When is the cutoff for kindergarten

These are children who were previously eligible to enroll in regular kindergarten even though they had not yet turned 5. They can now attend transitional kindergarten, and then enroll in regular kindergarten the following year. However, the new age requirement has not settled the more complex question: Is a fixed cutoff date the best way to determine which children are ready for kindergarten?

In fact, the minimum age for kindergarten has been a subject of considerable debate for more than a century. Over the years California lawmakers have tinkered with the kindergarten entry age at least nine times, according to a report by the California Research Bureau. Especially during the preschool years, there are significant developmental differences among children.

Extensive research has shown that those differences are accentuated among children from low-income backgrounds, who are far more likely to lag behind their more affluent peers in their readiness for kindergarten. For example, Stipek pointed to a major gap in language skills between children from poor and middle-income backgrounds as early as 18 months — a difference tied to a range of factors, including how much time parents or caregivers are able to read and talk to a child.

Over the past decade the number of kindergartners in California schools climbed by more than 50,, an increase of about 10 percent of total kindergarten enrollments. In , for example, then-Gov. Pete Wilson triggered a hailstorm of protest when he proposed rolling back the start date to Sept. The transitional kindergarten program came about as a result of legislation introduced four years ago by then-state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto — but not for budgetary reasons. The advantage of having younger kindergarten children in a separate classroom is clear to Jennifer Moless, a kindergarten teacher at Junipero Serra Elementary School in San Francisco.

She said she had noticed that the younger children in her classroom struggled with all-day kindergarten: They needed nap time, help with going to the toilet and they had difficulty separating from their parents. She feared that their lack of readiness would become even more of an issue with the introduction of the more demanding Common Core academic standards now being implemented in California schools.

The transitional kindergarten program — effectively an extra grade of public schooling offered free of charge to some 4-year-olds — was introduced gradually over the past three years, first in for children turning 5 in November, then in for those turning 5 in October, and this year for all those turning five after Sept.

The state estimates that roughly , children have enrolled in transitional kindergarten this school year. The new Sept. One major attraction of transitional kindergarten is the financial relief it offers parents like herself, Hooper said.

In the transitional kindergarten class at Zaida T. Half have never set foot in a preschool setting, many are English learners, and a few are way ahead of the curriculum Jean is teaching. On a recent morning, Jean read a story about saving a beached whale to her students, who squirmed or sat cross-legged on a carpet in front of her. Last year when she taught transitional kindergarten, Jean pulled together a small group of students who clearly were ready for learning well beyond the curriculum of the rest of the class, so they could thrive at their own pace.

Her experience underscored the challenge of finding just the right fit for children at varying skill levels. She said her daughter told her during the first week of school that she practiced writing her name — a skill she had acquired at the beginning of preschool the previous year. Vivian Hong experienced the issue as both a teacher and a parent. Hong is a first-grade teacher at Junipero Serra Elementary School, and has twin children — a boy and a girl — who attended transitional kindergarten last year.

Their birthday is Nov. She is not so sure a birthdate is the right way to determine when a student is ready for a particular grade. While research shows that, in general, delaying entry to kindergarten results in improved academic performance later on, there are other variables that enter into the equation. This story was updated on October 29 at p. Make your donation today to our year end fundraising campaign by Dec.

Click here to cancel reply. We welcome your comments. All comments are moderated for civility, relevance and other considerations. Click here for EdSource's Comments Policy. I understand the cut-off date and you get to go to TK but what happens to the children who just skip TK altogether and have to go straight to Kindergarten. I think TK should go from Sept. How can this get changed? It … Read More. It gives children no chance that are born from Dec. They go in to kindergarten knowing nothing.

How is that fair to the child or the teacher? If my child turns 5 December 20th of this year, would be best to put him in a private school for TK then enroll him the following school year in Kinder? I tried enrolling him in an LAUSD or charter for TK this year but because he is 18 days short of the cut off date they did not allow me to enroll him. I did find a private that accepted him for TK. I recommend you ask about the option for expanded TK.

Otherwise, your child will be eligible for kindergarten in Fall Is this why kindergarten is not required by California state law. What about the kids that are born on or after December 3? The dates seem to be very arbitrary. For the school year, if a child is enrolled in the TK expanded program because their birthday is after dec 2, does that mean the child would be in TK for 2 years?

Please clarify. He refuses to go now when he was excited in the beginning. Is there any way to opt out of the TK program at all?

My niece falls into the Sept. My sister in law is not happy because she knows her daughter is not ready for that class. She is trying to put her in the year-old-class and have her do that first, then the … Read More. Looks like you may know a little more than us and we would be forever grateful! I find it extremely wrong that many children get the opportunity to be more prepared for kindergarten and many get left behind.

This should be something available to most if not all four year olds. I also find it offensive that poor families gain from this because they can't afford childcare or preschool. Most people have a hard time pulling in the money for preschool.

More people would gladly help fund programs that everyone can gain from not just a small percentage of kids. Good idea but poorly put together. I've got 2 grown children who would've fallen just on the wrong side of the new Sept 1st cut off, both of whom excelled both scholastically and socially. I'm fed up with legislators and the administrative arm of the educators and their … Read More. Age should not be a factor, as my daughter turns 5 in October, but unfortunately cannot attend kindergarten.

