Change in school entry date sparks concern among parents and kindergarten operators TERESA WRIGHT The Guardian
The education department announced Thursday they’ve pushed back the age of entry requirement for children going into Grade 1, and this has sparked considerable concern among parents and kindergarten operators in the province.
Previously, children were required to be five years old by Aug. 31 to start kindergarten, and six years old by Aug. 31 to start Grade 1. The date will now change to Oct. 31, beginning in the 2008-2009 school year.
The new policy means that approximately 250 additional children will be eligible to attend kindergarten and school in 2008.
Many parents of children born in September or October 2002 who want their child in Grade 1 next year will also want to enrol their child in kindergarten for the remainder of this academic year.
Sonya Corrigan, president of the Early Childhood Development Association, said since that announcement she has been overwhelmed with calls from parents wanting to put their children in kindergarten for the next three months so they’ll be ready for school in September.
“Looking at what’s left of the school year – we’re talking weeks,” she said. “I really and truly don’t think we would be offering programs that would be in the best interests of children and that parents would be making the best choice.”
It is the parents’ choice, and many feel their children are ready.
But Corrigan wants to know why no one from the sector was contacted or consulted before this government decision was made.
“It’s not so much the change in date, it’s the absence of consultation with our sector. Our sector was called by parents who read it in the newspaper. And they weren’t even aware of what the change was.”
Education Minister Gerrard Greenan said the change was made because his department has received hundreds of calls from parents who insist their children are ready for school and wanted the date changed.
“We’re one of the provinces that has one of the oldest age of entry,” he said. “So by moving this date, we’re more in line with the rest of the country.”
Late in the day on Friday, The Guardian was contacted by Linda Lowther, senior director of public education, who said she was worried parents might think the department was encouraging them to put their children into kindergarten now so they can start school in the fall.
“Parents who choose to exercise this option are maybe making this decision for convenience or financial reasons and we’d like to make sure that it’s not something we’re recommending that parents do.”
She said this was done for those people who feel their children can read already and are prepared to enter a kindergarten in which other children have been learning all year pre-literacy and numeracy skills in preparation for Grade 1.
“If government hadn’t made this decision, all these parents would have had their kids registered in kindergarten next year anyway and we’re still hoping that people will do that.”
Corrigan said she hasn’t heard any complaints from parents regarding the age of entry and is frustrated because the sector recently lobbied to have these dates put in place.
Early childhood educators are meeting with the education department to discuss their concerns.
“Our members are just wanting clarity,” Corrigan said.
“We’re not sure where this came from, how the decision was come to, what input there was into coming to that decision.”
The Guardian is committed to encouraging intelligent discourse among our readers and to creating a forum where diverse views and opinions on a wide range of topics can be aired. The forum you are in now is a result of our continuing efforts to facilitate a dynamic online conversation among our readers.
This is a semi-moderated or reactively moderated conversation. Once a reader follows the steps to register and submit his or her comment it goes directly to the website. A comment may be edited or deleted for reasons of content or language.
All readers wishing to join a conversation must first sign in and agree to the Terms of Usage, which explain the rules of acceptable content.
Nick from PE writes: The decision to change the cutoff for grade one during the middle of a school year was an extremely poor decison by the Department of Education and the remarks given by Linda Lowther are ridiculous. One of the main reasons for kindergarten is for students to learn the structure of a class environment before grade one and to be make sure all students have the basics. My son is academically ready to start grade one but I would have liked him to have the option to learn how a school day goes and more socializing skills before grade one. They are the ones who made the obvious mistake. Do not put this on parents. The fact they used the excuse that many parents phoned to say their children are ready for school is crazy. If hundreds of people phoned and said they needed one hundred dollars, would they just give it to them without thinking about it or talking to the people if would affect. I am sure the reason they moved the date is because Nova Scotia changed their date from OCT.1 to Dec.31 for this upcoming school year and this is the date the majority of Canada uses for their cutoff. Anyone could have figured out that you don't change a date all at once during a school year but maybe this is what is wrong with our education system on PEI. They don't put any thought into decisions.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
Rob Paterson from Stratford, PEI writes: It's worse - the premise of this change - beyond the spurious lots of phone calls idea - is that the research tells us that Structured learning environments are good for young children. This is the statement that the officials put in the mouth of the Premier in the press release.
This is not true.
The research tells us that what is best for young children is play based learning.
It gets worse. There is a lot of evidence that the differences between boys and girls development aged 6 is quite large. Boys are about a year younger and many need more space to be boys.
For boys there are significant risks in pushing them into structure too early - they tend to shut down. We see that boys are doing relatively much worse than girls in school now.
No issue is more important today than giving our handful of kids the best start in life.
All the evidence before us is that our officials who have this file know nothing about the Early Years. They coopt the language to do what they want.
Their sad attempts to push things through with no brief to the government and no engagement with the public is evidence that they also get an F in their core role as public servants.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
H from summerside writes: we as parents are happy about this change but it should have happened at the beginning of semester not in the middle as it does make the transition difficult now.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
You get what you vote for from PE writes: Is it still an education system when there is only school 2 days a week for the winter months? Get a life everyone, I have a kindergarten age child and they are not getting the fundamentals for grade 1 algebra every afternoon. My daughter turned 6 three months in to kindergarten and I'm still screwed no matter what, I got a 19 year old graduating high school someday.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
working out west to feed my family on pei from pei/alberta writes: typical for pei. who votes for these people. oh yeah we do - remember that the next time you vote!
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
Parent from Cornwall, PE writes: It is up to parents to ensure your children are ready for school, not the government. It is up to the government to PROVIDE schooling, but the teachers cannot do it ALL.. thus we have the joys of homework.
To say a child is not prepared for school unless they attend kindergarten is inaccurate. My children did NOT attend kindergarten and were duly prepared for school; I contacted a primary school teacher when my eldest child was 3 to ask what they needed to know in order to succeed. I then made sure they all had more than these basics; they all could read before starting first grade and could tie their shoelaces (this is apparently a big time consumer for first grade teachers.) among other things.
Ultimately, as a parent, you should know if your child will be ready for grade one in the fall. If suddenly you learn that they can start, and you think you desperately need kindergarten to prepare for that, you are being misled. You can teach them what they need to know if you know how to read, know basic math, and how to tie your shoes.
If your child has been in daycare they are already used to a structured daily routine, school is not such an adjustment as one might think.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
Anne Miller from Souris, PEI writes: It's interesting that this has been referred to as a study or a government review. This is the shortest and most secretive review ever known on PEI. Seven years ago, much thought and research was completed by a committee on age of enrty. After research and comparisons with other jurisdictions, it was thought that 72 months or six years was an appropriate age to allow children to begin Grade One. It took seven years to implement this process and each year the month was pushed back...it took 24 hours to reverse those findings and inform the public.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
Dear Anne from PEI writes: Good decision, bad timing. Some kids are ready and parents should have the choice; however, more consulatation should have happened. Get the R out - from you know who!
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
Roxane from Montague, PEI writes: Ms. Miller is completely right. Speaking as a mother and educator, the public and industry has been blindsided by this latest announcement. I have lost any trust or respect for this government that I once had.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
NOTE
The management of this site emphasizes that it is in no way liable for persons, physical or legal, who are hosted here. Moreover, the managers of this site may not be held liable for errors and omissions that may slip into the information displayed in these reader comments. Everyone who submits a comment should read, understand and agree to the Terms of Usage for this section.
