A IDADE PRECOCE DE INGRESSO ESCOLAR TEM IMPACTO NAS APTIDÕES ESCOLARES E NAS COMPETÊNCIAS PESSOAIS E SOCIAIS?

Due to the scarcity of studies concerning the impact of school entry age on school skills and on personal/social skills of children in Portugal, it is pertinent to study this phenomenon. This study aims to describe and compare school skills and personal/social skills in two groups of students with different school entry ages, 5 and 6 years old, respectively. A total of 153 Portuguese children (51% boys) aged between 7 and 8 years, with a mean of 7.30 ± 0.46 years old participated in the study. The results showed that no statistically significant differences were found for the variable school skills in its dimensions: spatial relationships, constancy of form, spatial orientation and total scale. However, significant differences were observed in the dimensions verbal comprehension and quantitative concepts: children with school entry age of 5 years old presented statistically significant lower results than children with school entry age of 6 years old, for those same dimensions. Regarding personal/social skills, there were no statistically significant differences between the two age groups. The present results, which generally suggest similarities (more than differences) between the two age groups in terms of school skills and personal/social skills, can lead to a final reflection that reinforces the idea of children entering the school at age 6 (age defined by the actual Portuguese law), and not, early. However, more research is needed to increase knowledge concerning this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]