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State Sen. Mark Christensen

Letter Back Home

Opinion

Delaying kindergarten 2 1/2 months

Thursday, March 4, 2010

This week I wanted to talk about a bill that some of you parents with preschool aged children might find interesting.

You may not have caught it, but the Legislature advanced LB 1006, introduced by Sen. Adams, to the second round of debate. It is a bill I support that changes the eligibility date for kids entering kindergarten.

Currently, our law requires a child to be five years of age by Oct. 15 to be eligible for entering kindergarten. LB 1006 would move the date backwards two and half months to July 31. This would ensure kids are five years old before the school year started. LB 1006 would go into effect beginning in the 2012-13 school year.

Many teachers and administrators say the age range is becoming too large, and by moving the date back, it would allow some children to mature increasing their chances of success.

I agree with them. There is pressure in some areas of our culture to push kids earlier and earlier into school and formal activities; I believe we have gone far enough and a little push back on this trend is needed.

LB 1006 does allow for an exception for children that turn five between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15 if they perform adequately on an assessment provided by the school. I believe this is a reasonable exception since not all kids are similar in maturity.

We advanced LB 1006 on a 33-0 vote to Select File.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding these bills or any issue please call my office at 402-471-2805 or for more information you can view my legislative Web site at http://news.legislature.ne. gov/dist44/

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  • If the age is moved to July 31, wouldn't there still be a 12 month disparity in births, that constitute the group starting kindergarten (Aug. 1, 20XA through Jul. 31, 20XB??

    I agree with the July 31 change, having gone through school as an Oct. 19 child, with only two younger than myself (both with better GPA's), which, in my opinion, may well have had negative consequences in my ability to keep up (other factors also considered, like perhaps not being the brightest bulb in the classroom (smiley)).

    What would be wrong with a system that started school every six months, or annually, but fearlessly shuffling the students forward and backward, to fit their ability, without Social stigma?? By the time a student reached the third or fourth grade, they would be in the group best suited for their maturity, and ability level?

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Thu, Mar 4, 2010, at 3:48 PM
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