Anyone send kindergartener on time instead of holding back?

[DisneyPhD]

Both of these boys were 6 before even starting K. I guess this situation has colored what I think about it. One thing for kids to not be ready, another to have manufactured bully type situations when the kids don't relate to the kids in their class and would rather be elsewhere.

My DD is 4, our cutoff date is August 1. She turns 5 August 16th. Unfortunately she cannot begin K this fall. She will be 6 when she goes. At pre-school/daycare all her friends who are going to Kindergarten are now in a different classroom than she is. I just hate seeing her seperated from all her little friends she has been at daycare with since she was 6 weeks old! I know she'll make new friends. I just hope she interacts well with these kids who are younger than her. She is definitely ready for school, but she'll have to wait one more year.

Wow, that is a really early cut off date. My DD's B day is aug 3rd, she would miss out on that. I think that is the earliest one I am aware of.

Here the date is Dec 1st, but they keep holding back kids with aug and even early summer birthdays and I think that is just crazy. Up to 5 Months before the cut off date. In my mind that is just crazy. I do feel for your DD when it comes to a mater of days. That has to be hard. It still boggles my mind to think of summer birthdays as questionable ones.

My DD went to a catholic school for preschool and puplic for K. The only child she knew going into the class was the older boy whom she was friendly with his little sister (they had mutual friends.) She was in dance with is little sister too (DD was the oldest, this girl the youngest.) I think this made it even worse that this boy felt he was in the class with girls that in his eyes were is little sisters age group. Of course he has always had tendencies to be a bully towards the girls in the neighborhood (he once told DD when she was 2 girls couldn't play hockey at a party and she has never forgiven him for that. Not that she wants to play it.)

 

[MommySiobhan]

My dd (5.5) just completed Kindergarten.
She has an August Birthday so had just turned 5 prior to starting school in September. (In MI the Cutoff date is Dec 1st).

She has done wonderfully, despite being one of the youngest in her class.
She is reading and writing and doing math. Her teacher said she reads ahead of her grade level, so she did just fine.

We did do a year of preschool before Kindergarten which I do believe prepared her in other area's.
She was able to write her name, knew her shapes, numbers etc before she went into Preschool at 4.

My just turned 4 year old has a MArch birthday so he will be one of the older kids in his class and then my 3rd child has a late Summer birthday (August 31st). I will definately hope that he will be ready to go but we will judge that as the time comes. He'll be starting preschool this september and will also attend the following sept.

I really truly think this depends on the child.
Best of luck.

I am so glad that we do not have the August 1st cutoff that someone described. I can't imagine my dd not have been in Kindergarten yet. She just finished and has an Aug 9th b'day.

 

[Becky2005]

I can not believe in some states children can start kindergarten being only 4. ....Children here are not allowed to enter kindergarten until they are 5. Then if your summer child doesn't start on time they are not that far ahead age wise.

Not quite true. A child could be 4 entering Kindergarten in Illinois. The cut-off is 5 by Sept. 1. Our school starts before Sept. 1 so technically, if your birthday is anywhere from August 20-Sept. 1, you could start school and only be 4. I think that's where they get the starting Kindergarten at 4, an older 4 but still 4. It all depends on the cut-off date.

If the cut-off date is December, they could start school in Aug/Sept. at 4 (with turning 5 by December).

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

Our cut-off is October 1st.

My daughter's birthday is July 22. We weren't sure if we should send her, we did a year of private kindergarten and then we were trying to decide if we should put her into public kindergarten or 1st grade. We put her into first grade.

She is going into 7th grade now. Academically she was ready for first grade. She has always been fine academically, but this year I noticed that most of her friends are always a year behind her. Socially she just isn't with the kids that are older than her. And yes, like other people have said there are a lot of kids that are a whole year older than her. So, even though she has straight A's, I think she would have done better (had a better school experience) if we had held her back.

My youngest son (our 5th) has a birthday of Sep 20. We just decided (and were accepted) into a 2 year multi-age kindergarten for young kindergarters that our district does. I think it will be the best fit for him.

Sandy

 

[pyrxtc]

I taught Pre-K and I have taught Kindergarten. I have noticed that children born in the summer months and start school "on time" seem to struggle more. I don't know if this is due to maturity or what. Understand that this is not a given. You know your child best.
Ask yourself:
Does your child know his letters and sounds, colors, and shapes?
Can he write his name?
Can your child recognize numbers to at least 10?
Can he sit attentively for at least 20 minutes at a time?
Is your child able to be away from you for extended periods of time?

