by Kimberly Smith

Created on: July 21, 2010

What is the best age to start a child in Kindergarten? Does the answer to this question depend on race, culture, or something deeper? What should a parent consider when determining what age to start a child in school? There are many factors which determine when a child is ready for school. There is also much media and peer pressure towards parents to start their children early. Many companies even sell products aimed at teaching children early on. What is really best for the child?

While the age of children to start kindergarten ranges between the ages of four to six years old many factors should be considered. First, race only plays a factor if because of the race of the child he/she has had limited options which have more to do with economical factors then race. Unfortunately, this can still be a consideration in many parts of our country from the Appalachian Mountains to the inner cities. Where a child lives can also determine other issues.

One such issue may be the culture of the child's family. It is true that we are a very diverse country. There are cultures within the United States who teach many different beliefs that affect both home life, and education. Some cultures teach their children to highly respect adult authority figures. In such cultures the child is taught to be seen, not heard. The child is brought up to not look an adult in the eye out of respect, be quiet, only speak when spoken to, and listen intensively to the instructor. However, a teacher not realizing that this is the culture the child has been brought up in may assume the child to be shy. The teacher may even get the wrong impression such as believing the child to have a learning disability. This is an unfortunate mistake which could actually hurt a child's education. This would be a far different impression then a teacher may have of a child who has been taught to speak up to be heard. However, when either type of child is match with a teacher who has taken the time to do homework on the different cultures in their classroom the child can excel.

This brings us to another interesting point. What about children who have difficulties learning? Is it better to push them early so they have more time to learn, or let the go at their own pace? Ultimately every child will learn at their own pace. The key here is to catch the difficulty early so to provide the correct help. Parents can play a key factor in this by realizing there is no shame in having a special needs child. Actually special

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