You may have seen a post on a friend’s Facebook page highlighting this article: “Delayed Kindergarten Enrollment Dramatically Reduces ADHD In Children, Study Shows.” My first thought after seeing the title was ‘Wow. Could this be true?’ My second was to read the article, which leaves the impression that American kiddos have shown a decrease in ADHD by starting Kindergarten at age 6 rather than age 5. My third thought was to read the actual study. So I did.

And, you know what? The children studied were Danish children. These kiddos have access to free, quality care from birth to Kindergarten. Starting with one year of paid leave for new parents, Denmark and its municipalities then provide quality early childhood education for all children until they begin Kindergarten. This is FREE quality care for ALL children, and 95 percent of Danish kiddos are enrolled.

This cornucopia of family-friendly policies is in sharp contrast with what is available to parents and kiddos in Arkansas: 0 weeks of paid leave and far less than free quality pre-k for everyone.

In fact, the reason that these kiddos could even be the basis of the study was that they all have access to the same quality pre-k. The folks who did the study could then isolate birth dates to look at later Kindergarten start dates.
What’s the takeaway for Arkansas? We should level the playing field for all kids – ensure that moms and dads have important bonding time with their new little ones and then ensure that these little ones have the opportunity to attend quality, early childhood education. Once we do that, then we can talk about delaying the Kindergarten start date.