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Early Entrance Considerations

Early Entrance into 5 Year Old Kindergarten (5K) - Considerations for Parents

The majority of children entering 5K have a birthdate on or before September 1st, the required age to attend 5K. Early entrance into 5K is considered a grade-skip of an entire grade level for a 4-year-old child. Although many children who attend preschool may have knowledge of letters and numbers, much more is taught than letters and numbers in the preschool years to prepare children for 5K. 

Preschool and 4k programs have a significant focus and emphasis on teaching students social and emotional skills so that students learn first and foremost how to interact appropriately and positively with their peers in a school environment. Being ready for 5K means exhibiting age-appropriate preschool skills and being academically, socially, and physically ready for the transition.

5K is where most children begin to learn to read and write. Though some children demonstrate having these skills before entering 5K, it is not required or expected. If a child begins their school trajectory without learning basic, age-appropriate skills, it may lead to struggles their entire academic career. 

Considerations

If your child is able to demonstrate almost all of the following skills, it may be appropriate to consider early entrance into 5K.

If your child is not exhibiting the skills listed above, MMSD recommends that you enroll them into the MMSD 4-year-old kindergarten (4K) program, ensuring their academic success in future grades.

Academic Skill Development
(pre-literacy and pre-math skills)

  • Knows 12-21 upper and lowercase letters
  • Knows 4-8 beginning letter sounds
  • Can retell a simple story
  • Speaks in complete sentences of 5-6 words
  • Writes name or recognizes letters in name
  • Recognizes the title of a book
  • Recognizes rhyming sounds
  • Counts to 20
     

Social and Emotional Skill Development

  • Manages bathroom needs by themself
  • Shows an awareness of own emotions
  • Displays age-appropriate self-control
  • Shows understanding of being part of larger group
  • Initiates and engages in appropriate social interactions with peers and adults
  • Identifies and communicates needs in situations of conflict
  • Responds to others’ feelings with empathy
  • Follows transitions and routines without issue
  • Recognizes classroom expectations
  • Does not take an afternoon nap
  • Asks for help when needed
  • Knows personal information (name, age)
     

Physical Skill Development

  • Exhibits fine motor skills (for example: holds pencil, traces shapes, buttons shirt)
  • Exhibits gross motor coordination (for example: gallops, hops, skips)
  • Exhibits self-help skills (for example: toileting, washing hands, putting on coat/hat/gloves/boots)
     

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) offers a quality 4 year old kindergarten (4K) program taught by Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction certified kindergarten teachers. MMSD elementary schools and participating Early Care and Education (ECE) centers (child care centers) provide instruction to 4-year-olds based on the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards and MMSD Department of Early Learning standards. Curricula used in MMSD 4K programs align with these standards and are governed by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) regulations for 4K programming. This ensures that 4-year-old kindergarten students are provided quality, research-based instruction and learning opportunities to help prepare them for 5-year-old kindergarten.

Many preschools and childcare centers in the Madison community offer programming to children who are 4 years old.  However, this does not indicate that the 4-year-old programming is an actual and formal Wisconsin DPI 4K program unless they are connected with the public school district.