Jon and Kate Plus 8 Official Thread - Part 5

[ksjayhawks]

As to school--their chronological age may be 5, but their developmental age may not. Since they were born early, their birthday should have been what, early July?

I see nothing wrong in erring on the side of holding them back. I teach junior high and high school students and I have never had a parent--or friend/acquantance, for that matter--say to me "I wish I had started Junior earlier." However, I have lost count of those who have said, "We should have held him back!"

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Where is everyone getting this info. that Kate is holding them back from Kindergarten? I don't recall reading it but of course that doesn't mean anything!

I've known parents who've held their child back (due to being so close to the cut-off) and been very glad they did. Some kids just aren't ready.

Good point too, that the tups would've been born in July had they been full term. They were in pre-K last year, right? Perhaps their teacher suggested they repeat it rather than start Kindergarten. We have no idea why. It's J&K's decision ultimately and if they feel it's best than that's fine. I'm not so quick to assume it's because they want to film. If that were true, then why did Kate put them in pre-K last year? If filming was the true reason, she'd have kept them home so as to do more episodes don't you think?

 

[Buckalew11]

He said he has never seen a kid hurt by staying out a year, he has seen plenty not do well when started too early.

Amen.

My dd was born in Feb. and she started when she was 5 1/2. BUT the majority of kids in her class were older than her! Several friends turned 7 in MARCH of kindergarten! It was quite shocking to me as I was also born in Feb. and was always one of the oldest kids in my class.

If I were Kate, I would NOT be starting them this year either.

One, because they were premature and supposed to be born in the summer. And two, because of the divorce. They have enough change happening in their lives w/o sending them to K right now. I think, if she is holding them back, it is a very wise decision. I doubt it has as much to do with the TV show as people would like.

I agree with the doctor--I have never known anyone to regret holding a child out but I have seen MANY people regret not holding them back.
That said, both my sisters were August and Sept. babies and not held back and did fine all through school. The Sept. baby had a 4.0 all through school and college too. It certainly didn't hurt her to send her on.

 

[barkley]

since kindergarten is being discussed i'll just toss this out for consideration-

the gosselin's live in a state that, along with only the state i live in (washington), has both no requirement that children attend kindergarted AND the highest u.s. cumpulsory age for children to attend school/be enrolled in an education program.

the gosseline's can legaly hold off ever entering the sextuplets into any school program until they are 8 years old.

8 YEARS OLD and if you don't think parents for a variety of reasons and personal choices don't take advantage of this-think again. when we moved here my kids were in grades 4th and 6th. i initialy thought esp. with the boys "whoa-there must be something in the water-these 4th and 6th grade boys are BIG"-until i started hearing how old my kid's classmaters were. on average 2 years older than my kids and as much as 4! where my kids started (in our former state) kindergarten when they were between 5 and 6 (because of the bday cut-offs), they had classmates who did'nt start k until they were 8 and in some cases 9 years old

how can that happen??? some parents take tremendous advantage of the way laws are written-the law says a kid has to be in school (or a program) when they turn 8. well, here- if your kid turns 8 after august 31st you've missed the age cut-off. so some parents take full advantage and don't enroll until the following year. most enroll them straight into first grade but there's still a significant number that push to enroll their kids at 9 into kindergarten.
this is why my dd's registration paperwork for highschool contains a form geared for the sophmore and higher grade parents-it's specialy written for ALL those sophmores, juniors and seniors that are ALLREADY 18 at the begining of the school year and it outlines the special rules, procedures and laws the schools have to deal with when they have adults as students.

now i'm not saying that the gosselin's would choose to take advantage of the ways their laws are written, but people have posted that they wonder if a kindergarten decision might be based on filming demands. so i just wanted to show that what i think allot of us tend to think of as the "normal" or standard age for kids to enroll in k or first grade can be way off base depending on the accepted practices and laws of where you live in the u.s.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm really behind in watching, b/c we just had a hard time thinking of watching for a couple months. We have been huge fans of them and their family, and it has just broken our hearts (the part of our hearts dedicated to people we don't know and will never meet, LOL).

We watched the backyard campout episode last night, and both hubby and I cried off and on throughout. She seems SO much happier. She seems so much calmer. We feel so awful for the kids. I've said it many times before, but a lot of the stuff about them reminds us of us, down to the b'day of the 6 compared to DS's b'day. Watching the littles goof around reminds us of watching DS, and we get sad knowing the rough times we've been through, and what might be happening if we hadn't gotten through it.

Even I, a major Kate apologist, noticed that if Jon had had the same problems with getting the fire started she would have been all over him. So if they were to find their way back to each other, I think that this experience will calm her down just a wee bit. On the other hand, she made a comment to one of the kids, about how yes they are providing enough smoke to the whole world, that if she had said it to Jon, people would have gone on about how mean she is, whereas to her son it's just a funny cute statement.

My hubby just cannot believe that Jon would willingly leave the family and those kids. Even if hubby and I separated, he would be here ALL the time to hang out with DS, and has a hard time understanding how Jon could go states away just to play with friends..

