School readiness


Yosef's birthday happened to be 3 days after school cut-off day in our town.
When he was 4 ½ I got concerned he won't be admitted to Kindergarten at age 5.
Later I analyzed my irrational urge to force him into the school system as early as possible. It was inherited from the Soviet times when it was a common sense idea to allow boys an extra year (if possible) to try to pass the exams to college and avoid the army draft.
I asked for age waiver for early Kindergarten entrance. Yosef was evaluated and my petition was denied. I was outraged then. When he started Kindergarten a year later, I knew they were right. He became visibly more mature over the course of the extra year. Besides, he was not alone – there was a bunch of kids born in September – October.

Next year I knew he will be admitted no matter what but I wanted to learn where he was with school readiness – and put more effort into his prep if necessary.
He was evaluated last spring, at age 5 ½ by school psychologist. It took 4 sessions, 45 – 1 hour each, very generous. I doubt you can get anything like this through medical system. The result was optimistic enough, and here are some fun details in Russian [1] & [2].

Things worth noting:
1. School system proved to be responsive to my parental concerns. If in doubt call them and ask for evaluation.
2. School people were actually right. Following my emotional reaction and attempting to still force him into Kindergarten early would've been wrong. Remember - specialists are often right, they have far more experience than a parent. Question you own motives and emotions, especially if you are angry with specialist advise.