These are just a few of the things we look for when deciding if a child is ready to move on to kindergarten. Ultimately, it is your decision.
Hope that helps.

I'm sorry! But sin't this the stuff they learn in Kinder??? Why do they need to know it before starting??? I know my DS just learned all of this last year wiht his class and I will be sending my other DS to school when his birthday is just days away from the cut-off. Not everyone chooses to send their kids to pre-K and they do just fine in Kinder.

 

[Pinnie]

I'm sorry! But sin't this the stuff they learn in Kinder??? Why do they need to know it before starting??? I know my DS just learned all of this last year wiht his class and I will be sending my other DS to school when his birthday is just days away from the cut-off. Not everyone chooses to send their kids to pre-K and they do just fine in Kinder.

Again, I believe it depends on the curriculum of the kindergarten and the benchmarks set by the state. Our district's kindergarten is a "literacy based" program. We hit on 3/4 letters a week at the beginning of the year and move very quickly so that by the time we are Benchmarking in November, the students should know the letters and sounds and have at least 15 words they know off the "word wall". They are also expected to know concepts of print, (reading left to right, drop down, follow along by pointing to words, know what an author and illustrator does, where to find the title/author on a cover of a book, etc) By the time the teachers Benchmark in January, the students are expected to "take dictation". That means a teacher reads a 10 - 15 word sentence and the students write what they hear.

Expectations are different in every state and even in districts within the state. That is why you can't make a blanket statement that EVERY child should go to kindergarten at the same time.

Research has shown us that countries like the Netherlands don't start even teaching reading until the age of 7 because they feel that the eye muscles haven't fully developed. If you look at their remedial issues, you can see that they have very few! Yet here in the USA have tons of kids in remedial reading classes.

pinnie

 

[akmom]

Wow, that is a really early cut off date. My DD's B day is aug 3rd, she would miss out on that. I think that is the earliest one I am aware of.

It is a really early date, but actually, it used to be July 1st! They talked about moving it to September 1st and we were so hoping they would, but it didn't happen.

 

[1of6]

It is a really early date, but actually, it used to be July 1st! They talked about moving it to September 1st and we were so hoping they would, but it didn't happen.

I wish they were all Sept. 1. I think that would help level it out more. Here in Mich., holding fall birthdays is the norm. It has started to creep to the summer ones but in other states the summer b-days are the ones held and now they have moved back to the spring ones.

DS10 had a boy in his class this year that was a held spring birthday from a state with an early cut-off. He was over a year and a half older than DS. It can get a little crazy for kids that move from state to state.

 

[auntie]

I really dislike that term "hold back" as if you are witholding something..while in fact you may be "giving" something... "the gift of time". Very precious.

I also feel that whether to give them more time..or to enroll by your districts cut off date can depend to some extent on not only the age of the child, but whether the program is a full or half day. Even whether there is a long bus ride for the child to reach school. My sisters children spend 45 minutes on a bus...that's a long time for a 4 almost 5 year old to attend a full day of school. Many times kids are sleeping on the bus on the way home. My neice is a late October birthday, and there was no way she was socially or emotionally ready for such a long day. It's such an individual decision and there really is no right or wrong..it's what's best for each individual child. I would not want to see states stepping in and forcing parents to comply with an arbitrary date. That is really putting the nose of government into a private decision.
I mentioned earlier that we've had three kids and done it both ways(started on time with two..and waited with one)...so we've kind of seen both sides of this. We've made a choice to start at the cut off with a late birthday..and regretted it. However our daughter came along and she started without delay..worked out fine. We knew the signs when the third one came ..and new to trust our gut. He was given "the gift of time"...have never regretted it for one moment.
I for one have never met a parent who didn't agonize over the decision. If they did decide to wait it certainly has never been so that their child has an "edge" or so they are bigger for sports. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I'd like to think for the most part when a parent makes that choice it's really what they believe is the best interests of their child.

 

[Tink561]

All three of my sons are summer babies... July and two in August. Our cut-off is September 1 so they were barely 5 when they went to K.

No problems.

 

[joeysmommy]

My son turned 5 in September and we started him in Kindergarten on time.
He finished out the school year with very high marks on his report card.
His teacher said he is advanced in all areas, but his handwriting needs work this Summer. She said for the younger Kindergarteners this is often a muscle control issue which improves after they turn 6.

He was in preschool right after he turned 2, I'm sure this did not hurt.
I know it definitely helped him out with learning how to get along with others.
He is friends with everyone.. even the girls!
My son is a very sweet soul and mature for a 5 yr old. I knew he would be fine starting Kindergarten on time. My younger son however, is a totally different story. He is also a September baby but we may need to wait on starting him.