 

[kidshop]

Holding them back doesn't bother me, but were the twins held back as well? I don't know when their birthday is. I haven't watched in a long time, but I have heard others comment that at age 5 the twins were much more advanced...the way the spoke, their activities and their general demeanor seemed much more age appropriate. I hope they are getting specialized help if they need it.

 

[bumbershoot]

As for sending them off to K, who cares? It's not like the kids are living in a no-learning vacuum. My son craves learning and has a goal of learning to read this year, even without "going" to preschool. We'll start K work this year b/c he wants to, but if he hadn't been asking for something official, we would have just continued on like I had planned, just learning somewhat passively. Preschool and K were created as a place to put kids while parents are at work, and also to make sure that the kids without parents who might teach them don't fall through the cracks, so when you have an involved, present parent who doesn't NEED them to be taught by someone else, those things aren't really important. (my mom sent us b/c she was working a gazillion hours a day, otherwise we probably wouldn't have been sent to Montessori, for instance)

In looking at the "things K teaches" lists, DS is already doing probably half them (of course, lists do differ, which is cracking me up), and I'm sure that the G6 are at least on the same level as DS, if not beyond (especially the girls).

In addition, if they don't go to K this year, they might not even DO K! They might just go straight to 1st, since K isn't a necessity. I didn't do official K (though I was on Montessori), just went straight to 1st and did fine academically. I am an Oct b'day and was the second youngest in my class until HS, so socially-with-other-children I was always been behind, but for school-school purposes that didn't much matter.


Since we homeschool and I don't feel like dealing with the district, I am SO thankful for the late WA age for compulsory schooling. Won't have to send in a letter to them for 3 more years. If I were sending DS to school, I might wait to deal with the nonsense until 8, too, teaching him at home and putting him into the grade that he fits at that time. I wouldn't be just starting him off at 8 in K (and it's WEIRD to me that there seem to be people doing that???).


Last thought...my half brother repeated K b/c he was socially well behind the other kids. He has a Sept b'day (as do his full brother and sister...they were all born the same week in September, though very different years) and holding him back helped him socially, as well as taking one of the youngest and making him one of the oldest, which helped him by the time he got to HS with driving etc. His other full sibs did just fine, no needing to be held back, so it wasn't just the age, it was just his personality.

Anyway, taking out peoples' concerns about possible money-related reasons, there are plenty of reasons to either not send a kid (with present, involved, reasonably intelligent parents) to K at all, or to just delay it...

 

[GeorgiaPeach8]

I didn't realize Pennsylvania had not expanded their pre-school and kindergarten programs. I disagree with pp that kindergarten is a place to warhouse kids while their parents work. My DD had a very enriching kindergarten experience and was franking bored to death in daycare. I think a formalize school setting really does provide kids with structure and routine. My DD learned more from "strangers" b/c she took it more seriously than when I work with her.

ITA pp that said the divorce is another reason she may not want to start them this year. What a double whammy that would be. I'm pretty sure the pre-school they went to was only half a day. Remember Kate talking about trying to get out the door by mid-morning because it was pretty far away. She seems pretty serious about kids education. Although she has put a great deal of their lives on display, that aspect has been pretty quiet. She rarely talks about how the kids do at school or their school experiences. Also, she and Jon committed themselves to a long car ride so the tups could go to the same pre-school Mady and Cara went to b/c Kate said they had liked it so well.

 

[madge]

Do we know that they will not be in any school at all? Will they not be in pre-k again?

they're going to something called junior kindergarten. I have no idea what that means, exactly. we don't have that here. LOL

 

[madge]

Where is everyone getting this info. that Kate is holding them back from Kindergarten? I don't recall reading it but of course that doesn't mean anything!

It has been mentioned in interviews that the sextuplets will be attending junior kindergarten this year. I asked if it had been addressed on the show or in interviews why she was holding them out this year.

 

[redrosesix]

I'm really behind in watching, b/c we just had a hard time thinking of watching for a couple months. We have been huge fans of them and their family, and it has just broken our hearts (the part of our hearts dedicated to people we don't know and will never meet, LOL).

We watched the backyard campout episode last night, and both hubby and I cried off and on throughout. She seems SO much happier. She seems so much calmer. We feel so awful for the kids. I've said it many times before, but a lot of the stuff about them reminds us of us, down to the b'day of the 6 compared to DS's b'day. Watching the littles goof around reminds us of watching DS, and we get sad knowing the rough times we've been through, and what might be happening if we hadn't gotten through it.

Even I, a major Kate apologist, noticed that if Jon had had the same problems with getting the fire started she would have been all over him. So if they were to find their way back to each other, I think that this experience will calm her down just a wee bit. On the other hand, she made a comment to one of the kids, about how yes they are providing enough smoke to the whole world, that if she had said it to Jon, people would have gone on about how mean she is, whereas to her son it's just a funny cute statement.

