My hero, my first principal, would counsel his staff and parents about putting five-year-old children in kindergarten class - especially boys - he didn't advise it. He could often come across as acerbic, because he didn't like sappy people or impractical meddlers. He also had a very low tolerance for "sheep". He felt that young children needed to play, play, play and play some more. Especially boys, whom he described to me as puppies needing to tumble, nip and growl and avoid being in too formalized a learning setting which might get them labeled as aggressive, ADHD, language delayed and possibly these days: autistic. Plus, he took time to explain to me that children develop and learn over time - not at the same rate.
The decision to place a child in preschool or kindergarten should depend on a number of factors, but parents and educators should AVOID pinning labels on children. Instead shift teaching strategies and recognize that gross motor control, fine motor control, cognitive awareness, social interaction and leaning age-appropriate skills is a lot to ask of any child. Depersonalize the outcome (or comparisons), if possible, and realize that your child or your student will catch up - the test score(s) is/are really irrelevant in so many ways.
My goodness The Washington Post is all upset because instead of adopting the Common Core, Virginia has redesigned its tests - having students plot data on a bar graph (how useful) and in 2013, directly insert punctuation marks inside passages. Ha! In my class, with the pizza paragraph, students also had to identify the grammar rule. Please do take the time to visit some of the Common Core test prep sites - they are really tricky questions and I found myself ready to argue with some of the so-called correct or "best choice" answers. (I promise - now that I see teachers will need the Pizza paragraph as a pre-assessment tool to redo it - you guys will owe me.) So parents and teachers, please breathe! Your child has such a short time to be a child - try not to buy into the hype - see anecdote below.
I remember all too well how I agonized over my daughter's inability to ride a tricycle after she had learned to walk ahead of her peers. The pool moms (like soccer moms only our children were on the swim team) took time to brag about, compare, worry over our kids. Although the child is swimming for a team, his or her results are individual and ribbon and award ceremonies are very public affairs. No worries, my daughter caught up on her trike and is now doing very well in local triathlons and half marathons. See what I mean about catching up and then some. RELAX, EVERYONE PLEASE!!
I do have a link from Dr. Gupta about not rushing to put kids in school and his expert advice about catching up so it isn't just from my hero principal and my own observations. While I'm exercising and awaiting my September 3rd - rotator cuff surgery, I see parking lots full of cars at local schools, good luck and best wishes. Please send me any requests for research that I can do to make your life easier. That is my goal - if I can help you or any of your students in any way - I'm in the Metro area and willing to lend a hand.
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