 

[darlak]

Two of my four kids had late birthdays. My son's birthday is 8/14. I had been a SAHM for all of his preschool years. We sent him to kindergarten on time. He struggled all year and finished the year doing only slightly better than the three classmates who spoke English as a second language. The school felt he was ready to go on to the first grade. I knew he was smarter than his work reflected. One of my biggest concerns was that he might later need to be retained in a grade. I decided that if he needed that extra year, I wanted it to be then instead of later. We told him that some kids went to kindergarten once and some kids went twice. He accepted it easily enough, especially since he knew that most of his classmates had been in K-4 before he met them in K-5. By the third grade, he was placed in a gifted ed. contained classroom for most of the day. I still believe I did the right thing. He will now tell you that I should have just let him go on to the first grade. (He's 22 now.)

My middle daughter also has a late birthday; 9/1. I felt that she was much more mature at 5 than my son had been, as were all 3 of my daughters. She flourished in kindergarten. She is also much more social and outgoing than my son. She is a very bright child, but academically, has to work much harder than my son for the same results. I believe that difference was the maturity level of the 2 children. As others have said, each child is different. You are the best judge of their readiness for kindergarten.

 

[tinaluis]

My youngest and oldest DDs started K when they had just turned 5. They both did very well. My middle DD did not make the September 1st cutoff and our school system didn't allow testing so she could attend. She just completed 2nd grade and she is so far ahead of her class that her teacher lobbied the school administration to double-promote her but they didn't. We do as much as possible at home to supplement her learning because she's just plain bored in school. I'm afraid she may turn into a discipline problem at school as she gets older.

 

[Clancycat]

My older dd has a late August b-day and made the kindergarden deadline by 8 days. After speaking to her preschool teacher, we decided to send her rather than waiting another year. Surprisingly, there was even another kid who was a few days younger than dd.

She did very well and I know we made the right decision. She would have been way too bored if she'd had to another year of preschool. She'll be starting 2nd grade come Sept.

She is the smallest kid in the class but so far that hasn't bothered her. Both of my dds are very petite and she'd be one of the smallest even if we'd waited a year (in preschool when was with kids her age, she was the always the smallest).

She is slightly less emotionally/socially mature than some of the other kids in her class but again, that hasn't been a problem either.

 

[madge]

I can not believe in some states children can start kindergarten being only 4. That does make for a big age difference. Your state should set better regulations so their is not such a huge age difference. Children here are not allowed to enter kindergarten until they are 5. Then if your summer child doesn't start on time they are not that far ahead age wise.

There was a child in my son's kindergarten class that did not turn five until September 29 (2 days before the cut-off date). School started in early August, so she was 4 for the first 6-7 weeks of school. From what I understand, in this case, it was a matter of mom didn't want to pay for day care anymore. The child could go to school, so she sent the child to school. That child repeated kindergarten.

The cut-off in Kentucky is October 1. Our first day of school this year is August 2, nearly 2 full months prior to that date.

My DD was born at 11:15pm on October 1 - 45 minutes later, and she wouldn't be eligible for kindergarten. LOL.. Made my decision to wait all that much easier She'll start K in August as a 5 year old, and turn 6 almost 2 months later. I have no idea whether she'll be the oldest in her class or not. That wasn't important to me.

 

[twinspluscade]

There was a child in my son's kindergarten class that did not turn five until September 29 (2 days before the cut-off date). School started in early August, so she was 4 for the first 6-7 weeks of school. From what I understand, in this case, it was a matter of mom didn't want to pay for day care anymore. The child could go to school, so she sent the child to school. That child repeated kindergarten.

We have A LOT of issues like that around here, parents sending kids to Kindy even if they've been advised not to just so they don't have to pay daycare anymore. I admit it would be tempting; daycare costs around here are unreal, and many people have two or more kids. It adds up fast! My son is starting pre-school in September, and there are several parents who have signed their kids up even though they aren't even potty trained yet--they want to push them ahead so they don't have to pay the "extra" year of daycare.

 

[jodifla]

Fla. has a Sept. 1 cutoff. What influenced my thinking was two friends, who both started their boys in K on time with summer birthdays. They were eager to get their kids into K, and to avoid some of the childcare costs.

Both children had to repeat 1st grade. They simply weren't ready.

So much of the problem is our own making. Kindergarten is no longer kindergarten. We set many children up for failure by demanding they read by the age of 4 or 5, when studies show 6 is the age most kids are ready to read.

