I think the word 'trend' was probably just a figure of speech but as an early childhood educator we are definately seeing children who need to be held back the extra year. To me 4.5 is really young to begin full time schooling for alot of children, they are often tired from 5 full days and find it more difficult then an older child. There is also the fact that they will be treated the same as the 6yr olds and IMO there is a huge gap between 4 and 6 and the expectations should be different but school isn't that individualised. In my experience it doesn't matter if the school is private or public and don't think that is relevent.
In saying that there are lots of things to concider IRT starting school. In general boys need the extra year as they mature later and often don't want to sit at a desk and do that kind of work and their concentration and attention span takes longer to develop then girls. We find that with girls they often still just want to play mums and bubs at 4.5
and their emotional development can take a little longer. Obviously these are generalisations but I really think that the cut off should be in calender years. As others have mentioned the later years are a whole nother kettle of fish. We have seen so many parents send their children to school for financial reasons when they simply weren'y ready and they have really stuggled and you as a EC teacher you feel as though you have struggled.
I think more parents are holding their child back because they want to err on the side of caution and not have to repeat kinder or subsequent years.
I'm not sure about other states but in NSW there is also a before school screening that parents can take thier child to and it is important to take on what your childs preschool or child care centre has to say in regards to SS.
IMO Allowing your child to learn and grow through play at this stage of their life is still really important and we should value these early years more as a society. I think we make our kids grow up far to early in this country.
Can I ask what the deciding factors are for you? What makes you say "yes, my child is ready for school?"
Hope I haven't offended, this is a personal decision, I just wanted to add some a EC perspective.
My DS was born in March 2002 and being in VIC he was the youngest at kindy and in prep.
Being gifted he was excelled into Grade 1 during his 3rd in prep. He is now 2 years younger than his class mates in grade 3. He gets on fine with them. His teacher tells me he is more social this year than last.
The school wanted to keep him down last year, so he is with his peers but still do grade 3 work whilst repeating year 2 and i strongly objected. He didn't have a problem getting on with the older kids, then why should he be kept down?
Yes, he might have a problem at uni, when his friends are out clubbing and he's at home with us, but what the heck, i'm sure he'll survive. He'll be 16 during first year uni!
I don't think age has anything to do with it. If the kid is ready to attend school in your eyes then they should be allowed to go.
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