Statement: It is desirable to put the child in school at the age of 5 or so. Assumptions: At that age the child reaches appropriate level of development and is ready to learn. The schools do not admit children after six years of age.

Given data

• Statement: It is desirable to put the child in school at the age of 5 or so.
• Assumption I: At that age the child reaches appropriate development and is ready to learn.
• Assumption II: Schools do not admit children after six years of age.

Concept/ApproachAssumptions are unstated beliefs that must hold true for the statement's recommendation to make sense. Test each assumption by asking: if it were false, would the recommendation lose force?

Step-by-step reasoningTesting I: If 5-year-olds were not developmentally ready, recommending school at 5 would not be 'desirable.' Therefore, I underlies the recommendation and is implicit.Testing II: The claim of desirability does not depend on a hard admission cut-off after 6. Even if schools admitted after 6, one could still prefer 5 for readiness or habit formation. So II is not required.

Verification/AlternativeThe statement frames a positive reason (readiness), not a fear of missing admission. Hence I fits, II does not.

Common pitfalls

• Confusing a policy constraint (admission cut-off) with a developmental rationale.
• Assuming 'desirable' must mean 'otherwise impossible later.'

Final AnswerOnly assumption I is implicit.