Summer Babies

by Maureen Faccia, Executive Vice President

I have a summer baby!  She was born 7-27-2007 at 2:07pm, and so far the numerology is disturbingly accurate.  Today she is a very special, vibrant and exciting first grader.  She loves horses, friends, and books.

Two years ago this month, it was time for me to register her for kindergarten and I had so many concerns:  Was she ready?  Could she keep up?  Would her confidence suffer as her peers were able to do all kinds of things before she was able to?

Since I work in this field, I know “ready” for kindergarten is beyond whether or not my child knows how to recite the alphabet or count to 20.  Ready at this age is very much about how well she can focus in the classroom for the 15 minute bursts of instruction and practice.  Summertime babies, those children who will forever be the youngest in the class because they just barely meet the cutoff for school registration, can often start school with a deficit simply because they are 11 months behind their September peers.

Aside from sympathetic friends and school teachers, I found a few excellent resources that I want to share.

o   Call your school! Most school districts offer developmental screenings for kids 5 and under which can help you assess your child’s readiness for school. They can also provide learning standards (click here for an example) for kindergarten so you can assess your child at home.

o   Make sure your child is enrolled in a quality pre-school before Kindergarten.  85% of brain development occurs before the age of 5, so maximizing the exposure your child can have before they enter Kindergarten is crucial.  Ask your preschool teacher if they are specifically working to prepare your child for language, reading, math and other elements your local kindergarten will teach. 

o   Access “Ready for Kindergarten” assessment tools that you can use at home on the web through United Way of Pierce County and other organizations who work in this field.

 How did I finally make the decision to send my summertime baby to Kindergarten?  I was most worried about her focus and ability to follow instructions.  A tool I found helpful was a “focus” game I played with her.   The task was to provide a series of things she needed to do sequentially and assess how many she could complete and how long it took to complete the task.  With a carrot of a play-date at stake, I was shocked to witness the speed with which my daughter was able to cross the room to retrieve a blue ball, return to the sofa and pick up the red socks, pet the dog and go to the door.  It became clearer to me that my daughter was more ready for kindergarten than I realized.