How do you know if your child is ready for Kindergarden?

[marieNJkitty]

My DS will turn 5 this November. Our cut off date for Kindergarden is December 1. He goes to preschool 1 day a week right now and loves it. What does he need to know before starting Kindergarden? He seems so young to me, but he makes the cut off age by a few days. He is my oldest and I am new to all of this. How do I know if he is ready? Thank you for any input!

 

[mjkacmom]

Our schools ask (don't require) the children know shapes, colors, numbers (counting to 20), upper and lower case letters, and be able to write them, write their phone numbers and address, and spell their first name, with the first letter capitalized. Also, common sense classroom behavior - staying seated, raising hand, etc.

 

[princessmom29]

If he goes to school and loves it I think that is your surest sign he is ready, but really almost all children are by 5. That is why the age cutoffs are there. It is the age at which you can expect that the vast majority of children are ready for K. I just don't get the whole idea of holding a kid back because they are "not ready".

 

[TxRabbit]

Didn't have the same issue with my DS because he's a January baby...but I would just caution you about some outside factors when making this decision. If you care...you may not, that's fine, but I just bring this up for consideration...

You live in a state with a LATE cut off date IMO. In Texas, we work with August or September as the cut off. Maybe you are good to go with your state and not thinking of moving anytime soon, but if you did move, your child would easily be over one year younger than others in their grade. I'm not going to say everyone does, but in my experience, most boys that are born from late May to the cutoff date are held back. Reasons vary, maturity, size, hopeful sizing for sports in highschool/college, etc., whatever, doesn't matter, just saying what I experience as the norm. My January baby that I thought would be smack in the middle of his class is one of the later birthdays in it and he's one of the younger ones in there.

What is the norm in your state? Not that you have to follow the pack, but for the sake of relationships with peers, it sure helps to be along the same development level as your peers...think P.E., think driving, think dating, think age going off to college.

Personally, I think that kindergarten readiness can also be measured with emotional maturity. My DS wouldn't have been ready at 4 to start kindergarten. School is way different than it used to be. He had homework in Kindergarten! Let the stress begin! If you can, I would definitely do one of the tours or open houses that the schools around here do (if you have that) and check out what a day in the life of your school is like. I know that my DS couldn't have eaten his lunch fast enough at that age to get through the school day.

There's a lot more to consider in readiness than sheer "what do they need to know" readiness. I wish you well in making your decision. It's so hard to know the right thing to do for our kids sometimes! I know you just want to do the best by him.

 

[ccgirl]

I sent my DD to a private school for all day kindergarten. She had been in full day daycare mixed with preschool for years before though. She is one of the older ones in her class and turned 6 two months after starting. 3 boys were kept back in kindergarten with August/September birthdays. A girl with an August birthday may be kept back in the first grade. It is a private school so I'm not sure if that matters. IMHO if your kindergarten is full day going from 1 day of preschool to 5 days of kindergarten is a huge change. Sometimes, if you have to ask they are not ready. Just my two cents.

 

[monkey30]

take your ques from your child, and if he starts and is struggling there is no harm in taking him out and going next year. kkep up with the things he needs to know.

Just to put it in perspective, my almost 5yr old starts kindergarden this fall, and he know shapes colors, name (and how to write it) the alphabet (but can't write it all) and can count to 20, the rest they will work on in school, I work with him when he asks but its not something I am pushing as I want it to be positive.

 

[monkey30]

OH and something else I was going to say don't let ages rule what u are going to do, my oldest is one of the youngest in his class and is at the top of his class. its maturity more then age.

 

[starsweeper]

The fact that he enjoys school is a good sign. I have two 3-year-olds and we were in quite a dilemma deciding what to do for a pre-K and Kindergarten recently. My DS (42 months) will be 5 in Aug 2011 but is less interested in preschool and too immature in my opinion, whereas my DD (39 months) will be 5 in Nov 2011 and is very interested in preschool and much more mature than her age. Our cut-off is Nov 1, so DS makes it but DD misses it by a few days. We finally decided we will hold DS back to start pre-K in 2011 with DD.

We plan to enroll them in a local preK-8th Catholic school. After looking at what their students are doing in pre-K and K, I knew DS would not be ready for pre-K this fall. I think you need to contact the school you plan to attend and ask for a curriculum for their K students. Spend some time assessing whether your DS has some of the skills needed to succeed, his maturity level, how he deals with other children, etc. You may even want to ask the opinion of the staff at the school. Boys, in general, tend to be less mature and not as successful if they are one of the younger students. Of course, there are exceptions, and your son may be one of those.

Also, never forget this is just Kindergarten. If you do enroll him and he struggles, you can always have him repeat K. You may even prepare him for repeating so it's not a surprise if needed. My mom had my brother repeat K because he was immature and not ready for 1st as a 6-year-old.

 

[melifeld]

I agree with what most of the PPs have said. But keep this in mind, as well. If your child is ready, there are some real benefits to being one of the youngest in the class. Learning from children who are slightly older, for example.

 

[woodkins]

I live in NY & we have a Dec 1st cutoff-must be 5 by then to start K. That being said most children here have been attending full time or at least 3 days per week Pre-k since age 2 or 3 so not many people hold their kids back. Can you possibly up the number of days of preschool to see if he is able to handle more frequent schooling?

 

[zoemurr]

Our schools ask (don't require) the children know shapes, colors, numbers (counting to 20), upper and lower case letters, and be able to write them, write their phone numbers and address, and spell their first name, with the first letter capitalized. Also, common sense classroom behavior - staying seated, raising hand, etc.

and that's about what we hope they leave with.. as well as the pledge, calendar awareness, and some phonics.

