Kindergarten Age Change
Starting August 2014, a child must be 5 on or before July 31 to enter kindergarten. The change is a result of Act 183 of 2010 and Act 178 of 2012 (Session Laws of Hawaii), which noted that younger children may be more appropriately placed in a prekindergarten program.
Click here for more information from the Hawaii Department of Education.
We know that the beginning years of a child’s life are critical and don’t want our children to miss a year of early learning.
To help prepare for this important change, the Executive Office on Early Learning will be providing a series of resources for families, preschool providers, and Hawaii Department of Education staff. We will post more resources as they become available.
For Families
- For general information about options that may be available to you, click the following: Families Flyer.
- To find out what programs may be located near you:
- Contact PATCH (click on the link to the “Families Flyer” above)
- View the preschool density map on Good Beginnings Alliance’s website.
- District resource guides:
For Providers
- Information/communications resources you may find useful for your families:
- For commonly asked questions and a list of some available resources for them to look into, click the following: Providers Flyer.
- For the “Kindergarten Age Has Changed!” poster, click the following (when printing, be sure to select Actual Size and Choose paper source by pdf page size):
- EOEL_K entry flyer 8.5×11 (English)
- EOEL_K Entry Flyer 11×17 (English)
- K entry Flyer Translation 8.5×11 (various languages)
- K Entry Flyer Translation 11×17 (various languages)
- For commonly asked questions and a list of some available resources for them to look into, click the following: Providers Flyer.
- For college credit professional development opportunities and to discuss your professional development needs around serving older four-year-old children, contact an early education program at a higher education institution: Higher Education Contact List
- For information shared by your colleagues:
- The UH-Manoa Blended Early Childhood/Early Childhood Special Education Undergraduate Program begins its first cohort the Fall 2015 semester. Program graduates will be eligible for licensure in PK-3 general education and PK-3 special education. Click on the links below for details on the program:
- Click here for the flyer for the June 28, 2014 seminar, “Ohana Math Backpacks for 4 Year Olds” at St. Philomena’s Early Learning Center in Honolulu.
- Click here for the flyer on the HAEYC, UHM Children’s Center, and UHMC Professional Seminar Series hands-on workshop on June 28, 2014 at the UHMC Pilina Multipurpose Room