Although the 2026-27 school year won’t begin until August, now is the perfect time to start thinking about kindergarten if your child is 4 or 5. Many schools around the Pittsburgh region are beginning registration for kindergarten this month. As you’ll learn below, registering early has many benefits.
What do you need to know as your child approaches the start of their K-12 journey? To find out, Kidsburgh spoke with Valerie Williams, director of the Kindergarten Transition Program at Trying Together.
1: It’s great to register early.
Many families begin thinking about kindergarten in late May or early June, once the current school year ends and summer is beginning. But signing up early has many benefits, Williams says.
Many school districts invite families in for transition events, giving kids a chance to do things like see classrooms, meet teachers, explore how the lunchroom works, step inside a school bus and more. These events can start as early as April, Williams says.
If you enroll early, she says, “you’re able to be in the mix to start getting communications for all the things that might be happening between now and the start of school, whether it’s a Family Fun Day or meeting the teachers or all kinds of things.”
Another reason to start registering early: You’ll need to gather some paperwork, including the child’s birth certificate. The earlier you begin that process, the less stress you’ll have if you need to track down a document that you don’t currently have.
2. The only requirement is being old enough.
There is no test to get into kindergarten. There are no rules about what the child should already know or be able to do. Although it’s great to introduce kids to letters and numbers ahead of kindergarten, it’s not required.
If the child can’t recognize all the letters in their name or count to a certain number, don’t worry: “Every child is ready to learn,” Williams says. “They’re born ready to learn. All we ask is that they show up.”
If the school does an intake screening to learn a bit about your child, it’s not a test. The goal of these screenings is “to understand your child, see where they’re at and build balanced classrooms.”
The only rule is that kids need to have turned 5 by the cut-off date for their school. Districts in our region set their particular cut-off dates anywhere between about August 15 and about Oct. 1. Many use Aug. 31 or Sept. 1 as the date by which kids must have turned 5 in order to begin kindergarten.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
3. Discuss early intervention concerns
If your child is receiving any early intervention services, the service provider will likely help you discuss this with the school. But “parent input is so critical, so be in the loop,” Williams says.
If your child doesn’t receive any services but you’re noticing something, talk with the school and with your pediatrician. (Trying Together’s Early Intervention Toolkit is helpful if you’re starting to explore this.)
“You can still get services even through the summer,” Williams says, “or you would at least have your school district tipped off and ready to say, ‘Hey, I think this kid is going to need an evaluation right at the start of school.’ So that’s a really critical intervention piece.”
Meetings about this can start as early as February. So, again, registering early is a great help for kids, their families and schools.
4. If you have a positive attitude about learning, your child will pick up on that.
“A parent and caregiver’s view of learning deeply impacts their child’s experience,” Williams says. So take a joyful approach to learning new things yourself and model that behavior for your child. React positively to the idea of your child learning at school, because “that caregiver and parent mindset really frames school for their child.”
5. Communicate about your child
It will help the school get to know your child if you share just a bit about their journey so far. How has the child spent their time in their first five years? Who might they have been learning from in an informal way? Were they in a childcare program or a preschool? Were they spending time with a grandparent or other caregiver?
Again, there is no right answer or better path. It’s just helpful for the school to have a clear picture of your particular child.
“The more information that you can share with the school, the better,” Williams says. “Think of yourself as an empowered partner whose voice is critically important in your child’s learning journey.”
Want to learn more about having a smooth transition into kindergarten? You’ll find resources from Trying Together right here. Check out our interview with KinderCare pre-K teacher Lauren Warner right here.