If you’re wondering whether or not your child is mentally and physically ready for school, you may be amongst the many parents that feel this same way. A new study was published in the journal of National Bureau of Economic Research that believe it may be best to hold kids back. The study concluded with finding that when children were enrolled in Kindergarten by the age of 7, instead of 5 or 6, they had a drop in their level of hyperactivity, and their willingness to pay attention was heightened. In the end it was found that this improved a child’s test scores because their self-control was improved.

The Facts

When reaching this conclusion, there was data from a standard mental health screening survey in which was given to thousands of children in Denmark that helped drive an answer. The practice that is known as “redshirting,” was found that when holding kids back a year can have long-lasting positive effects in the classroom when it comes to your child. This is true because your child will have another year to work on their self-regulation. The longer they have to sit and work on learning, the better chances they will have in the future to rise to the top on their academic achievement.

The study found that a child will benefit from being delayed a year by reducing their inattention skills and hyperactivity. “We found that delaying kindergarten by one year reduced inattention and hyperactivity by 73 percent 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,” Co-author Thomas Dee and Stanford Graduate School of Education said in a press release.

The Other Side

Another growing body of research trying to find the best conditions for learning stated that redshirting could cause kids to do worse on tests. Any mother will be intrigued by both sides because all of this is quite interesting. If you think your child may not be ready and mature enough to start kindergarten, than keep them back a year. Only a parent knows which is best for their child.