References for NOT starting a child early?

Question

My ex wife and I are having an arguement about starting our soon to be 4 year old in pre-K. Her birthday is September 1st. I prefer to keep her back one year since studies show it is better for her emotional and social development to be the oldest in class.

I am having problems finding the studies that support this-- but I am positive they are out there.

Can you show me a link to these studies?

Answer 1

How about personal experience.

My daughter was the absolute youngest in her class (born Nov).  We did it because she was so advanced we felt she would be bored, and that can cause problems too.

Everything was great until she got to high school.  Her class mates were 1 yr or more her senior.  And a boy in the next grade up is over 2 years older.  In high school, that's a big difference.  If I had to do it again, I'd hold her back.

Answer 2

Mine is from experience after doing lots of research. I let my son have one more year of fun. Meaning I did not send him and waited until the next year. The age of 5 was OK when Kindergarten was 1/2 day, but now that it is all day that is way too long for a 5 year old, especially an early 5 year old. My son was born on August 4. The school even recommends the child be 5 years and 6 months before going to Kindergarten. From my research, no one regretted waiting a year, but lots of parents regretted sending them because they had problems learning and dealing with other children. and quite a few were put on ADD medicine which could have been avoided if they had only waited one year. To me it was just an extra year for my son to be a kid without the stress of school. So my advise is to wait!!!!

Answer 3

Sorry, I don't have a link but some mom advice.  I have 3 boys, I sent my oldest and middle ones to head start when they turned 3.  They got to go at 3, and 4.  My oldest one started K at 5 and had so many problems, most of all he wasn't mature enough for K yet, so I wish I would have held him in head start one more year but I didn't.  With my second son, I started him in K at 5(his b-day being August 29), he went one week and I knew he wasn't ready so I put him back into head start for one more year.  My youngest son is 2.  I will send him to head start at 3 also.  I hope he goes to K at 5 but if he's not ready than it's better to hold them back one more year.  You need to realize you are just talking about pre_k (its like head start).  She will be 4 soon after.  She needs to get in there and het ahead a little, it's a tough world out there.  It's not k yet.  She still has time to grow up but pre_k will give her a lot of extra help she needs for K.  If she's ready next year at (barely 5) go ahead and send her, but if she's not, then she can stay in Pre_k another year and it wont hurt her a bit.

Answer 4

How about this one:

"Admitting children to mainstream schools at age five or four has no "educational rationale", the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) reports.

Rather than making sure the child is ready for school, wouldn't it be better to make school ready for children?

The NFER research says formal study at such a young age has little academic advantage and may lead to increased anxiety and lower self-esteem if children struggle.

They draw attention to research done in the United States which found children who had a teacher-led, academic curriculum from age four experienced more problems as adults than those who had a play-based curriculum with more opportunities to choose their own learning activities.

"There is no educational rationale for a compulsory school starting age of five or for the practice of admitting four-year olds to infant classes," said principal researcher Caroline Sharp.

//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/242028...

Think of it this way, starting at an older age has not been proven to be a disadvantage!.

Answer 5

I agree with you, from personal experience...but here are also some links.

In my opinion, you need to remember that these are little people who have only been on the planet for 4 years. It's wrong for example, to expect an 8 month old to walk...just because a 12 month old can do it and there's ONLY a 4 month gap between them.

At this age, they are developing very rapidly, so a few months can make a huge difference in whether or not a child is ready for certain things. A 4 year old may not be able to wrap their mind around the concept that certain letters grouped together will form a word, where as...6 months from now, it may come easy to them. If they're pushed into something they're not ready for...they will STILL be expected to perform at the same level as the older kids. They'll end up feeling frustrated and their self esteem will suffer for it if they can't cut it, and it's really not their fault.

Answer 6

Preschool is beneficial for 4 year-olds, as it gets them ready for kindergarten by learning to function in a group, learning to follow a teacher, and paticipate in structured activities.

Keep in mind that girls generally are more advanced neurologically at 4 than boys are. Your daughter's birthday isn't too late in the year to prevent her from doing well. Preschool will give her a head start (it's no coincidence the Federal preschool program is called Head Start) going into kindergarten. Don't you want her to have the edge?