Parents grappling with when to start kids in school

With school about to start, some Saskatchewan parents with four-year-olds are wrestling with whether to start their children in kindergarten this fall.

Children who turn five early in the school year — typically by Dec. 31 — are allowed to go to school next month, but alternatively, they can start next year if the parents prefer.

Some are worried they might be "holding back" their children's education, while others point to research that shows that for some kids, it may be beneficial to wait for a year.

In Regina, Rylind Lorencz is one of those almost-five children who is eligible for kindergarten this year, and his mom and dad have decided he'll start in the fall of 2013 instead.

Rylind's mom Taryn Lorencz said she's done a lot of research, talked to experts and believes there are good reasons to wait.

"We felt it really allowed him to develop his emotional intelligence. To go ahead and just give him every advantage we could by being the oldest in the class versus the youngest," Lorencz explained.

She said watching Rylind at play has helped her make that decision.

"Sometimes he'll make a decision and then one of his friends will make a different decision," she said. "And so he'll decide to go ahead with their decision because he just wants to make everyone happy — he's the peacekeeper."

Saskatoon-based educational psychologist Mary Scissons agrees there can be advantages to waiting to enrol children in school.

"Certainly it's been shown that children with later birthdays, especially boys, they have a 60 per cent chance to be diagnosed with ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] and certainly they're referred for more learning assessments as well," she said.

Still, Scissons adds, parents know their children best and as a result are best positioned to determine when their child is ready for school.

Even Lorencz admits there is a downside — her son will not be going to school with his friends this year.

However, she believes down the road it will pay off academically and he will see it was for his own good.