The topic of changing the kindergarten cut-off date in California has been debated. It isn’t a new concern and in fact, most private schools and other states have changed their criteria for entering kindergarteners. The pros and cons on waiting until a child is at least five years old before enrolling in the public education system have not only been addressed and argued, but clearly the issue has been decided: the cut-off date for entering kindergarteners in most public schools in California is still late December.

I have researched this very topic, both as a concerned parent and as an educator. I was fortunate to have the valuable opinions of experienced educators from a top-performing district while making the decision whether or not to send my eldest son to kindergarten at barely five, or wait until the following year. After weighing all the factors; emotional, developmental, and academic, we chose to wait another year.

As an educator, I student-taught in kindergarten and started my first block at the beginning of the school year until mid October. I not only witnessed the transition of incoming kindergarten students, but was also responsible for assessing their progress in all of the categories already mentioned. Keeping in mind that the districts I am employed by, and that my children have attended, begin in early August, many of the students are still four when school starts. Why, in heavens name, are we killing ourselves to perform on state testing, but ignoring an obvious factor contributing to low test scores?

Let me just cut to the chase. Research clearly supports, as do I, that most children are not developmentally ready, emotionally mature enough, nor academically prepared, to begin kindergarten at age four. Most parents can vouch that kindergarten isn’t what it used to be. The state standards are stringent and our children are expected to know not only the alphabet (upper and lower case), but be able to distinguish vowels and consonants, read sight words fluently, and write simple sentences by the end of kindergarten. This isn’t nap time and milk and cookies anymore. On top of that, budget cuts have forced schools to up the ratios in kindergarten back to 30-35 students.

What we have here is an accident waiting for a place to happen, and at the very least, setting kids up to fail. As educators we know that if learning gaps aren’t bridged early on, they keep growing wider and wider. Yet we haven’t changed the most obvious part of this equation; the part that doesn’t cost money or impinge on precious API scores. Changing the kindergarten cut-off date to coincide with the start date of the school year would at least ensure students would already be five years old beginning kindergarten. While there is no guarantee as to their academic success, research and experience shows consistently that developmentally (which very heavily influences academic performance), socially, and emotionally, students will perform better and rise to the expected standards at an older age.

I have heard it said many times, experienced it with two out of my three sons, and have even given this advice: many parents are torn about whether to wait to enter their young child into kindergarten. Never have I heard a parent regret waiting. Most always, it’s the parents who did not wait, that have many regrets.