I the paper today Dept of Ed has an ad saying that the school age has changed back to October 31. If you have a child that turns 5 on or before Oct 31 this year they will start kindergarten this fall. The previous date was August 31.

BE aware when the govt makes changes that state they are for our benefit, I believe that the govt only makes decision for thier best interest not the average joe. I think they just realized that the sooner they get the in school again the sooner they get them thru and collect tax from them. They longer they leave them out the more
My daughter had just made the cut off by two months when we enrolled her in grade one. I dont know what our big hurry was, we wernt doing her any favours by putting here in school at the earliest possible age. She struggled and ended up holding her back. She did much better the second time when she was more mature.

That would be some irritating for parents who have children who turned 6 in September or October of THIS year and couldn't start grade one!!!

They won't please everyone no matter what they do.

Yes I get a kick out the governments saying that they are responding to "parents concerns" and this is all for our benefit. Why were the age limits changed in the first place? Because some studies were finding that a lot of kids were coming into Grade 1 too early and were doomed to struggle or repeat the grade.

An age limit has to be set and no matter what date is chosen, someone's birthday will always be the next day and they will miss out.

Maybe we could settle this once and for all and forbid procreation at certain times of the year so that kids will only be born in the fall. My wife seems to be in favor of that!

I'm more concerned for those kids whose parents feel their child is 'ready' for KG/Grade 1, and enrol them in a Kindergarten program now. The year's more than half over and they think their child is going to do ok in Grade one in September with half of their KG education?

Oh well, maybe some of them will be. Stupid time to make a decision, if you ask me. Which they didn't

Yes, this is one of things that deserved a little more of a "heads up" lead in time.

I can't wait to tell a friend. Her son turned 6 in mid october. He won't get the chance to go ahead a grade. Stupid government.

Well, according to the press release, they are changing to be more compatible with other provinces... I guess that seems like sound judgement.

But here's the real kicker. Starting those students earlier, adds significant costs to the education department budget. It helps fill the schools with their dwindling enrollments. It keeps teachers employed, and because of younger ages, probably a few teaching assistants, too. Is it cheaper to have these kids in school, or in day care? who pays which?

Many daycares have really good programs, educational in their own respect. Is a day care worker cheaper than a teacher? (admittedly, probably fewer kids per day care worker than per teacher..) Will these 'underage' kids really learn better in the school environment? Can they get through the day (or is it half day in PEI?) without regular naps? why should we pay a teacher to watch sleeping kids??

With the decrease in child care users, how many day care workers will be put out of work? OR how much will the services go up in price to compensate for the fewer paying spaces? Will the government have to increase day care allowances and grants to offset these changes? as day care costs go up, more parents will opt into the underage kindergarten - it's cheaper out of pocket, but watch the effect on your taxes!!

Putting younger and smaller children on school buses creates other nightmares, including safety concerns. You might be shocked to know how many 'sleeping children' are left on buses when the day is done. As they get younger and smaller, they are more apt to slide UNDER a seat in an accident, rather than into the soft padding in front of them. They are less likely to be properly seated, which is the entire basis of school bus compartmentalization in the design and safety standards. Next you will have the call for seat belts, to keep these little tykes safely on the seat.... which has been proven to NOT increase the overall safety of a school bus. And then there is the problem of getting them out of seatbelts in the event of an accident or emergency.

Yes, some of these little tykes might be ready to start kindergarten at that age. In my experience, it isn't worth it. IF they are a 'quick' learner, they will pick it up in kindergarten when they start. IF they are a 'slow' learner, they will be held back, become frustrated, possibly labeled as 'learning deficient', ADHD, whatever the current terms are, and require 'extra' care and teaching, further increasing the costs of education.

This should not come as any shock to people. The roll back was announced years ago and was planned to be phased in over time.

Back in the day it was Jan that was the cut off. When my son started 9 years ago he entered Gr 1 at 5 yo and turned 6 that Jan. This actually caused a lot of problems for him as he was physically, mentally and emotionally always behind in his class. We finaly forced the school to fail him in Gr 5 and allow him to catch up to his peers.

