Why Should A Child Be Five To Start Kindergarten?

Mustard Seed School is strongly committed to nurturing each child as a whole person: intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.

At Mustard Seed School we recognize that all children learn differently. We celebrate the unique gifts that each child brings to our school.  We want all children to be able to start school confident to respond to the challenges that we place before them.

It has been our experience that children who are developmentally five by the time Kindergarten begins and developmentally six as they enter First Grade are best prepared to learn successfully at Mustard Seed School.

Mustard Seed School is strongly committed to nurturing each child as a whole person: intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.  These unique aspects of each child often develop at slightly different rates.  The school adheres to a developmental approach to learning, so we assess when the whole child is ready to learn certain skills.  This approach ensures a successful educational experience.

What is normal development?

Among perfectly normal, bright children, there is a range—often up to six months—of time when a child reaches each developmental milestone.  Not all children learn to walk and talk; to read or to write at the same time; each child matures differently.  A child who is chronologically five may be developmentally five-and-a-half or developmentally four-and-a-half—this is not a problem unless the child is asked to do things he or she is not ready to do. Mustard Seed School seeks to determine a child’s developmental maturity prior to admittance to ensure that each and every student is ready for the exciting challenges that await them.  School success will elude the developmentally not-ready child.

What does five-year-old development look like?

When a child is developmentally five, neurological development has reached a state where the eyes, hands, and mind can work together to accomplish certain tasks of learning.  He or she can learn to sound and write and focus on a letter clearly.  He or she can understand the concept of the number ten and can manipulate numbers under five easily.  When a child is developmentally five, he or she can sit for twenty minutes and be absorbed in a story.  These are only a few of the characteristics of a child who is ready to start Kindergarten. 

What does six-year-old development look like?

When a child is developmentally six, that child can maintain focus on an independent task for 30 minutes.  The child’s eyes can scan from left to right and so it is the prime time to introduce reading instruction.  When a child is developmentally six-and-a-half, that child can arrange writing on lined paper.  It is this level of awareness of child development that helps guide our curriculum at Mustard Seed.

How is development determined at Mustard Seed School?

The school desires a firm foundation for all our children, and so we take great care in determining whether a child is prepared for our school.  Prior to admittance we talk with parents and conduct a developmental interview to learn about a child.  We also consult teacher evaluations to determine the child’s maturity.  All evaluations are conducted by specifically trained educators and the entire process is designed to be inclusive of parents.

What if my child is one of the oldest students in the class?

The Kindergarten is comprised of five and six-year-olds.  The First Grade has six and seven-year-olds.  Sometimes people wonder if their child, who might be placed on the older end of the class, will be bored.  The design of our curriculum provides so much opportunity for independent projects and extended work that an older child tends to thrive in this environment.  In later years, it is often maturity, not IQ, which makes all the difference in being able to benefit from the opportunities for learning at school.  There is a common floor from which all students begin, but no classroom places a ceiling on learning.

What if my child is advanced in some areas?

Mustard Seed has a rich and demanding curriculum: full school days, independent work expectations, music, art, science and social studies. All students are challenged to think and solve problems creatively. A student does not need to have a high IQ to be part of our school, but a student does have to be developmentally ready.  In fact, there are students who may be superior in intelligence who we have asked to wait a year because their development was not in sync with their intellect.  A child may show older behavior in some areas, but it is the rare exception for a child to be developmentally ahead of his or her age in all areas. 

Teachers of older students, for example, know of children whose voice, intonation, and musicality are quite ready to sing Bach chorale, but who just don’t have the physical stamina to stay focused during long rehearsals.  Teachers of younger students know of children who enter school reading, but struggle with writing letters and numbers.  Again, we want to nurture the whole child, not just the mind.