Kindergarten Woes

Now, a University of Florida expert has traced a rough start in school for some kids all the back to birth.

A study of more than 100,000 kids identifies birth weight as the most significant factor in whether kids do well starting school.

Seventeen percent of all the kids studied did not have the skills to be considered ready for kindergarten, but for those who weighed 2.3 pounds or less at birth had up to three times the risk of not developing the skills needed to do well in school.

“So when you have such factors very early in your childhood, such as prolonged hospitals stays, it interferes with subsequent development and makes it much more difficult to catch up later on,” said Christina Hayes, an UF Education Researcher.

While the size at birth outweighs all other factors, results show that a mother’s educational level has the second greatest impact on school readiness.

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