Kindergarten Dilemmas
From readiness to redshirting, get the facts to make a good decision.
Your child’s first foray into the "official" classroom can prompt some thorny questions. Here's a look at three kindergarten quandaries, with advice from educators on how to determine what’s best for your child.
Dilemma #1: Start this year — or wait?
Dilemma #2: Half-day or full-day?
Dilemma #3: Repeat kindergarten or move on?
Dilemma #1: Start this year — or delay entry until next fall?
If your child is 5 years old by a certain date (anywhere from September 1 to December 1), he’s got the green light to start kindergarten. However, some parents — especially those with kids born in summer or close to the cutoff date — consider keeping their children home for an extra year, a practice known as "redshirting" or "hothousing." In some communities, the practice is common among parents of boys who hope that the extra year will later give their young athletes an advantage on the sports field.
More commonly, the goal of delayed entry "is to allow children to develop further before entering kindergarten with the hope that they will be more successful," says Susan J. Burson, a former kindergarten teacher who is currently an instructor of education at Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana. Though Burson and other experts say there are some instances when redshirting may be beneficial, they stress that a developmentally appropriate curriculum is a better way to ensure that all kindergartners thrive. "Schools need to accommodate kids’ needs and understand that there’s going to be huge variability in children's developmental levels," says Deborah Stipek, Ph.D., dean of the School of Education at Stanford University in Stanford, California.
If you’re thinking about "redshirting" your would-be kindergartner, consider these questions (you can also try our quiz):
- What do I hope to gain? Do you want to give your child time to mature physically? Develop better social skills? Improve fine motor dexterity? "Sort out the reasons and then be realistic in your expectations of what can be accomplished in one year," says early childhood education expert Nell R. Carvell, retired director of Southern Methodist University’s Preschool Initiatives Program.
- If your child isn't in school, what will she be doing? "Ask yourself, 'Is she going to be doing the kind of things that will help her develop cognitively, socially, physically, and emotionally?'" suggests Burson. "Children need a stimulating environment with a parent or caregiver who will engage in dialogue, do puzzles, and so on. If that’s not available, she might be better off in school."
- What will happen down the road, when he does enter school? "If your child is really bright and a full year older than his classmates, will he be challenged by the curriculum? You might find that he’s bored as he reaches higher grade levels," says Burson. Find out if teachers will be able to address varied skills levels so that your child will still be challenged, even if he is older than his peers.
If your child is in preschool, ask the teachers for their thoughts on your little one's school readiness. To get a sense of how your child might fit into a kindergarten classroom, arrange a visit. "See what the kids are doing and try to picture your child in that context," suggests Stipek.
Dilemma #2: Half-day or full-day?
More and more schools are moving away from half-day sessions and toward full-day programs. In 2000, 63 percent of kindergartners were enrolled in full-day programs at either a public or private school, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. One of the benefits of full-day kindergarten is the luxury of time, says Burson, who taught a pilot full-day program. "I had more than three times the number of minutes as teachers of half-day programs, so I was able to do much more with my students." Studies are also pointing to full-day as a smart idea. "The research on half- versus full-day kindergarten isn't overwhelmingly strong, but it tends to favor full-day," says Stipek. "The data doesn’t really suggest, though, that your child is going to be severely disadvantaged if he's in a half-day program."
But, many moms ask, isn’t my child too little for a full day of school? Won't she be tired? "Children do get tired the first few weeks of school because they are engaged in a different kind of busyness than they might normally be at home," says Burson. "But after the first few weeks, they make the adjustment and are not worn out halfway through the day."
Typically, this decision rests on what your local school offers, and whether you’re willing to pay extra to get what you want. Perhaps you feel strongly that your child needs to ease into the elementary school years with a half-day plan; if your school offers only a full day, you may opt for private or parochial schooling. Conversely, some public schools offer tuition-based programs to turn a standard half-day offering into a full-day program.
If your child will be in a half-day classroom, you can supplement in-school learning with outside educational activities. Carvell suggests enrolling your child in a cooking class or planning trips to the science center, museum, and library story hour. (Home-based activities such as reading to your child and whipping up a favorite dish in your own kitchen are good too.) Involving other children in these activities — say, organizing a museum visit with a few classmates — can also help boost social skills.
Dilemma #3: Repeat kindergarten or move on to 1st grade?
If your child has struggled in kindergarten, her teacher may suggest holding her back for a year before moving on to 1st grade. On average, research has shown that retention doesn't have any positive effect on kids, but that doesn't mean there aren’t some situations when it might be appropriate.
To help you decide if repeating kindergarten is the right move for your child, ask for a conference with your child’s teacher, the school counselor, and/or the principal, and pose these questions:
- Why are you recommending retention? "Get all the 'objective' information you can, such as any formal testing or evaluation that may have been done and samples of your child’s work," suggests Carvell.
- Are you concerned my child might have a learning disability? It's smart to bring this up now because "this is the very best time to begin a formal evaluation if a learning disability is suspected," says Carvell. "This way, remediation can begin with the repeated program in the fall."
- What accommodations were made to help my child? "A lot of the problem isn't with the child but with the curriculum (the content being taught) and instructional program (the way content is delivered)," says Stipek. "Sometimes it's about adapting the curriculum or instructional program as opposed to saying, 'This is what we do and if your child doesn't fit in, too bad.'"
- What is the school offering as an enhancement over this year’s experience? "There's no point in simply repeating the same program," says Carvell. Find out what can be done differently to ensure greater success the second time around. "If a child is going to spend a second year in a program, he should be given an opportunity to continue developing new skills rather than repeating everything along with the new students," says Burson. Ask whether the second year will differ in materials, pacing, grouping, methodology, student–teacher ratio, or other criteria. A different classroom, teacher, or even school does not necessarily mean the program will be different.
- What assurance can you give me that retention will help my child continue to be successful after the repeated grade? If she has low cognitive ability, perhaps she will just get behind again. If she has special needs, repeating a program designed for typical children will not likely provide the necessary interventions to help her succeed in the long term. "If retention will not give her the opportunity to succeed and continue to succeed, it may do no more than make her one of the oldest in her grade," says Burson.
Finally, if your child ends up repeating kindergarten, keep in mind that retention doesn't have to be a negative. It's an opportunity for him to catch up now, while the stakes are still relatively low. "Present it to your child as an opportunity for him to do well rather than as a failure,” says Burson.
Regardless of the situation, keep in mind that your child's teacher is your ally in kindergarten success. Keeping the lines of communication open will help ensure a smooth transition from preschool to grade school.
