Kindgarten question - esp for moms with kids near cutoff date

[corinne76]

Originally Posted by Mamandelise My ODDs b-day is Dec. 30th and the cutoff here is Dec. 31st. She turns 4 this year but starts school (jk) in a few weeks. She's totally ready and I think it would be terrible to hold her back. Having said that, I know every child is very different and learns differently and I wouldn't hesitate to hold mine back if it were needed. FWIW, I'm also a teacher and come from a family of educators, principals and teachers, and they all agree with me.

DD is dec 30 too and will be 4 this year. she has one more year of preschool (starting next month). We're still not sure what she will be doing for K. academically she's ready. But she's very timid and tends to get pushed around a little at school

[ralenth]

My middle son has a July birthday, and we had a Sept cutoff date. I debated on whether to send him to kindy or not. His preschool teacher, the kindergarten screening, his pediatrician, all said he was ready, so I sent him. He's done great. Come to find out, most of his buddies are young summer (July & August) boys as well, so it's been a great experience for us. I guess that's not typical everywhere, but here he'd have been ALOT older than the kids a grade behind, and it would not have been as good a fit for him.

[mommy2kaitlyn]

I would base it on how he is doing. Is he ready for kindergarten? Your lucky!
DD is just about 2 mos past the cut off. She has had issues because she is one of the oldest and by end of the year is so bored. It is amazing watching how bad it gets. I have tried everything in my power to bump her up a grade and so far no go. I would have to pull her out and home school her for year so she had to be tested back in. That isn't even a guarantee. Her current district will no skip grades for the most part anymore.

[mommy2kaitlyn]

Originally Posted by corinne76 DD is dec 30 too and will be 4 this year. she has one more year of preschool (starting next month). We're still not sure what she will be doing for K. academically she's ready. But she's very timid and tends to get pushed around a little at school

DD was the baby by far in preschool. She joined days after her 3rd birthday. The closest to her was 6 mos older. All the kids adopted her and took her under their wing. She thrived and bloomed quickly under that. Now that she is the oldest and bored in school a lot it is a total different story.

[z2akids]

I would recommend having your child's preschool teacher or the kindergarten teachers do readiness testing for any child who might be borderline for kindergarten. I believe it is much better to start a little late than too early.

[MamaJules]

My boys are also still young, but I have been thinking about this a lot. Cutoff here is Sept. 30th. DS 1 was born Oct. 6, so he will be almost 6 when he starts. DS2 was born August 23rd, so more than a month before cutoff (but schools here start in early August, so he would still be 4 when he starts). If he starts when he can, then he will be only a year behind his brother, even though they are almost 2 years apart. I honestly am not sure what we will do. His first birthday is tomorrow, so we've got a few years. I am right now leaning towards keeping him back an extra year, because I was always one of the oldest in my class and I think it really helped me do well in school. But if we get to that point and I really feel like he would benefit from being in kindergarten, then we will start him and if necessary, he can repeat.

[GC's Mama]

The cutoff date for where I live is August 31.......DS1's birthday. He'll be 4 this year. He'll be starting the winter term of pre-chool in January (would have in the fall, but I kind of want him around before this baby comes, and I was a wee bit lazy in registering him on time). I figure after a term or two, I'll have a better idea of how ready he is for all day school. My intuition right now tells me he'll do just fine. He's socially ready and pretty bright, so ATM I don't foresee us waiting that extra year. I have a cousin with a son a month older than DS1 who will be red-shirting her son. He's kind of a little guy, and pretty timid, and for him I think it's a valid choice.

[allisonrose]

OP here - Thanks for all the replies! At this point, I'm thinking that we will put him into a preschool program next fall. We'll see how things look at the end of the year. If hubby and I feel he's ready and his prek teacher(s) agree, we'll go for it. If not, then we'll do another year of prek. I was thinking about prek sooner but I don't know about three years of prek (especially the expense).

My son is a very energetic kid and isn't one to sit for too long. Of course this could change more rapidly than I expect over the next two years. He does seem to me and other family members to be a smart kid but as others have mentioned, the dynamics of kindergarten has changed quite a bit in recent years.

[blackbirdmama*3]

My ds2 is going to be 7 in January and is in K this year. He did 2 years of pre-k. After the first year he was absolutely no where close to being ready for K and that extra year was amazing for him. His attention span and maturity level improved greatly in that 2nd year of pre-k. I know without a doubt he would have struggled if we had tried to send him on.

[Dmpmercury]

Kindergarten started here today and most of my friends with children around my dd's age are starting kindergarten but she was born after the cut off so she doesn't get to go. We don't even know if we will be in Alaska long term so we might end up somewhere where she makes the cut off but now it is too late. I don't like how they changed the cut offs to so early and changed kindergarten into first grade. I don't get why they do that.

In my day the cut off was December 31st. I was a January birthday and I hated being the oldest. I thought all the kids were so immature and I thought I was so old at graduation. In high school I end up making friend's much older than me. I don't think there is a line in the sand at which kids are all at the same level of academic and maturity. I think my dd would of done fine in kindergarten. She wasn't ahead enough to test in but she met all the guidelines for kindergarten readiness. I'm stuck paying for an extra year of preschool which with two kids in preschool this year will really strain us financially. We may end up being somewhere where she makes the cut off so she can be the oldest by months all for no reason.