Kindergarten Bill From a Personal Perspective

As of late April, the Connecticut legislature's appropriations committee approved a bill to raise the age for kindergarten entrance.  The bill would require that children turn 5 years old by Oct. 1.  Contrast this with the present law which states that they can turn 5 as late as Jan. 1.  Presently, classrooms of kindergartners are comprised of kids who are between 4 and 7 years old, a huge developmental span for kids and a big academic challenge for teachers.

My son, a rambunctious, introspective four year-old, has a November birthday which puts him smack-dab in the middle of this controversy.  In the beginning, my husband and I assumed we would be sending him on to kindergarten but as time went on, and we started talking to more and more parents of late-fall babies, we changed our minds.  Parent after parent told the story of how they had chosen to hold their student off one more year and how they had never regretted it.  One parent even recalled the difficult school years that dogged her son after she had gone ahead and sent him to school at four.

What are some of the reasons to consider starting a student one year later? It gives the student one more year of emotional maturity, provides more time to grow accustomed to sitting still in one place (an important skill!), and gives the student a chance to further physically develop and therefore develop to his potential in language and cognitive skills.

I’ll be honest. I felt insecure at first. I asked myself: “Did I not do his alphabet as much as I should have? Should I have had higher expectations?” I know there are a lot of you out there who have wondered the same thing about your September, October and December preschoolers too.  As I was deliberating these issues, and expressing some concern over my son potentially losing friendships with peers who were moving on, my own mom gave me a good reality check. She said, “Do you remember who you played with in Kindergarten?”  “Uh, no,” I answered. 

It was then and there that I decided that the most important thing was listening to my gut as a parent and making the choice that would provide him with the best foundation my little Thanksgiving-baby needed. He will spend another year in preschool, growing, maturing and getting a stronger in the skills he has begun to master.

This significant Connecticut bill has already seen dismissal once and drastically changed on the second time it was presented.  If it passes, it will go into effect in 2015.  Too late for my little guy, as by that point he will be in third grade, but just in time for those of you who are having your babies right now and in time for the girls and boys who will still be 4 at the beginning of the school year.