When do we start first grade?

Dear friend,

One of the questions we get most frequently is, “When do we start first grade?”

Or just as often, “Oops! We thought we would start first grade this year but my child is 5/6 and now I’m realizing maybe we should be doing kindergarten.” Etc.

I mentioned in my last letter that I’m not planning to start first grade with Leta until she’s 7. She’s super smart, just like your kids are, so why would I wait so long to start school?

First grade is such a lovely and memorable year. It’s natural to be excited to start (for kids, and parents, too)! But it’s also worth waiting for. As homeschoolers, we have the option to take our time. As Waldorf homeschoolers, we especially value the gift of time in our children’s lives.

When you allow your child a full seven years of early childhood, you are giving them this gift of time. Time to play and learn at their own pace. Time to mature physically, emotionally, and neurologically. That extra bit of time can make a big difference in a child’s brain development and executive functioning. Often people jump to a conclusion that a child has a learning or executive function problem—and the child does, but only because the environment is not appropriate to their stage of development. That same child a year or two later may be able to cope with that environment or those expectations in an entirely different way and look like a different kid. That’s why it’s so important not to rush children along.

I’m not an advocate of waiting forever or looking the other way if a child is struggling! But a great many children are going to do better academically, socially, and emotionally if they have that extra year to mature. As a homeschooling parent, just go ahead and hedge that bet!

And don’t worry that you are holding them back in some way. Children are learning all the time. They are so excited to start formal lessons when the time comes, and it feels good to start first grade when they are eager and ready! School time really can be something children look forward to when it is not a mis-match for their current needs.

So one reason to begin first grade at age 7 is to give your child plenty of time to grow, develop, and enjoy their early childhood—years they will never get back.

Another reason to wait is that the Waldorf curriculum is finely tuned to a child’s age, and it’s a better match all the way through the grades for a child who is 7-14 rather than 6-13.

The stories in the Waldorf curriculum are wonderful for people of any age, but they especially speak to children of a particular age. That’s why they’re put into the curriculum in specific grades (rather than randomly).

For example, the Norse myths are great stories, but they strike a chord for ten-year-olds. Children who are ten in fourth grade feel that magnetic attraction to the stories in the curriculum because of that story-to-development match. If your child is only eight years old in fourth grade (because she was reading early or there was social/family pressure to start sooner because she’s so smart), she might still enjoy the stories, but she won’t light up in the same way. They won’t engage her imagination as deeply. It’s a missed opportunity for her education to feel nourishing and enriching. And delightful.

And for some stories and some children, they’ll be too intense/violent/mature if you start early. This applies to mythology, but especially to history lessons. By the time your child is in seventh and eighth grades, he needs to start grappling with humanity’s past and present. This means learning history, reading emotionally challenging literature, and engaging with current events. Adolescence is the best time for this, and earlier is not a good thing for your child, regardless of their cognitive abilities.

Start first grade with a seven-year-old, and you’ll hit those Norse myths around age ten, and the European colonization of Africa around age thirteen. Your child will be ready for the content all the way through. He’ll get what he needs from his education when he needs it.

Here’s the standard age to grade chart for Waldorf homeschooling and the Lavender’s Blue Curriculum (with wiggle room of a few months on either side of the typical age):

• Early Childhood/Kindergarten: Ages 0-6

• First Grade: Age 7

• Second Grade: Age 8

• Third grade: Age 9

• Fourth Grade: Age 10

• Fifth Grade: Age 11

• Sixth Grade: Age 12

• Seventh Grade: Age 13

• Eighth Grade: Age 14

• Secondary Education: High School and College: Ages 15-22

Happy October!

xo

Kelly