Are children sent to kindergarten at 5 or older in your community?

[OceanAnnie]

Just a question. This is not meant to be a debate. I'm just curious about the minimum age of children starting kindergarten in your community, either when your child started kindergarten or currently. It seems like 5 1/2 is the minimum age (parental choice) for kindergarten in my community. What is the minimum age in your community?

 

[castleview]

In my state, you have to five by December 31st of the year you start kindergarten. While some kids go, many hold their children out voluntarily and many of them screen into the readiness program (done with preschool, not quite ready for kindergarten).

My own opinion is that you should be five by the time you start kindergarten but that's just me.

 

[Allison]

State law is 5 by September 15 of the current school year.

 

[ljhmom]

In Texas you have to turn 5 before September 1st to start kindergarten.

 

[_queenie_]

School typically starts in the last week of August here in New England (used to be after Labor Day but the changed it so they could add a few extra Teacher's Workshops, they still get out at the same time ) and the cutt off date is 10/1. DS17 was 5 years 8 months, DD13 was 5 years two months and so will DD3.5. To start K in most of the private schools around here you have to be 5 before July 1 so DD13 wouldn't have made it (the big reason why we chose public school). A lot of people hold their kids back but a lot don't.

 

[wardfamily1]

5 by Nov 1st around here in the Metro Detroit area.

 

[OceanAnnie]

It's state law for a child to turn 5 by Sept. something or another in my state too. I was wondering if children were actually starting in your communities at 5 or older per parental choice. The minimum in my community is 5 1/2 but more often than not the children start kindergarten at 6.

 

[Allison]

Most go the year they are eligible. We do kindergarten roundup and some kids are recommended to go to optional kindergarten instead of actually starting school. So those kids will be starting a year behind when they could have but it's because they didn't seem to be ready for some reason-usually it would be based on maturity. It usually ends up being children who have summer birthdays and would be young for the class. I have several friends who have taken advantage of this option and it worked out great for their kids. In hindsight, I wish I would have done it for my oldest child.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Dec.1st is the cutoff here in NY.

 

[Mkaz]

Most parents here send their childrent at age 5. The only ones that I have seen start at around 5 1/2 are the one that miss the cut off date. My son was a January baby so he didn't start until he was 5 years 8 months.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Most go if they are old enough per the state - 5 by Sept 1st. A few will hold them back another year if they aren't socially ready but most don't.

 

[Liberty Belle]

You have to be 5 by the end of October here. Quite a few four year olds start kindergarten. My son will be 6 on November 20th, so he won't start until he's almost 6.

 

[undercovermom]

Dec.1st is the cutoff here in NY.

December 31st cutoff date in my school district on Long Island.

My older dd, now 17, has a November birthday, and was two months shy of her 5th birthday when she started school. At the time I was concerned, but her preschool teacher assured me she was ready for school. The November birthday made her among the youngest in her class, but for the most part her age hasn't been an issue. Her current complaint is that she won't turn 18 until after Election Day, so I guess everything is fine.

The kids in the class of 2008 ...well, there's a wide range of ages. One of dd's friends celebrates her birthday in January, she's almost a full year older than dd. And there's a boy in the class whose birthday is in December, and his parents held him back from kindergarten, so he's closer in age to dd's friend than to dd.

In hindsight, I think it's the individual child's maturity, not their chronilogical age, that made a difference. The handful of kids who were a bit older when they started school had a slight advantage in elementary school, but looking at them in high school...you can't tell who was older and who was younger when they started school.

 

[monorailsilver]

My ds will be 4 when he goes.

Our cut off date in CT is December 31st.

He will turn 5 in September.

 

[LadyBears]

Here kids must be 5 by August 31. Most kids start when they are eligible. We start school the beginning of September - usually the Thurdsay after labor day.

 

[OceanAnnie]

December 31st cutoff date in my school district on Long Island.

My older dd, now 17, has a November birthday, and was two months shy of her 5th birthday when she started school. At the time I was concerned, but her preschool teacher assured me she was ready for school. The November birthday made her among the youngest in her class, but for the most part her age hasn't been an issue. Her current complaint is that she won't turn 18 until after Election Day, so I guess everything is fine.

The kids in the class of 2008 ...well, there's a wide range of ages. One of dd's friends celebrates her birthday in January, she's almost a full year older than dd. And there's a boy in the class whose birthday is in December, and his parents held him back from kindergarten, so he's closer in age to dd's friend than to dd.

In hindsight, I think it's the individual child's maturity, not their chronilogical age, that made a difference. The handful of kids who were a bit older when they started school had a slight advantage in elementary school, but looking at them in high school...you can't tell who was older and who was younger when they started school.

There was a wide range of ages in my oldest child's kindergarten class. There were a few 5s to almost 7 year olds. I was kind of surprised.

 

[lemondog]

Public schools here require students be 5 by Sept. 30th, although they are thinking of moving it back to August 30th.

Private schools, OTOH, have gotten awful. Most of them don't even want to SEE the kid's application until they are 6. As a result, many children in private schools are nearly 7 when they start kindergarten. Especially boys. My DD attends one of the few remaining private schools that actually looks at the CHILD and not the birthdate. So she started kindergarten exactly 1 month after she turned 5 (July birthday). She is now in 1st grade, but she is over a year younger than many of her classmates, and there are many kindergartners at her school that are actually older than her.

If I had to do it all over again, I would probably hold her back, simply so she would be in a class with her own age group. It's crazy!

 

[minniebeth]

Hmm...by parent choice mostly, pre-K around here seems to be the standard, pushing back the age for entering Kindergarten for MANY children around here to 6, some even older.
Most won't say it, but many believe it's a sports thing....

 

[luv2nascar]

here they have to be 5 by first day of school end of August. I did not hold my kids back June and July birthdays.

 

[undercovermom]

In New York, school attendance is compulsory at age 6 (in some states it's age 7). so you may find a few six year olds in kindergarten, but you're not likely to find kids that are very close to being 7.

Universal pre-k for 4 year olds is becoming popular in NY now. It's specificlly designed for 4 year olds. it encourages parents to not hold their kids back from kindergarten.