Phil

I don't really see what the issue here is. Sure it's strange that this announcement comes now, in the middle of the school year, out of the blue. Really bad timing, imo.

But it's only a month, not a year, like some people seem to think. And there is always going to be kids who "just made the cut off" and are littler and younger than the rest of the kids. It doesn't matter what month they cut it off - if it was June 30th then there is always the kid born July 1st who has to wait a full year to start.

I have two kids who "just made it" into kindergarten because their birthdays fell close to the cut off dates. I had the choice of holding them back and not putting them into the system for another year. I sent them and they did well and continue to do well. I think by the age of five, you should know what your child's capabilities are so that you don't have to "force" the school to fail them years later so they can catch up. The parents are the bosses - the school just sets the guidelines.

At 5 1/2 years old he was a very smart kid. Spoke two languages fluently, spent lots of time on the computer - could read and do basic math. He went into french immersion at Gr 1 and for the first 3 years was at the top of his class.

It was in Gr 4 and then later 5 that the problems started to develop. In fairness to him - he disliked the french program and neither parent spoke any french - tho both his sisters did and the oldest helped him a lot with his school work.

It was a tough decision. But once we transfered him the second year in 5 to the english program - and he was better mixed in with kids his own age he went back to being a good student again. Tho a lazy student as he knows how friggen smart he is and can sail thru most anything with ease. Oddly enuf he is still fluent in french.

****************

I was trying to find the original news story about the age roll back - but that looks impossible. If memory serves me right - the plan was to drop a month off each year until they got to a Sept cut off.

According to news reports - this new cut off will add 200 more students to the system - who otherwise would have had to wait till next year.

I am glad your kids did so so well and continue to do well Frankie. Let us know when they are trilingual.

Phil

My sister has a 4 year old and a 6 year old.

6 year old will be 7 mid-September, she will start school this year. Now she will have 5, 6 & 7 year olds in her class.

4 year old was due to start pre-kindergarten this year, now she has to start kindergarten, but oh no, she can't, because the places are all booked up.

it sucks!

From Human Resources and Social Development Canada's report, OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Canadian Background Report - October 2004

3.5 Eligibility criteria

* Participation is not compulsory, however, 97% of eligible children attend.
* Minimum age at entry. Prince Edward Island is changing the age of kindergarten and school entry to ensure that children are six years of age on or before August 31 of the year they ender grade one. This change will take place gradually over a six-year period beginning in the 2003/2004 school year. The gradual implementation schedule was chosen to minimize, to the extent possible, the impact this change will have on families, and the kindergarten/public school systems.

So the plan was that a child must be 5/6 by Aug 31 of this year to start Kindergarten/Grade 1.

Children that are now eligible to start Grade 1 in the fall will be able to join Kindergarten (if they can get a space) immediately.

So there will be a group of kids who have already missed 6 months of Kindergarten (and maybe the rest of the year of Kindergarten) starting Grade 1 this year.

That is exactly what they did. It was a December 31st deadline, then the following year it was November 30th, and so on until this year it was August 31st. Now the liberal government is changing it again, for whatever reason.

But as was stated earlier, there's always going to be those kids that just make it and those that are ready and have to wait a year. Frustrating to many, I am sure.

I am glad I am not a grade 1 teacher!!! This fall a grade one class will possibly have some kids who didn't go to kindergarten and very well didn't even have home learning (those Sept, Oct 5year olds) and kids who have done 2 years of kindergarten and will be 7 in Sept or Oct.

Wonder if enrollment numbers were down after registrations at the beginning of the month and this is their way of filling the classrooms?????

Glad my fall babies are well into their schooling and this isn't affecting them, it does affect my nephew though

So, it looks like their master plan is to shift back to Dec 31. My question is: when will that shift happen? It would be nice if they could at least announce that part of it in advance, or will they make that one a surprise too? Will it be for 2009-10? That would seem logical, but with this bunch I don't know how much logic is a factor.

Really? Where did you hear that?

Why did they bother changing things in the first place since it used to be Jan 31 anyway!

For whatever reason the date was changed, there must be some data to either support or refute any benefits.

Just basing it on the "to be like the other provinces" part of it.

Which was what the Education minister kept coming back to the other night on the news when asked about it.