The TK students should have some kind of test to determine their level. I have been sending my daughter to pre-k school since she was 3 and at age 5 she is still going to do the same thing over and over again!

I think it's ridiculous that my son has to be a whole year behind because his birthday is the next day, September 2nd. I think children whose birthdays fall between the September 2 and December 1 should be tested to see where they should be placed! My son is very smart; he knows how to count to 25 already and knows his ABCs.

He is currently learning how to write his name! I am … Read More. I am very upset with this one day thing1. The skills you mentioned, are actually skills that are taught in preschool.

Most children coming into kindergarten already know how to write their name and count beyond The expectations of kindergarten are far different and children are expected to be reading by the end of kindergarten. My son turn 5 on Sept 2nd, I live in Florida. What can I do!!!

The thing most people do not understand is, the problem is not just a learning educational thing. When you have a child that starts to school say when they are after a deadline. They wind up being ahead of there peers but behind the kids they are attending class with. When it comes to social stature and laws when they become a teen, they are left behind. When you have a 15 year … Read More. When you have a 15 year old junior in high school dating an 18 year old senior.

Well then you have a grave issue. Most states call that statutory rape when things happen that should not but do. My advice is leave your child back.

Better to be the smartest in class and one of the older ones, than one of the preyed upon victims of older kids when yours is doing nothing but just simply trying to fit in. This usually comes down to dollars and cents. The kids are the ones that suffer worse in middle school and especially high school when everyone is driving and they are 14 and a sophomore.

It goes down hill from there, cause mom I just want to fit in! I am sorry I am pregnant! Why do I know? Because I have lived it with a step daughter and watched my guidance counselor mother deal with it for years. She was plenty smart enough to handle the lessons but not the pressures from older peers she would have been made to deal with. TK was a nice theory but doesn't work well. In reality, very few schools are large enough to have a full pre-K class, so guess where those "younger, not-quite-ready-for-kindergarten" kids are?

It's ridiculous, as this is no different than it … Read More. However, the end result is the same as it was before TK: those students who are ready for first grade move to first grade, and those who are not are held back in kindergarten.

Since TK only serves a quarter of students with an extended year of preschool, that money would be better spent on all 4-year olds, giving all students access to some sort of a pre-K program, not just those born in Sept-Nov. This child is now a successful straight-A high school student in Advanced Placement and Honors classes. Some students are ready for school at 4; some are ready at 6.

Treating children as individuals has it's merits but overall, it is a mistake. Asian Americans expect every child they have to succeed, and this is why more do. Most children can thrive in Kindergarten if they are well parented and have high expectations.

Pre-K can … Read More. The every kid is different is kind of like the nine intelligences argument. How do you know? Did you drive them to their maximum potential, spend evenings and weekends working with them, get them tutors at a young age, turn off the TV and read to them and teach them to read, buy workbooks for them instead of XBoxes and Playstations? The fact that Asians are wiping the floor with whites in academic competition over 3. We have to ask the more difficult question.

Why are some ready and others not? We also have to ask, what can we do to learn from the parents of those kids who are ready and encourage all parents to be more like those parents?

We need to analyze who is ready for Kindergarten and why that is. It also requires an open mind. The changing of the kindergarten cutoff age and the creation of a "transitional kindergarten" are both inadequate solutions to the true problem: the foisting of developmentally inappropriate curricula upon California's kindergarten children.

The first public-school kindergarten opened in St. Louis in the s and soon there were hundreds around the country. Most states require a child to be 5 as of a specified date. As of , 18 states require kindergarten attendance for children wishing to continue to elementary school. The recent paper does not change her view, she said. For example, her daughter thrives on striving to do the same things as her older siblings. Going to school with children who are a few months older will give her peers to look up to.

Children with a similar personality might be bored if they are surrounded with younger classmates, she said. And her article cited other studies of redshirting that have found the benefits to holding a child back are small and lessen over time. Schanzenbach said she understands that parents are filled with anxiety over when to have their children start school—she said she has received more responses to that article than to anything else she has written.

Still, 4 out of 5 summer-born boys with college-educated parents are starting school on time, Schanzenbach notes. You know your kid best. When her summer-born son Quinn was about to start kindergarten, she hesitated for a moment about whether she should send him to school on time.

She had no doubt he could handle the academics. But her son was tiny, and she said that in Dallas, holding back boys born in the summer or fall for a year before kindergarten is common. But despite those brief misgivings, she sent Quinn to school on time, as she did with her gregarious younger son, Luka, who also has a summer birthday. With Quinn now a year-old college student at Columbia University, and Luka, 11, a rising 6th grader, she said her choices worked out well for her family.

All Topics. About Us. Group Subscriptions. Recruitment Advertising. Events and Webinars. Leaders to Learn From. Current Issue. Special Reports. EdWeek Research Center. EdWeek Top School Jobs. EdWeek Market Brief. Menu Search. Sign In Subscribe. Reset Search. Early Childhood. By Christina A. Samuels — August 29, 6 min read. Share article Remove Save to favorites Save to favorites.

To start kindergarten, or not to start kindergarten? Kindergarten and School Starting Ages. State Kindergarten entrance age the date by which a student must be 5 years old in order to attend kindergarten Compulsory school age the age at which a child is required to attend school Alabama Sept. Christina A. Christina Samuels formerly covered educational equity for Education Week.

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