My hubby just cannot believe that Jon would willingly leave the family and those kids. Even if hubby and I separated, he would be here ALL the time to hang out with DS, and has a hard time understanding how Jon could go states away just to play with friends..

Well, since the separation agreement apparently says that Jon cannot be at the house unless Kate gives permission AND is not there, I'm not sure it would make much difference where he leaves. And the fact remains that he is only leasing that condo, whereas Kate has purchased one even further away. JMHO, but they need to find a way to work together better for the sake of the kids -- hopefully they will in time. Some very interesting observations in the rest of your post.

Back to the school issue, just have to say that this is a very odd discussion for me to read because attending school here is not optional ie. if your child meets the cut-off date they must be enrolled -- if they're not ready for regular school, there are special schools, teachers' aides, etc to help them (but most families in this situation choose to enroll their kids in a developmental pre-school. So, all kids begin school at age 4 or 5 and must attend until they turn 16.

 

[madge]

ITA pp that said the divorce is another reason she may not want to start them this year.

it might be a reason now, but I'm pretty (not 100%) sure that it was established before the divorce that the children were not starting K this year.

I don't think it's a bad idea to wait a year. I did with all 3 of my kids.

 

[Mom2Nick]

they're going to something called junior kindergarten. I have no idea what that means, exactly. we don't have that here. LOL

IMO - It's pre-school with a fancy name attached to it so the kids don't have to feel like they are still babies. Basically pre-school for 5 year olds as opposed to pre-school for 3 year olds.

 

[madge]

IMO - It's pre-school with a fancy name attached to it so the kids don't have to feel like they are still babies. Basically pre-school for 5 year olds as opposed to pre-school for 3 year olds.

we have 3 year old preschool, 4 year old preschool, and pre-K. the pre-K class that I know of meets 5 days a week, for 3 hours a day. our public school kindergartens are all day. I'm not 100% sure that kindergarten is even required in the commonwealth of Kentucky. it used to be that a child starts school when they're six, period.

 

[whitneyNC]

The Gosselin kids not attending K this year seems like no big deal, unless its for the shows sake. I hope not. But, they were not born close to the public school cut off date in PA. They were 5 in May. In PA I understand that districts set their own age guidelines, but they can't require kids to be ANY older than 5 on the first day of school. Many allow 4 years and (blank) months to attend. Private schools in my experience have sometimes set older guidelines for kindergarten.

As the previous poster said in PA school is compulsary for ages 8-17. If a child enters school for the first time as a 7 or 8 year old, they are not placed in kindergarten. Thank goodness. What would they be 20 or 21 graduating and driving in 7th grade!

Crazy stuff, these birthday/ages/cutoff dates. It's turned Kindergarten into first grade, here anyway. Many kids are 6 1/2, 6 or close to it it when they start school. That's a huge difference from a 4 year and 10 month year old that can be in the same class.

The twins have an October b-day, so they are a little older for 3rd? grade right?

 

[GeorgiaPeach8]

we have 3 year old preschool, 4 year old preschool, and pre-K. the pre-K class that I know of meets 5 days a week, for 3 hours a day. our public school kindergartens are all day. I'm not 100% sure that kindergarten is even required in the commonwealth of Kentucky. it used to be that a child starts school when they're six, period.

It is now, actually since sometime in the late 1970s, maybe early 1980s. In the 1970s in KY schools had limited Kgarten. If kids didn't meet a certain basic skills test they could be enrolled in free, public Kgarten. Since at least the early 1980s, each district must provide some form of Kgarten but district in KY get to define what that will look like--could be 5 half days, 3 full days, all day...bascially it works into whatever the district can afford. Lots of KY districts looked at cutting full day kindergarten as one of the possible solutions to this years budget crunch.

Lots of private schools around the L-ville area are advertising a pre-school and a junior kindergarten as a seperate things. This year and last year were the first I've noticed that.

Is Kate going to be on Good Morning America or the Today show tomorrow?? DH said he caught the last bit of a promo but forgot to listen for channel.

 

[emer95]

As a teacher, I have to chime in on the discussion about holding the 6 back a year. I think it's a great idea and I'd be doing the same thing if they were my children. They were born prematurely, they had speech/language issues (at least, to my untrained ear), they are in a unique family situation (to say the least). To give them a year before formally starting school may be the smartest decision Jon and Kate have ever made for their kids.
I don't get the back and forth about this issue. Many, many parents make this decision, and as PP's have stated it is rarely, if ever, met with regret later in life. I can't tell you how many parents I've sat across from during conferences who have said to me, "We should have listened to his/her Pre-K teacher and waited a year." I've yet to hear ONE parent say "we really should have pushed him ahead a year."
They're doing the right thing here!

 

[eduk8r26]

I'm pretty sure she will be on the Today show. I remember Meredith Viera saying something about an interview with Kate.

 

[Buckalew11]

And it is live. So, she will be in NYC tomorrow.

 

[DreaGirl]

Jon't going to be on ENews on Monday night.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b138438_jon_gosselin_opening_up.html