Is your Child Ready for School?

Your child is three, and in the eyes of the UAE old enough to go to school, entering FS1. But is he or she ready?

The age you send your child to school matters. Too early and it can affect their confidence and performance, too late and they could find feel they are the odd ones out.

According to experts WSA spoke to, there are signs to help guide your decision. Ask yourself if your child has:

1. Difficulty separating from parents
2. Lack of independence, I.e. dressing themselves, taking care of their belongings
3. Difficulty in taking turns
4. Difficulty maintaining attention
5. Poor social skills

If the majority of the answers to the above are yes, then your choice is an easier one: Hold off until your child has developed more independence.

If, however, there are shades of grey, that’s the time you need to do more research to make sure you make the right decision for your child.

A Hot Topic
Debates continue across the world on the best time to enroll children in formal schooling. In the UAE, this debate is muddied by the fact that in different countries the age of starting school can vary between three and seven years old.

Going to the academic experts is likely to give you both sides of the argument. These tend to run like this:

Starting Early – Advantages
1. Some evidence later in their school career early starters perform better
2. Earlier starters naturally will achieve more at an earlier age. They get a head start.

Starting Late – Advantages
1. Academic improvement versus younger peers (uncontroversial in earlier years, not so clear cut in later years)
2. Ready to learn
3. Happier and more confident
4. Emotionally mature
5. Greater independence
6. Physically stronger than younger peers
7. More likely to be leaders if in a room of younger children

Starting Early – Disadvantages
1. Can find the separation from home a trauma
2. Can affect confidence
3. Can cause behavioural difficulties early on
4. Not emotionally ready for learning
5. Weaker academic/physical performance can define the child’s, teachers’ and parents’ expectations, and lock in a performance level

Starting Late – Disadvantages
1. Can be a short term gain
2. Can find themselves at 19 too old for school
3. One year, or more, behind their age peers

A Parent’s Story
Three years ago, Sarah, an expatriate mum of two boys living in Dubai, began to think that holding her five year old son back a year might be a good option for this bright but frustrated child who was struggling in his foundation year at school. “He was the youngest in the class and emotionally not ready,” she explains. “Although he is an intelligent boy, academically his performance was below average. This clearly indicated that he needed more time to develop.”

Three school years on, and Sarah’s son is now a happy, confident Year 2 student, “Our theory proved correct - he is a confident child, his academic performance is well above average and he is very happy...

Her first stop was to discuss the matter with the boy’s school, who were supportive yet keen to ensure that this was the right decision for the child’s future growth. “Consequently my husband and I worked as a team to seek professional advice on whether he actually needed to repeat the year or not. The conclusion was that he did. We worked openly with the school and we are very grateful to the school’s positive approach on allowing him repeat the year.”

Repeating his FS2 year has given him the self-belief to academically and socially thrive, rather than always feeling he is playing catch up with the rest of the class. “He has his whole life ahead of him and he has so much to offer. We believed that letting him repeat the year would boost his confidence, so he can focus more of his energy on his work and less on wondering why everything is so difficult!”

Three school years on, and Sarah’s son is now a happy, confident Year 2 student, “Our theory proved correct - he is a confident child, his academic performance is well above average and he is very happy.

All you want for your child is to be happy.”

Look beyond age
Marie De Daunton Educational Psychologist at Kids First in Dubai works with children who are experiencing difficulty at school, identifying any underlying emotional or learning problems, and providing parents with advice and solutions within the school environment.

She regularly comes across the issue of children who are lagging behind. “Readiness is not as simple as just the chronological age. There will always be someone who is the youngest and someone the oldest in the class, so it is important to look at the whole child, “she explains.

“The skills relating to maturity are more important then being able to say the alphabet or count to 10,” she explains. “When children are developmentally ready they learn these skills quickly.

“Children starting school who are emotionally immature are the most at risk in a school environment.

Further reading
1. Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph – arguments for starting later
2. University of Sydney Study by Andrew Martin - a counter argument backed up by research.