But I would ask around about what is standard practice where you live. Our cutoff is Dec 1 also. Very, very few people send their kids (especially boys) with Sept-Nov birthdays. My son is July and was ready. Then I sent him and found out that there was only one kid in his class that was younger. I couldn't believe it.. and I hate that so many people do it just because they can. The cutoff is there for a reason and should only be altered if the child is truely not ready.

Anyway, I would find a few parents with K kids to talk to and see if you can look at a class list to see what the trend is in your area. There very well may be a huge number of kids that will be a full year older.

 

[TxRabbit]

I agree with what most of the PPs have said. But keep this in mind, as well. If your child is ready, there are some real benefits to being one of the youngest in the class. Learning from children who are slightly older, for example.

This works both ways...LOL.

 

[shelly3girls]

I would talk to the preschool teacher. She sees him in a classroom setting interacting with other kids so she may be able to tell you best if he is ready.

I personally would not send my DS if he just made the cut-off especially one as late as yours. Our cut-off is 9/30 but most schools are 9/1. Right or wrong most parents hold back Jul-Sept birthdays especially boys. One thing I would consider is activities. What are the sports cut-offs? I know it sounds ridiculous but why push him into K if he will be on the same teams as the kids a grade lower. Our sports and activities cut-off is 7/30 so many people use that as a guide so their child goes to school and play with the same kids. Clearly I would not use that as a deciding factor but if I was really torn it would help me make a decision.

 

[princessmom29]

I would talk to the preschool teacher. She sees him in a classroom setting interacting with other kids so she may be able to tell you best if he is ready.

I personally would not send my DS if he just made the cut-off especially one as late as yours. Our cut-off is 9/30 but most schools are 9/1. Right or wrong most parents hold back Jul-Sept birthdays especially boys. One thing I would consider is activities. What are the sports cut-offs? I know it sounds ridiculous but why push him into K if he will be on the same teams as the kids a grade lower. Our sports and activities cut-off is 7/30 so many people use that as a guide so their child goes to school and play with the same kids. Clearly I would not use that as a deciding factor but if I was really torn it would help me make a decision.

Wow!! How unfair is that to all the other kids on the team?? Talk about unfair advantage!

 

[shelly3girls]

Wow!! How unfair is that to all the other kids on the team?? Talk about unfair advantage!

Why is it unfair? My DS is born 6/14 so he will be the youngest on almost every team he plays. Kids born in August just get lucky and are the oldest. If there is going to be a cut off someone is always going to be the oldest and someone is going to be the youngest. Being in 4th grade vs 5th doesn't make you a better soccer player. Either way you are still 10.

 

[princessmom29]

Why is it unfair? My DS is born 6/14 so he will be the youngest on almost every team he plays. Kids born in August just get lucky and are the oldest. If there is going to be a cut off someone is always going to be the oldest and someone is going to be the youngest. Being in 4th grade vs 5th doesn't make you a better soccer player. Either way you are still 10.

I read it the other way. As if you were purposely keeping him back a grade so he would be the oldest on the team to give him an advantage. Around here school based sports teams are seperated by grade so a child that is held back in K will always be older/bigger/stronger than the kids he plays with or against.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Hi there--this is a really tough decision. We went through the same thing last year with our son, who turned 5 on May 31 (our school's cut-off is Sept 1). Although our son was meeting the academic milestones, he was way behind his peers socially, emotionally, and physically (5th percentile for height). Also, we adopted him at age 3 and he had to learn English as his second language. His Pre-K teacher gave us feedback that he could not sit still like his peers and had a very low attention span. We felt like we would be setting him up for a bad school experience if we had pushed him to enter kindergarten. So this year we had him repeat Pre-K and he is doing much better and seems more even with his peers. No regrets.

 

[shelly3girls]

I read it the other way. As if you were purposely keeping him back a grade so he would be the oldest on the team to give him an advantage. Around here school based sports teams are seperated by grade so a child that is held back in K will always be older/bigger/stronger than the kids he plays with or against.

Oh, I see what you mean. Around here activities go by age not grade even non-sports. If you are a Sept birthday you are in activities with the kids in a lower grade unless you start school late. This gives people more incentive to hold back the late summer/early fall kids. I really can't blame parents for doing it.

 

[mamaLori05]

My dd will be going to K in the fall. Our cut off is Sept. 1st. We have our K orientation this coming Friday and they will be testing the children on the following:
-Counting to 20
-Recognizing #'s 0-20
-Recognizing lower case and uppercase letters, as well as being able to write them
-Showing them a small list of words to see if they can read any of them (list is not given out ahead of time)
-knowing phone # and address and being able to write their full name
-They will also watch them in group settings to see how they interact.

All of this will take place in the Kindergarten rooms while the parents are in different rooms listening to the principal explain registration info. Then later the teachers are going to come and talk to the parents individually on how their child did.

A little background info, 90% of the children can do all of the above (except for maybe reading the words) by the time they enter K in our district. MOST of the children are in at least a 3 day 4k program.

 

[MinnieGi]

Our cut-off here is Aug. 31st and we didn't send DS even though he turned 5 a few days before and could have made the cut-off. We know of many other families who have made the same decision for various reasons. For us we have full-day K and I know my DS and he is an active & very social kid who would have been miserable in a full day classroom setting this year. He goes to Pre-K 5 mornings a week till 12:30 and in the afternoon he usually has an activity, gymnastics, karate, playgroup, swimming. I like that this extra year has also given him more maturity. His weak area of fine motor skills has also made huge strides this year which I'm very excited about. He excels at math and reads a little. I'm so glad we waited the year.

OP, I told you our decision just to give you some food for thought on an option you may consider. Also consider school is more demanding on kids nowadays. The K curriculum is much more like the first grade curriculum that we parents experienced.