Back to the complete issue
Friday, 14 April 2017

Science says children should be enrolled in school one year later

If you want your children to be successful, enroll them in school later rather than sooner. Parents often dedicate a great deal of time and mental effort to taking decisions that will help put their children on a path of academic success. For those whose children are born later in the year, one of the most important decisions is whether their children should enter school early (and be the youngest of the bunch) or a year late (and be the oldest). The decision to delay a child’s enrolment in kindergarten — referred to as “red-shirting” — does not necessarily correlate with improved academic experience. However, a recent study from Stanford University has found that what red-shirting does achieve is that it improves the development of certain characteristics, including self-control, mental health, and discipline, that help children do better in school, Bill Murphy writes for Inc. “We found that delaying kindergarten for one year reduced inattention and hyperactivity by 73% for an average child at age 11…and it virtually eliminated the probability that an average child at that age would have an ‘abnormal,’ or higher-than-normal rating for the inattentive-hyperactive behavioral measure,” according to one of the co-authors of the study. The catch: The study doesn’t control for what red-shirted children do in the extra year they have before starting school, which could play a role in the child’s development, nor does it account for socioeconomic background.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.