Opinions on repeating Kindergarten

[JenDaveBrendan]

I am really thinking about having my DS repeat Kindergarten... he is a "young" kindergartener, having turned 5 last June.
This year has been kind of a whirlwind... we took him out of school for 2 weeks for vacation to WDW (I know, I know, shouldn't have done that...), he has been out of school all this week due to pneumonia, and we will be moving in mid-March from Mass. to N.Carolina, so he will be out at least a week- if not more -for that. Since he has been out so much, and the tremendous change and adjustment he will have to go through shortly, I was really considering having him repeat Kindergarten next year. Plus, he is in a half-day Kindergarten here, but in NC it is a full-day program.
There is no question in my mind that academically he could go to 1st grade with no problem, I am just more concerned with emotional/social issues.
I would love to hear opinions/advice on this!
Thank you!
Jen

 

[daisyduck123]

I would wait & ask his new teacher at the end of the year.
She should know him pretty well by then & will know if he'll be ready for 1st grade in your new state.

Good luck, BTW, with your move!

One of my best friends just moved there this year, is teaching Kindergarten there (after having taught it here for 18 years) & loves it!

 

[FreshTressa]

My son is one of the oldest second graders and I love it. It is so much easier on them to be the more mature one in the class than the babyish one. They will also be the ones to get to drive earlier and you even get to keep them home from college an extra year.

They will be taller, more competent etc. I think it really helps with confidence to be one of the smarter and more socially adept kids.

You can always skip later or something.

And I do agree...ask his teacher!

 

[MrsKreamer]

My dh was kept in Kindergarden another year for the same reasons. He's an Army brat and they had just moved back to the states. He wanted to play more than partciapate in "work". My MIL decided to keep him back a year. I think it helped him out in the long run. He has since been more mature in the rest of school.

 

[ILUVMYBRIT]

I would say ask the teacher his/her opinion, but you are the one that ulitmately knows your child best. My DS (now 12) should have repeated but didnt. By the time he reached 4th grade he was having problems. He passed 3rd with flying colors but emotionally was not ready to move on. When we moved over the summer that year, his dad, myself, his new principal, and he discussed repeating 3rd. He has done fabulously since and is an honor roll student.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I held my DS back in kindergarten. It was the best thing I ever did. He was not mature enough to go on. I have several teachers in the family and they all told me, when in doubt hold them back.

I was also told as one poster stated, it will catch up to them eventually. So in the upper grades, he may start to struggle and you'll have to hold him back then.

But I agree with the others, discuss it with the teacher.

 

[Snow_White]

Definitely wait for the end of the school year to make a final decision. To give you another perspective, when I was in school, I was one of the younger people in my class (I have a late December B-Day, but my parents did NOT hold me back) and I absolutely loved it. It's almost like you get an extra year or so of "life" since you'll be out of college/high school that much earlier (if you know what I mean). If my parents would have held me back in kindergarten, I would have definitely been disappointed about it later in life. I also went through a school district move in this time period, and wasn't adversely effected by it. Throughout my school years, I did quite well academically and just fine socially, so it didn't hurt me there. Of course, every person is different...I just thought I should speak up to give my experience.

 

[chris1gill]

If he's doing fine academically, don't even think about holding him back... Do you know the problems you have with a child that isn't challenged at school? I certainly do & it's not pretty If he's on track academically, there is no reason to hold him back. Having a birthday in June I don't think I'd consider being "young" for the grade... Now an August 20th birthday would be a different story...

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

Really depends on your child and how he's doing overall.

My DS has a birthday in late July, he was very immature at 5, and while he was very smart, he had trouble following along with what was happening in class. He did one year of K in the public school, then followed with another year of K at a different (Catholic) school where his older sister attended. He did much better after that, plus he was diagnosed with ADD a few years later, so that may have added to his problems.

He's 16-1/2 now, only a sophomore in HS but just getting his driver's license when most of the kids haven't turned 16 yet, and he has a part-time job at the movie theater. He's always loved movies and this has been a great confidence booster.

I think things turned out well for us, but it is a tough decision.

Good Luck.

 

[jenks0718]

My ds didnt repeat K, but missed cutoff by one day (his b-day is October 2nd) and had to wait another year to enroll. I will be the first to say that for our son it was a good thing this happened. He wasnt emotionally ready for the Big K yet. He is now one of the oldest and tallest in his class and he is doing awesome with his schoolwork. He is also getting challenging spelling words on top of the regular assignments because he is catching on so well. I am so proud of my little guy

 

[wenbel]

You may want to check to see if the school has a pre-school program where your son iscoming from a half day kindergarten that is the program that might more closely resemble what he has been doing. I say this as a former Kindergarten teacher that taught both a half day program and a full day program. As a parent I kept my son home an extra year (Sept. baby) and it was a very wise choice. He was ready for the academic side of school but not the social and I was going to be his kindergarten teacher. As a teacher and as a parent I would rather see my child on the older end than on the younger. I have seen many students struggle in school that were academically ready but not socially ready.

