The official eligible age of Victorian children to enter their first year of school (prep) is that they must turn 5 by the 30th of April. The expectation we have of prep students in 2014 is what we had of year one students in the 1970’s. This is leading more parents to question the readiness of their children to begin school at age 4 or 5. But unfortunately there is little opportunity for families to obtain a second year of 4-year old kinder due to funding, leaving parents with limited choices.
Some things to consider when making the decision of when to start your child at school are:
• How does my child deal with problems? Do they ask for help or ignore it?
• How does my child deal with conflict? Can they control their anger and self-soothe?
• How do they react when unexpected events occur? Do they engage or disengage?
Also, remember that beginning school is a big step for parents and the new student, limit extra-curricular activities for the first semester of prep to prevent exhaustion.