When is the right age for children to start school?

Basically, schools in Indonesia are divided into 4 levels, namely the level of play, basic, middle and high compulsory levels. However, parents or children can freely choose whether they want to start at the level of play or go straight to the mandatory basic level. About when, is it the right age for children to start school?

The age of a child to start school can be determined from the readiness and willingness of the child

The time and age for sending your child to school can be based on when your child is aware of his desire to go to school. Your child can tell and show you his own interest when he wants to go to school. Usually, children aged 3-4 years, will express their own desire to go to school because they see their family or friends going to school.

Now, at this time parents must be sensitive to provide support and not forget to apply to children to have responsibility for what will be done in their school. But if your child has no desire to go to school, you should not force and immediately send the child to school. By not forcing your child to go to school does not mean that you are passive and give up waiting for your child to want to go to school.

If parents are only passive, this will also cause harm to the child, you know. Children will experience late age at the level of education and this can have certain effects. Here, you as a parent must be active in various ways to arouse the child's curiosity for school. For example, by taking the child for a walk to the school area near the house or you can invite the child to pick up relatives who are at school. By doing so, it is hoped that it will cause your child's desire to attend school.

Then how do you know the child's readiness to start school?

Apart from trying to create a feeling of wanting to go to school, you must also consider the child's readiness to determine the right age for entering school. Consider his physical, emotional, independent, and verbal skills. The more play and social experiences children have before school, the more likely they will cope well with school.

1. Emotional readiness

In this readiness factor, children must also have a level of calm and the ability to cope with certain things, such as being able to speak clearly to adults, being able to say when they need help, knowing what to do when they want to go to the bathroom, and understanding the importance. share while playing.

You should also pay attention to whether your child is anxious while you are living. If so, then you should postpone it first. If he feels stressed during your stay, school will only place stress on your child. You can minimize this anxiety by explaining that your child needs to separate from you while in school. Also explain that this separation is only temporary. After school time is over, your child will reunite with you.

2. Physical readiness

Consideration is not only about the emotional and attitude of the child, the physical and motor skills of the child are one of the important reasons children start school. Make sure how well the child's motor development is, can he hold a pencil, draw simple drawings or even just dress himself.

The reason is, the inability to do these things can cause the child to lose confidence and may be ostracized by other children, which is an unpleasant start and may damage the meaning of school for your child.