This is a common question that concerns many parents. It is complicated if your child’s birthday happens to fall near a closing date for new school enrolments.
There are many factors to consider including a child’s gender, his or her general readiness and maturity, and also family circumstances such as sibling proximity. You can get information about choosing the start age of your children on School wix.
It is tempting to get children off to Pre School or school at the earliest possible age, particularly if your child is socially aware and generally a bright spark.
It is a mistake to assume that an early start in any area is a good start. The Finnish experience stands out as a beacon for parents and educators all over the world.
Even though Finnish education authorities have delayed the start of school until as late as seven years there appears little or no gap between educational performances at the later end of school. In fact, in terms of dropout rates and readiness for further education those kids seem streets ahead.
Currently, in many Western countries, we seem so hell-bent on shaping environments for kids from the earliest possible ages to maximize learning and child development. Nothing wrong with that per se but we must keep it in perspective and remember that kids need time, space, and opportunity to be kids.
That means that they shouldn’t always be in an adult-structured environment or live in a childhood that is an adults’ version of what a childhood should be.
They need space and time to explore, climb, hide, balance, bounce, and use their imaginations. And adults don’t have to do all that much to allow this to happen. Kids will climb and bounce on furniture, hide behind chairs and turn a living room into a spaceship given half a chance and the television off.
It is tempting to underestimate the importance of parents as a child’s first early teacher. Pick up a parenting magazine and you will see all sorts of advertisements for early childhood classes ranging from movement through to music classes.
