Parents should follow school policy when it comes to starting school

To send or not to send? That was the question facing the mother of a 4-year-old boy with a late August birthday. The preschooler was in the office for his annual physical, but mom was already thinking ahead to next fall's kindergarten start date.

She wasn't really asking for my advice, just sharing her concerns. This mother realized that her son's pediatrician was not the professional she needed to turn to when making this educational decision.

Mom was right to plan ahead, and I encouraged her to consult with her child's teacher as the current school year progressed.

I also gave my take on the late birthday situation, which is that, unless the child has significant social or academic delays that would negatively impact his school relationships or performance, most experts feel it's appropriate to follow the cut-off dates put in place by the local school district.

Do some parents come back the summer after kindergarten and tell me they wished they'd held their child back a year? Sure, but in my experience, most parents are satisfied with their decision to follow school policy as written.

Some parents do choose to practice "academic redshirting," a phrase borrowed from college athletics. Redshirting, or postponing kindergarten registration for one year, is the option selected for nine percent of 5 year olds each year.

Researchers find that the practice is more common in affluent communities and among whites, and chosen more often for boys and for those children with birthdays falling in the second half of the school year. To date, though redshirting has both supporters and detractors, evidence on its overall academic impact is inconclusive.

Parents who are interested in reviewing the data for themselves can find these studies on academic redshirting online at ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/poptopics/redshirting.html.

Who should ultimately be responsible for calling the shots on kindergarten entry? Since parents know their children best, educators expect mothers and fathers to take the initiative in this important decision-making process. The child's preschool teacher and future kindergarten teacher can, of course, provide valuable insight and advice on school placement.

How is the kindergarten decision best made? Early childhood specialists as a group discourage the use of formal kindergarten readiness tests, preferring to rely instead on an overall sense of the current level of a child's social and developmental skills.

The Center for Early Education and Development at the University of Minnesota lists some helpful characteristics to look for when trying to decide if your child is ready to dive into kindergarten.

According to university researchers, important skill sets of the kindergarten-ready child include the ability to play in a group, exhibit some degree of self-control, communicate with others, manipulate small objects (including a pencil), and focus for 10 to 15 minutes on one particular activity. For a more detailed list of suggested school-ready skills, visit the center's Web site at www.education.umn.edu/ceed/publications/questionsaboutkids/kindergarten.htm.

Once they make the school readiness decision, how can parents prepare their preschoolers for kindergarten? It might sound all too simple, but when surveyed by the National Center for Education Statistics, an overwhelming majority of teachers ranked reading to children and playing counting games at home as two key activities in helping young students get ready for kindergarten attendance and success.