Schools

When Should Kids Start Kindergarten?

New state legislation will change the cutoff birthday for incoming kindergarteners.

How old were your kids when you enrolled them in Kindergarten? 

Did they successfully tackle the curriculum? Or did you feel they fell behind surrounded by older kids in class? 

The idea of kindergarten readiness is not a new concept, but one that has been pushed to the forefront over the past ten years, says SPUSD Superintendent Joel Shapiro. 

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"For some reason, more parents have started to wonder if their child is ready for kindergarten..."

This, he says, has resulted in a term referred to as redshirting — when a parent holds back a kindergarten student until age 6. 

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Redshirting is due to a number of factors including birth dates and conversations with preschools teachers.

"I've even heard stories of parents who want their child to be older and bigger for a better chance to be on athletic teams," Shapiro told Patch. 

But there's also the flip side: Students who enter kindergarten too soon. 

"The opposite had been going on for quite a while, where parents would enroll their kids in kindergarten before they were fully ready, or far from 5 years old (because CA has a later cut-off date than most states)," SPACE commented on Patch's Facebook wall this week, after we brought up the issue.

"Moreover, many teachers claim that they're teaching curricula that were taught to kids a great higher in the past."

That's why a state law signed in 2010 changed the birthday cutoff for admission to kindergarten, requiring a student to turn 5 by November 1 for the 2012-13 school year. For the 2013–14 school year, the cutoff date is October 1.

The law also requires school districts to provide transitional kindergarten for children whose admission to kindergarten would be delayed.

This means: "the first year of a two-year kindergarten program [will use] a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate," according to the California Department of Education. 

And even though Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to eliminate the two-year program to save $224 million, SPUSD will be offering it at one of the elementary schools next year, said Shapiro. 

But regardless of this new legislation, the question still remains: Is it fair to hold a kindergartener back? 

Whether or not a parent decides to do this is a "family decision," said Shapiro. "We have the responsilbity to educate all children ... when the state says they are ready." 

"To claim that they're somehow giving their children an unfair advantage is absurd, because that advantage will not remain in a couple of years. ...It may relieve a lot of stress for the child, parents, teachers and classmates..." wrote SPACE.

Patch Asks: What age did your kid start kindergarten? Was he or she ready for the curriculum? Is it fair to hold a student back?


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