Most parents thinking about sending their toddler to kindergarten often wonder if their kid is ready for this first move. After all, kindergarten admission is the first step towards formal education. It is only natural to wonder if they will be able to grasp the basics and be ready to focus on academic learning. And rightly so; until now, your toddler has been confined to an environment where they have seen familiar faces daily. It is essential to realise that a school environment is the opposite of the familiarity provided at home. Initially, your child may feel awkward and resist socialising with the rest of the class.
Kindergarten admission age varies from three to five years globally, but a few skills, habits and traits can determine the right age for them to attend school.
How to evaluate your child’s readiness to start kindergarten?
You should ensure that your child has the following aptitudes before kindergarten school admission.
1. Gross motor skills
Gross motor skills are physical activities that comprise walking, running, balancing on one foot and jumping. Most children develop these gross motor skills by the age of two. However, some kids’ muscles and neurological nerves could have delayed development. In such cases, you should wait for them to develop these skills before enrolling them in formal learning.
2. Fine motor skills
Fine motor skills are vital to carrying out activities like holding crayons and pencils, holding a glass of water, cutting paper, and more. These fine motor skills are small skills that enhance hand-eye coordination. Nobody is expecting perfection, but adequacy is a must.
3. Emotional development
Before enrolling your child in kindergarten, ensure they can express their thoughts and feelings easily. You will have to observe them and gauge their emotional development progress, which is key to determining if they are age-appropriate to commence kindergarten. If your child has control over their emotions when socialising with others and can adequately express themselves and communicate, they are emotionally the right age to start kindergarten. Emotional development, like other skills, does not magically appear at any particular age – some may start a little before others and some a little after. So, instead of age, look at the emotional development progress.
4. Social skills
You must determine if your child can socialise with others. Socialising includes communication but is not limited to that. Respecting others, sharing things, initiating conversations, playing cordially and asking doubts are a few examples of socialising. If you have organised play dates for your child in the past, in an environment beyond their home, they may be better at socialising than those who have been confined to the familiarity of their homes.
5. Cognitive development progress
Kindergarten constitutes a key aspect of formal education and is the stepping stone for the rest of the academic years to build from. Before enrolling your child, you should observe their learning capabilities, as kindergarten is all about learning and growing. Kids need to pay attention in class, and cognitive development empowers them to comprehend and retain what they learn.
Once you have been able to gauge where your child stands with regard to their skill development, you can start selecting a school that caters to your child’s needs. Each child is unique, possesses their own learning style, and has distinct needs. International schooling is ideal if you want your child to be enrolled in a progressive learning environment where the uniqueness of your child is identified and catered to. International schooling focuses on delivering knowledge to the child at a pace and using a comfortable style. They even have smaller class sizes to ensure teachers can give them personalised attention.
Such schools transcend learning beyond the classroom and follow an inquiry-based approach. This experiential learning helps students to think independently and develop critical thinking, problem-solving and leadership skills from the start.
Expectations from a toddler looking to start Kindergarten.
Kindergarten is where children kickstart their future growth, and teachers expect them to have developed the following traits somewhat: –
- Enthusiasm – Kids should be excited to learn new things and be enthusiastic about adventures.
- Self-control – Children should exercise self-control; they should learn to control anger, not throw tantrums, not be jealous, etc.
- Respect – There is a considerable age gap between the staff and kindergarten students; thus, they should also know how to respect elders and peers.
- Conversation skills – Kindergarten schools expect kids who are enrolling with them to be able to communicate with others. It may not come quickly from day one, but the basics should be in place.
- Instruction following – It is essential for children to follow instructions given by their teachers and pay attention in class.
- Basic knowledge – Kids joining kindergarten are expected to have a basic knowledge of colours, shapes, numbers, and the alphabet.
To conclude, the best age to send your child to kindergarten would be determined by their developmental progress. Age is just a number, but a certain degree of cognitive and socioeconomic development is crucial. You should not push your child to attend kindergarten if they are not ready, as this can adversely impact their future education and the concept of school. There is no universal right or wrong age – the parent knows best when their child is ready.