Placement Recommendations…

For a child to find kindergarten and the following years of school a valuable experienced and to achieve without stress, he or she should be developmentally 5 to 5/12 years of age at the time of entry. Developmental age may or may not be consistent with chronological age. It is not unusual and is not abnormal for a child to be six months or younger than his or her chronological age developmentally. Not every normal child functions exactly at the supposed average level. Research had shown, however, that readiness for Kindergarten is not indicated until a developmental age of 5 to 5 ½ has been reached.

Over placement…

Students who enter school before they are ready may suffer for the rest of their lives. This is a very strong statement and one many people find difficult to accept. However, years of experience with literally thousands of children through the country have proven that the unready child rarely catches up. Children who are not given the time they need to become developmentally ready are “in over their heads” and quickly begin to show signs of their over placement.

An over placed Child might succeed academically. Some children, when put into school before they are ready, handle the situation by allowing their intellects to develop at a faster rate than other areas. Because our society smiles fondly on intellectual children, they soon learn to put the major part of their energies into intellectual growth at the expense of physical, emotional, or social growth. Something has to give.

Over placement usually results in skewed development. This means that one or two areas of the child’s development grow at a faster rate than other areas of development. With this each passing year, the gap grows wider until a distorted, one-sided personality may develop. Children who enter school before they are developmentally ready cannot cope with the environment and are forced to simplify their relationships to it and to deal with it in a few areas only. Thus, they might become scholarly bookworms who don’t join the team, learn to dance, relate to the opposite sex, or expand their social horizons in any way. Or, they might be the sort of children who put the major portion of their energies into developing social skills. They might become very likable, but use their popularity to cover up their inadequacy. 

Over p laced children are frustrated and the frustration may show in a variety of ways. Here are a few of the symptoms:

Overt (EASY to see)

Physical- fatigue, tenseness, frequent colds, collapsing at home after school, both physically and emotionally, inconsistent visual and hearing perceptions.

Social- few friends, lashing out in anger against peers, relating better with younger children. Those not showing anger often are withdrawn.

Intellectual- difficulty finishing work, erratic achievement-good one week, poor for two weeks, low or average work though high I.Q.

Covert (More Difficult to Spot)

Avoidance- daydreaming, demands nothing, stays on the edge of activities, doesn’t want to go to school

Conformity- goals are not for self but to please others-high report card, make the teacher happy, do only what is asked, very little creative thinking.

Passive Resistance-“I don’t care”- spectators, not doers. No arguing, agrees with everything, pleasant, quiet, but resistant.

Overdrive-This is the most deceptive. High social and academic skills although not very creative. This child appears to “have everything” High burn-out rate in college.