 

[kristen821]

I would wait a few months and see how you feel. A lot of kids miss a lot of days in kindergarten because it is thier first year of school and they are more prone to getting sick. If he is academically ready for first grade I would put him in first grade. He is going to be making new friends this year and you wouldn't want to take him away from his friends again if it isn't necessary. If you feel that he won't make it in first grade academically in a few months then I would consider holding him back.

 

[wilderness01]

I would also say to wait and see what the teacher says. My child missed a little more than 3 months of K and has been a straight A student ever since in school. K is not mandatory in the state that we live in so I wasn't too worried about them holding the child back. He went into preschool reading chapter books so I wasn't concerned about that. My child needed it more for social than anything else. Anyhow my child has done great in school so if your child is academically ready then I would advance him. I would watch for him socially, being able to follow direction, etc. You are talking about starting a grade almost 6 months from now. Alot of growing up will happen in that time. I also do not consider June an early birthday as this child I am talking about has a late Spring birthday and I would consider the child "mid aged" compared to the rest of the class. Another poster mentioned hold him back now and you can skip a grade later if need be. I didn't think they did that as much anymore. I would look heavily into that if that is your plan. Good luck.

 

[LBAK]

I was go with your instincts. I would rather have my child the oldest in the class and not struggling then the youngest and struggling. My DD should have been held back but the school told me to keep her on track and I regret that I listened to them. I now teach pre-k and a lot of my parents are giving their children an extra year to catch up emotionally and socially. Even if his academics are on grade level if he's not there socially and emotionally he will still be frustrated. Since you're moving it's the perfect time to make that decision. He won't see his friends moving up without him, it's a new environment etc. good luck with your decision.

 

[MariettaC]

I taught kindergarten for six years and now teach first grade. IMHO I would say speak with the teacher and she/he will give you the best advice.

 

[golfgal]

Having a child with a summer birthday I would say that if you have any doubts, hold him back. DS is a July birthday and did fine in K-2nd grades. In third grade some of the maturity issues started showing up and now that he is in 8th grade, it is very noticeable. It doesn't help our situation that many people hold their kids back with Dec, Jan, Feb and so on birthdays. There are kids in his class that are almost 2 years older then he is (they are 15 already, he just turned 13). I also think that since you are moving, holding him back won't have the typical issues that you would see if he were staying in the same school, "why isn't Johnny in our class any more" type thing.

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

I don't consider a June birthday "young". My DD5 is a June baby, and I wouldn't even think about keeping her back. Obviously, you know your DS, but if he's doing well academically, I wouldn't say your reasons are really reasons to keep him back. If he can do the academic things needed to get into First Grade, I think he should go.

When you move to NC, there will be time for him to make "friends" that will be progressing with him -- keeping him back means making new friends, which is just another change.

Also, keeping him back means he'll be graduating high school at almost 19. Nothing wrong with that, but just think about it. I understand the idea another poster said about being the tallest, and most confident, but I wonder if there's going to be issues if there's too much of that - if he starts developing a mustache before the others, or his voice cracks before everyone else.

I'd wait and see and move before making any sort of determination.

 

[padams]

Why will he miss a week or more of school when you move? I would think you would have him finish up his old school on a Friday, drive over the weekend to the new state, and start on Monday at the new school.

 

[golfgal]

I don't consider a June birthday "young". My DD5 is a June baby, and I wouldn't even think about keeping her back. Obviously, you know your DS, but if he's doing well academically, I wouldn't say your reasons are really reasons to keep him back. If he can do the academic things needed to get into First Grade, I think he should go.

When you move to NC, there will be time for him to make "friends" that will be progressing with him -- keeping him back means making new friends, which is just another change.

Also, keeping him back means he'll be graduating high school at almost 19. Nothing wrong with that, but just think about it. I understand the idea another poster said about being the tallest, and most confident, but I wonder if there's going to be issues if there's too much of that - if he starts developing a mustache before the others, or his voice cracks before everyone else.

I'd wait and see and move before making any sort of determination.

Young is relative, when it the cut off date for your district? Our cut off date is Sept 1st, so June is on the young side. Some districts have a cut off of Dec 1 so kids are starting K at age 4, then June isn't young.

 

[AmazingGrace]

I'm thinking of keeping Grace back. She started out great, but then missed four weeks of school because of Katrina. Then we moved right before the holidays. She's behind in her letters and I really feel like she's missed a valuable link in the whole process. Her birthday is in March.