The varying cutoffs are a problem. My son was born on the cutoff date in our current school system...if he'd been born 4 hours later, he wouldn't be eligible for K. In the system we moved from, he would have been 3 months away from the start time....nowhere close to being eligible.

I think most parents in my area are just trying to make sure that their kids don't get trampled by the demands of NCLB. They aren't trying to make their kids look "brilliant" or have them be sports stars.

 

[scouthawkk]

My DD is 4, our cutoff date is August 1. She turns 5 August 16th. Unfortunately she cannot begin K this fall. She will be 6 when she goes. At pre-school/daycare all her friends who are going to Kindergarten are now in a different classroom than she is. I just hate seeing her seperated from all her little friends she has been at daycare with since she was 6 weeks old! I know she'll make new friends. I just hope she interacts well with these kids who are younger than her. She is definitely ready for school, but she'll have to wait one more year.

Have you looked into Indiana's appeal process for early entrance? http://www.doe.state.in.us/super/2007/02-February/020207/kdg-memo.html

I had the same issue with DS (posted earlier in this thread). Our cut off is Sept. 1...he turns 5 Sept. 12. I took him for testing on Tuesday. Did very well. The average test results for the assessment is 75-84%. DS HAD to score at least 90% in each area to be able to start. Got a 98% in reading, and a 99.6% each in spelling and math. Needless to say, as of August 20th, we have a kindergartener in our home.

If you and her teachers feel your DD really is ready, maybe it's not too late for you to look into Indiana's early entrance assessment option? If you think she's ready (as we did with DS) it might be worth looking into for the 15 day difference...

 

[akmom]

Have you looked into Indiana's appeal process for early entrance? http://www.doe.state.in.us/super/2007/02-February/020207/kdg-memo.html

I had the same issue with DS (posted earlier in this thread). Our cut off is Sept. 1...he turns 5 Sept. 12. I took him for testing on Tuesday. Did very well. The average test results for the assessment is 75-84%. DS HAD to score at least 90% in each area to be able to start. Got a 98% in reading, and a 99.6% each in spelling and math. Needless to say, as of August 20th, we have a kindergartener in our home.

If you and her teachers feel your DD really is ready, maybe it's not too late for you to look into Indiana's early entrance assessment option? If you think she's ready (as we did with DS) it might be worth looking into for the 15 day difference...

That's great you were able to get your DS tested and he will start school this year! How exciting. We did check into our early entrance requirements. In our school district their only procedure is, "if there is extra room". Well, needless to say, there isn't extra room this year since our schools are now offering full day kindergarten. I am now in the process of contacting a private school here in town. Fingers crossed.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

My younger dd's birthday is September 10th. She went to kindergarten right on time so actually she started school at age 4 and turned 5 a week later (school here starts after Labor Day.)

She was ready to start and is doing excellently academically. She just finished 3rd grade and got mostly As. She does have some issues with staying on task, but they are not age issues -- she has always been a "wanderer." Sometimes I think she is bored. She used to be very chatty but that was not an age issue -- her older sister was the same way and she is a March birthday.

We have a neighbor who had a boy a couple of weeks before I had my youngest. She put him in kindergarten too but he wasn't ready academically. At the end of the year he wasnt reading at all yet -- most of the other kids were. He repeated kindergarten and now is doing fine.

I will tell you this funny aside -- I sent my younger dd to preschool starting with a class called "the 2's" it met twice a week for a couple of hours. She had the same teacher my older 1 had. I go in for conferences and the teacher says to me that she does not think that my daughter is ready to move into the 3's next year. Mind you, this is November or December. She recommended that I put her in 2 plus the following year and see how she does. But I objected because then either she has to skip the 3's and go right to the 4's or she has to go to 2's plus, then 3's then 4's and then she will be behind for kindergarten. She was baseing this on my daughter not wanting to participate in some class projects -- the class was very loose and not everyone participated in everything that went on. I think she was comparing her to my older daughter who loved doing art projects and was always the first to join in.

I left the conference so upset and confused. A few days later I saw the 3/s teacher who had the classroom next door (the best teacher in the school). She had had my older 1 in the 3's. I asked her her opinion and she told me that it was much to early to think about it and to wait and see how she was doing later in the school year. So I did -- and sure enough the 2's teacher told me later in the year that my daughter was fine and definitely ready for the 3's. I was so happy I hadn't made any plans to change her schedule. But the teacher telling me where my kid should be so early in the school year did tick me off.