Entry Level for Kindergartners (Essay Sample)

Entry Level for Kindergartners
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Entry Level for Kindergartners
In the modern education system, kindergarten plays a significant role in a child’s personal development, both socially and academically, and acts as the transition point from pre-school to elementary school. At this stage, if nurtured, most children start to exhibit early life developmental skills that would help them advance positively in life. With this regard, parents and education policy makers have always opted for better ways of introducing children to their first class in kindergarten for long term academic success. However, there has been mixed reactions regarding the appropriate age to begin kindergarten. Most people are of the opinion that children should begin kindergarten at the age of five years; others argue out that age should not be a deterring factor and skills should be given priority. From a personal point of view, age should not be an issue, and maturity as a determining factor should be given credence.
Away from the general belief, maturity does not come with age. In a bid to ensure that their children are mature enough to handle the challenges that come along with elementary school life, most parents hold back their children at home until when they think they are old enough to begin school. This practice is commonly referred to as "redshirting" after the retention of college athletes for a year for physical development before joining college teams (Katz, 2000). Parents should understand that redshirted athletes enhance their growth through training and practice while redshirted kindergartners do not receive any pre-school services and, therefore, serves no purpose in mental preparedness for school.
Teachers and education policy makers, on the other hand, have also considered late admission of children into school or delayed the progress of children taken to school early by making them repeat classes as a way of making them ready for school life challenges. This sho...