Child going to Kindergarten Early...

[elkabong82]

Depends on the child. While earlier education is very beneficial to long term learning development, if a child is not mentally ready then in the short term they could struggle mightily, risk being held back or risk hating education as they struggle for many grades while playing catch up to the rest of the kids.

Your child is only a couple weeks off though. I'd see about testing for kindergarten, and if your child passes and seems ready to handle the challenge then go for it, because they'll be ahead of the curve later on. If you they fail the test, or even barely pass, and their attitude has you concerned about their readiness, then wait another year, or put them through but make sure there is supplemental education such as tutoring once a week or you and mom putting in extra time each day to go over and help with everything, and buy different multimedia education-enhancing things like games, videos, and books, to help ease the transition and improve the progression.

[balki1867]

My sister and I were both fall babies and my parents put both of us in KG a year early. Of course they were immigrants and money was pretty tight back then. My sister was in exactly the same situation with my niece and opted to wait a year. My B-I-L wanted to put her in early but my sister was adamant about keeping her in pre-school for another year.

I have no children of my own, but like many people without kids, I have an opinion that I can't back up: Without being cocky about it, I was generally move developed academically than most of my classmates but my parents wouldn't put me in gifted programs because they wanted me to socialize better. The only problem was that I ended up with a lot of free time on my hands, and didn't really ever focus well until my junior year of college. Because of that I'm a huge proponent that you should find ways to challenge your kids meaningfully. If your kid is ready for kindergarten academically, you should find ways to keep pushing her forward in terms of learning, even if you opt to keep her out of KG for a year.

[egtuna]

Girls are much better starting early than boys.

But remember; she will be on the younger (more impressionable, more insecure, more vulnerable) end when she goes into High School. Think long term as well as short term.

[MintHillSkinsFan]

It depends on the kid. I have boy/girl twins who have always been very mature for their age. When they started Kindergarten, we were in a school district where the cutoff was Oct. 15th. Their BDay is Oct. 29th. We felt they were ready so we had them tested and they both passed with flying colors. So when the entered Kindergarten they were literally the youngest kids in the entire school. They are in 4th grade now and about to turn 9 and both continue to get A's and B's. My son is a standout baseball player and just got elected to student council. My daughter excels at gymnastics and plays piano and still maintains those grades so it couldn't have worked out any better for us.

I have seen cases where it wouldn't be a good idea for certain children. If the child tends to be immature and and has a short attention span then it is probably best to wait that extra year.

[pointyfootball]

Both of our kids were late fall babies, so not really an option. But if it were, and we were making the decision now, we would wait. What's the hurry? It'll be one more year you can enjoy them. And, their future friends in college will be greatful b/c they'll be able to buy beer earlier.

[frostyj]

I just have trouble not believing that even at kindergarden, these kids develop friends and relationships with their classmates, and if you hold your kid back and they see their friends moving on, that could be a burden psychologically.

I don't believe you send your kid to school to "try it out" with the thought that you can hold them back if it doesn't work out. I think its our job to put them in the best situation we can to make sure they succeed.

It was hard to tell him that he wasn't going to 2nd grade and he was upset, but to be a psychological burden is stretching it. After a few days he was ok and has never brought it back up. Once he got back into school he made new friends and knew a few already from the bus stop and scouts.

[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.

[RonArtest15]

You could be setting her up for failure if she's not ready from a social/emotional standpoint. IMO, the social component to education (in the particular case of young children) is far more important than the academic component. I wouldn't push it.

[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.

[Stadium-Armory]

My birthday is 8/27 and I went in to kindergarten on time. I was always the smallest, and struggled initially in school but.. turned out ok.

My son's birthday is 8/28 and we sent him in on time also. He is now in 6th grade and still hasn't quite caught up. He always seems to be about 6 months behind the rest of the kids. Ultimately, he will be fine, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have kept him back a year initially and put him in the following year.

Money savings be dammed. I would pay tens of thousands of dollars to turn back the clock and hold him out a year. You can't put a price tag on good grades and such.

[Dictator]

Thank you all for giving your experiences and opinions. $ is part of the equation. Like I said earlier, she's a smart girl. Picks up on stuff very quickly. One of the things I'm scared of in holding her out until nearly her 6th birthday is the possibility of her getting bored in school. But I guess like holding a child back, there's always the possibility of them getting jumped ahead.
You've certainly given me some things to think about. I think we'll still go ahead with the test just to "see" where things stand. We'll still have to to make a final decision after that. I feel like I'm a little close to the situation. Once she'd evaluated by an outsider, maybe things will be a little more clear for me and the wife.

Thank you

[twa]

I was 09/03 and held back....I blame it for my thieving,drinking,smoking and pleasant demeanor.

[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.

[Stadium-Armory]

Duplicate post.

[LadySkinsFan]

My daugther's b-day is in January, so she was a half year older than most in her class. She is very smart but was totally bored in school and by HS was skipping school and she barely graduated. From the time she turned 18, she threatened to drop out of school and get a GED, because she legally could drop out without my permission. I talked and talked and she finally graduated. Now she is glad that I made her stay in school and graduate with a HS diploma because she recognizes the value of that degree in getting jobs, credit etc.

The bored in school thing is real, regardless of the child. It's up to us parents to keep learning interesting and challenging.