Is Your 5-Year-Old Ready for School?
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By Laurie Evans

As the start of the school year approaches, many parents of kids with summer birthdays are faced with the questions of whether to start them in kindergarten this year.

In Kentucky, a child must turn 5 by Oct. 1 in order to start kindergarten that year.
For some kids that means starting school as a very young 5-year-old, or in some cases, as a 4-year-old.

In the past 30 years, a growing trend to hold back children, particularly boys, with summer birthdays has emerged.

The percentage of 5-year-olds who had not started school rose from 10% in 1980 to more than 20% in 2002.

The theory is that children will do better in school when they are more developed physically, socially and mentally.

For most parents with a late summer baby, deciding when to send their child to kindergarten is a difficult decision.

“You agonize over that decision,” said Michele LeGrand, mother of Alex, who will turn 12 on Aug. 24.

After two years in preschool, Michele wasn’t sure that Alex was ready to start kindergarten before he turned 5.

Michele looked to professionals to help her make the decision, including one of Alex’s preschool teachers.

“You are giving your child a gift of another year,” the teacher told her.

Said Michele: “I have never regretted giving him that gift.”

Michele was lucky enough to also have both a mother and mother-in-law with careers in education.

“They both said just wait,” she said.

Alex will be starting middle school this fall, and Michele is confident that the extra year was a good choice for him.

For Sara Swinford, mother of 6-year-old Emma Jordan (this month’s cover model), the decision to start her August baby in kindergarten last year was just as difficult but resulted in a different outcome.

Sara knew that her daughter would be one of the youngest in her class but also believed she was a self-confident and bright little girl.

“I wondered what she could do when she was exposed to a more educational and structured environment than she had at home,” Sara said.

While Sara consulted others, in the end she followed her own instincts.

“If you go with your gut feeling, you are going to make the right decision,” she said.

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What To Ask

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your young 5-year-old before starting kindergarten:

* Is your child socially and emotionally ready to be in a cooperative learning environment? Can she work both independently and in a group?

* Can your child finish a task, listen to a story in a group, follow two or three oral directions?

* Can your child take turns and share?

* Can your child take care of her own personal needs such as using the toilet alone, putting on and taking off coats and hats, putting away belongings?

* Has your child mastered large motor skills such as walking, running and climbing?

* Has your child developed the small motor skills and hand-eye coordination needed to use a pencil, crayons and scissors?

* If your kindergarten is a full-day program, is your child ready to be in a classroom for six to seven hours without a nap? t

Can your child recognize the terms “same” and “different?” Can she recognize her own name in writing? Can she name colors, shapes and sizes?

• Can your child retell a simple story in her own words?

• If your kindergarten is a full-day program, is your child ready to be in a classroom for six to seven hours without a nap?

• Is your child emotionally ready to be away from home/parents during the school day?