Child going to Kindergarten Early...

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)?

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.

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

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"

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.

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.

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

My son's birthday is 10/5. We waited and sent him to pre-school for that extra year. In his case he definitely needed the extra year. He's now in the first grade and will be first kid to turn 7.

I actually like that he's one of the oldest kids in the class. Sure it was more expensive to keep him in childcare an extra year but it's better for him. He's more mature, more ready and I wouldn't relish the idea of him going to college at 17.

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.

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

Was going to say that. Wish my parents waited a year....

My aunt was a K teacher for 35 years and she advised go ahead, if it doesn't work out, they repeat. At this stage being held back is no big deal. I did this with my son, he went through K good, but struggled in 1st grade. Held him back and he did great doing well in 2nd grade now. His b-day is Sept 21st. He is the oldest in his class, but 7 more kids will turn 8 by the first of the year. There are a coupld kids in his first 1st grade class that are really having a hard time in 3rd grade, all have sept birthdays. I'm glad we held him back.

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 :doh:

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).

We will face this quesiton in 5 years, as our son's birthday is September 22. We will opt to wait and put him in when he is turning 6. First, boys mature later than girls, so hopefully this will balance out as he grows. Second, and as someone mentioned, he should be a bit more physically developed having already turned 6 compared to other kids who may not turn 6 for a few months later. This will help him with athletics, if he or you plan to have them play. They will also be more mature going into college nearly a year older than many other kids.

I would definitely wait if you can afford it, and make sure you are getting your child care refund during tax season.

---------- Post added October-4th-2012 at 02:16 PM ----------

My aunt was a K teacher for 35 years and she advised go ahead, if it doesn't work out, they repeat. At this stage being held back is no big deal. I did this with my son, he went through K good, but struggled in 1st grade. Held him back and he did great and was in class with kids his same age. Doing well in 2nd grade now. His b-day is Sept 21st.

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.

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)?

My mother was in the same boat with me. I was either going to be a year younger than everyone or a year older. She waited to put me in and I'm pretty glad she did. I thought it was pretty awesome getting my license before everyone

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 :doh:

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+.

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.

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 ****y 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.