Child going to Kindergarten Early...

[Dictator]

My daughter is currently 4. She'll turn 5 next 9-28-13. The cut off for normal enrollment in to K is Sept 1 (students must be 5 by Sept 1). I can apply for early admission for her to go next year. Or she'll need to wait until 2014 (by which time she'll almost be 6).

One of the benefits from my POV is a serious reduction in the amount of Childcare costs we're currently paying. I honestly think, intellectually, she'd be ready for kindergarten NOW (ask Buford. She's a smart kid). She knows everything that would be required. I have heard that many don't recommend early admission for children into pre-k. But I don't know anyone who's been in this position with their children.

So, after all the rambling, what would be a drawback to having her go to kindergarten a "year" early (even though she misses the "cutoff" by only 28 days)?

[SnyderShrugged]

I was in the same boat and had mine go early. It was definitely a mistake. Hold off a year and your child will be more mature and ready IMHO.

[Dictator]

I was in the same boat and had mine go early. It was definitely a mistake. Hold off a year and your child will be more mature and ready IMHO.

is it possible for you to elaborate on why it was a mistake? What were some of the specific challenges? Right now, it's still all up in the air for us as she'll need to be evaluated by a school professional first. If she were born 8-31 she'd be going in Sept 2013 instead of 2014.

When I was young, I went to school just prior to my 5th birthday also...but that's the way it was "back then"

[SnyderShrugged]

is it possible for you to elaborate on why it was a mistake? What were some of the specific challenges? Right now, it's still all up in the air for us as she'll need to be evaluated by a school professional first. If she were born 8-31 she'd be going in Sept 2013 instead of 2014.

When I was young, I went to school just prior to my 5th birthday also...but that's the way it was "back then"

My daughter was visibly a year behind everyone in her class in maturity and ability to learn. It wasnt so bad early. but caught up with her by 4th grade.

[dchogs]

I was in the same boat and had mine go early. It was definitely a mistake. Hold off a year and your child will be more mature and ready IMHO.

ditto.

my wife and i actually just held my son back to have him repeat the 9th grade. he was starting at a new school, so it made sense socially (i.e. not a year behind all his friends) and it has helped his maturity. he's still taking the courses he would, by and large, as a 10th grader, which gives him the chance to take more higher level classes but have them spread out a bit.

***edit***
we held him back just for maturity reasons, and even those weren't all that great. he was a 4.0 student in his public school and just got a 3.8 in his first marking period at his new public school (taking pre-calc and chem as a freshman). his confidence socially and personally is 100x higher.

[SnyderShrugged]

ditto.

my wife and i actually just held my son back to have him repeat the 9th grade. he was starting at a new school, so it made sense socially (i.e. not a year behind all his friends) and it has helped his maturity. he's still taking the courses he would, by and large, as a 10th grader, which gives him the chance to take more higher level classes but have them spread out a bit.

***edit***
we held him back just for maturity reasons, and even those weren't all that great. he was a 4.0 student in his public school and just got a 3.8 in his first marking period at his new public school (taking pre-calc and chem as a freshman). his confidence socially and personally is 100x higher.

we did almost the same thing when we moved except it was 4th grade instead of 9th. It made such an awesome difference in her confidence.

[Predicto]

I was in the same boat and had mine go early. It was definitely a mistake. Hold off a year and your child will be more mature and ready IMHO.

This. Every year she will be judged against her peers. If she is a year younger than they are, it can be very difficult.

[HOF44]

Well in Uganda I don't think a year either way will make much difference with their school systems!

[daveakl]

I was born 9/19/78. Up till about 4th grade there were no issues. 4th-8th grade I was killed in sports at school. Outside school playing in leagues that were my age everything was great, but in school it was a joke how much better everyone was. Our school was also known for their sports and many parents started their kids a year late for that reason. Dealing with kids two years older then me in some cases that were in my grade was an impossible task. That being said, scholastically and socially it really made no difference.

[LadySkinsFan]

My granddaughter is 13 days over the cutoff for 1st grade last year (she turned 6 13 days after the cutoff of 9-30), so my daughter and son-in-law had her tested (available test for these kinds of cases) and she missed by several points the math target so she entered K. BTW, she had been in preschool for 3 years. So the first day of school she walks into the classroom, sees the bookshelves, and proceeds to pick out a book and start reading it. Another kid asks her if she can read and when she says yes, the other kid says Gee, I can't read yet.

BTW, this is in Texas, so this year, she's a 1st grader at 7 year of age. I think it was a mistake holding her back.

---------- Post added October-4th-2012 at 02:04 PM ----------

Also, I think it would depend on if your daughter has been to preschool and socialized with other children on a daily basis.

[Major Harris]

well, if she is a stud athlete, putting her in now will hinder that.

[Corcaigh]

My kid made the cutoff by two days as it was end of September here in VA. If she had been in a district where August was the cutoff she would have had to wait another year which would have been rough as she was ready.

Academically she has always done very well and is mature beyond her years. She could read when she left pre-school so was ahead of some of her older peers.

As you note, it's a pretty arbitrary cutoff. If she was born a couple of days earlier you'd probably only consider holing her back if she had developmental issues.

[Dictator]

My kid made the cutoff by two days as it was end of September here in VA. If she had been in a district where August was the cutoff she would have had to wait another year which would have been rough as she was ready.

Academically she has always done very well and is mature beyond her years. She could read when she left pre-school so was ahead of some of her older peers.

As you note, it's a pretty arbitrary cutoff. If she was born a couple of days earlier you'd probably only consider holing her back if she had developmental issues.

In our district, they wlil test for early admission up to 45 days after the cutoff (mid-oct usually). If she were that far I don't think I'd consider it. If she were a boy I think I'd also be hesitant. Physically, she's 95%+ in her measurements. It's not like she'll be going out for football in high school though. She seems to be mature, curious, and socially adept.

My wife asked her pediatrician about this last week. "I've never had anyone regret holding their kid back" was her answer. Of course my wife didn't present any follow-up questions

[Corcaigh]

My wife asked her pediatrician about this last week. "I've never had anyone regret holding their kid back" was her answer. Of course my wife didn't present any follow-up questions

I think this would depend on the reason. If the kid is not ready, then holding them back is going to help.

But if the kid is ready, then what are they going to do in they year they don't enter education? If they continue to develop during the year they will be ahead and be bored when they do enter a class where they are just one of 25+.

[Huly]

My parents put me in Private School 4K where I could go to Kindergarten in public school the following September as my birthday is 9/18 and was after the cut off but if you passed 4K you could go. No downfall at all through school with learning. The only issue I might have had if I opted for it was I could have graduated my Junior year and I would have only been 16 starting college but I chose to take the one course I need and a few electives/APP courses my SR year and have early outs both my JR and SR year.
(part of middle school & high school I went back to a private school as I had issues with loosing my brother and he had some of the same teachers I had and the cemetary was close to my middle school so I had to see it daily)

I still was a little young starting college and since I breezed through regular school I did not have good study habits as teachers actually taught in my Private School and Public School. I still to this day can not read a book and remember it. I read the same things for fun so it could be part of my ADHD too. Also being so young got into the freedom aspect so all the beer didn't help my grades either but I met Pez