this may be that parents perceive that there are specific activities they can do to teach their children school-related basic skills, whereas ways of changing the social maturity or temperamental characteristics of their children are less apparent," as shown in the report.
Independent shares the statement of Ailin Quinlan that children who are put in a classroom before they are ready may never catch up. It is quite damaging for the children to be in school if they are not ready. Some teachers observe that these children have difficulties coping with the everyday schooling activities. There would also effects when they reach primary school as some of them cannot read or communicate well with teachers and classmates.
It is advisable that you let your children assess by the school officials if he is ready for schooling. They would evaluate your child based on his physical, emotional, cognitive, psychomotor and social skills and advise you if your child is fully ready and equip for schooling.
