Should i hold my son back in kindergarten

Why Toddlers Ask Why. View Sources. American Academy of Pediatrics, Is your child ready for school? American Academy of Pediatrics, Social development in preschoolers , November Toddler Groups. Go to Your Toddler's Month. Holding a child back a year is a controversial topic among parents who have kindergarten-age kids. Parents Weigh In Holding back provides the expected results for many parents. Another mom, Lindsay Crapo of Idaho, says holding off a year on kindergarten gave her kids extra time to reach the milestones they needed to be successful.

Her children have a variety of special needs and waiting was right for each child for different reasons. Credit: Janie Barrett. Australian National University Associate Professor Ben Edwards, co-author of the study on delayed schooling in NSW, said the findings did not surprise him as they are similar to overseas research that has found academic differences fall away during schooling.

However, other research looking at long-term earnings has favoured those whose entry to school was delayed. Dr Edwards said academic achievement was only one of the factors parents considered. He suggested parents talk to preschool or childcare educators, and observe their children at home. Sonja Walker, a former teacher and author of School Ready , said children can benefit from beginning school later if they need more social and emotional maturity, and time to develop resilience and communication skills.

Parents are usually the best placed to make a decision about whether or not their child has the resilience it takes to embark on schooling. A child might be up to grade in math, for instance, but behind in reading. For some kids, it may take a bit longer than six weeks.

Some basic information would be useful to schools. The number of students in kindergarten may be greater than usual, but for educators, the practice is the same: individualize instruction.

Related: What kids stand to lose if steals kindergarten. Districts are considering many potential solutions, including summer school, extending the school day or year and hiring more paraprofessionals and early grade teachers. And some states might let the parents decide. Similar bills are in the works in Florida, Kentucky and New Jersey, among other states.

Her son Jordi, who is autistic, had a tough time in his virtual kindergarten class at Toluca Lake Elementary in North Hollywood. It was just pure hell. None of that happened. Suarez-Capdet, an advocate for children with special needs, seriously considered a do-over, and it was only on the advice of a behavioral therapist and a psychologist that she decided to send Jordi to first grade next school year instead of putting him with kids who are two years his junior.

While loosening the rules around age requirements for the early grades would benefit some families, it may systematically disadvantage others, said Anna Markowitz, assistant professor of education at UCLA. Related: Stark inequality starts early—with babies, toddlers, report says. Some families found that their bank accounts grow during the pandemic and they were able to place their children in learning pods, or enroll them in private preschool or daycare.

And that will take time. The plan is to evaluate early grade students each year while providing them with intense social-emotional development, literacy and math.

For Phillips, the Los Angeles parent, moving to another school district has made all the difference.