Essay Example on Ready or Not: The Difficult Decision to Send Kids to School

Parents are faced with an awkward moment in making the decision when is the right time to send their children to schools; this issues at times, confuse different parents. The ideal time at which a child should start going to school varies for each child since a child does not go to school because he or she is ready to go but there are a lot of factors to consider before a child goes to school these include the family context, the activities that take place in school also values a lot and not only the age of the child alone. This paper will provide research on the time when a child should begin to go to school.

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In America, most children start schooling before six years; this is when compulsory education begins in kindergarten and go through the system until they are in grade 12 at the age of 17. Kids who started going to school at a younger generation than their fellows usually have a hard moment.A study that as carried recently by the Harvard Medical School researchers revealed that kids that attended schools at earlier years are likely to be less mature and less energetic.

Different countries and states have different ages of admitting children to school. For instance, in Australia, the age of admission is between 4 and five years. At independent schools, the period that is recommended for starting schoolings like Sweden and Finland is seven years. Thus the right age for children to start schooling leads a lot more difficult questions. There were days when the kids could not join school before they were able to do some physical examinations. This was related to the low level of education technology especially in developing nation, kids were supposed to hold a left ear using the right hand. This was a traditional method of interviewing and the question that may arise here is what may happen to those kids with physical disabilities.

A research was conducted on school transitions clearly illustrates that there are factors that parents usually consider before taking their children to school. These aspects considered include relationships, readiness, and transitional activities, methods of teaching, policy and power.

International research that was conducted in the united states of America showed that there was no benefit that children or the parents get when a child starts schooling under the age of five years.R instead they gave a suggestion that children sold take part in educational plays which the outcomes are beneficial (Winner, 1996). Educational games increase the inquisitiveness, self-direction, and absolute satisfaction thus helps in identification of interest of children through these plays. According to Dr Mulford children ability to thrive in the classroom varies from the age of four and a half to six years (Macken, & Ferguson, 1981).

When children start schooling at the age of five years at the prep school, they are in a position where they are fully developed with enough social skills and expressive flexibility to bloom in a more comprehensive, motivating, exciting environment of learning. Majority of private schools prefer giving admission to children who are on their sixth birthday (Harvey & Griffin, 1995). A research conducted on the spokesman of the Department of Education claimed that they have no plans of changing these ages of admitting children to school.

Teachers that were asked on the appropriate ages when children should start schooling claims that they wanted children who would be able to regulate their behaviours, hence children that were a little bit older were considered to be the best to be admitted into schools. A research that was conducted showed that before the beginning of formal education, children get a lot of benefits from education programs that are play based more than formal school-like curriculums. Children between the age of 4 and five years are to a more significant extent involved and learn more in environments that are play-based compared to when they go to schools.

A study that was carried out by Stanford University concerning at what age should children start going to the school revealed that those parents who waited to admit their children to kindergarten at the age of 6 years rather than five years had measurable better scores on self-control tests at the age of 7 and 11 years (Winner, 1996).In conclusion, the appropriate age for kids to start schooling is an issue that has been debated for decades and is still on debate until today for administrators, educators and parents. Parents are faced with a difficult time when deciding which time should they take their children to kindergarten. According to some research carried out by educators showed that children that were admitted at nursery school at a younger age had lower average achievement when they were at elementary while those that were enrolled while younger generation had average performance while at school. According to the United States of America education system, the best age of children being given admission at the kindergarten is usually between the ages of 5 to six years of age.

References

Harvey, D., & Griffin, M., (1995). When do principals and teachers think children should start school?. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 20(3), 27.Retrieved from https://search.informit.com.au/fullText;res=IELAPA;dn=960403763

Winner, E., (1996). Gifted children (Vol. 1). New York: Basic Books. Retrieved from http://www.gifted.gr/documents/useful-documents/Gifted_children.pdf

Macken, M. A., & Ferguson, C. A. (1981). Phonological universals in language acquisition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 379(1), 110-129.