All Aboard the Kindergarten Express

It is not too early to think about your child beginning Kindergarten next year. But, how do you know if your child is ready? What should you be doing to prepare your child? Does your child need to know the alphabet? Should your child be able to write his/her name? So many questions are probably swirling around in your mind. Or, maybe you have not even thought about it yet. That’s okay, too. Let’s see if we can help figure out some of the answers to help you prepare your child to join the train approaching Kindergarten.

Rates of Development and Chronological Age

It is important to remember that just because your child has turned five doesn’t mean that your child is "ready" to start Kindergarten. There is often an expectation that all children of the same age should all have the exact same skills and abilities and should all behave in the exact same way. We do know through early childhood research that every child goes through the same stages of development in the same order; however, each individual child has his or her own unique rate and way of developing. A child’s developmental age may be different from his/her actual chronological age.

Developmental age refers to how a child behaves socially, emotionally, physically, and cognitively on a continuum of development. Development is a fluid process and should not be pushed. Faster is not necessarily better. Children develop at their own rates and “typical” development can vary greatly from child to child. Pushing a child ahead before they are ready may result in a developmental gap. At Lowell, we consider each child’s developmental age as they join our Kindergarten.

Determining Kindergarten Readiness >>>

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