Starting Kindergarten at age 6?

SaraSmile

My son was born in July so we were thinking about waiting until he is 6 to register for kindergarten (for various reasons).  Anyone do this ... any thoughts?

DandelionMom

I know several parents who decided to do this and it has worked out very well for them. ?My girls have birthdays right after the cut off so have always been some of the oldest in the class and they've always done well. ?

Rebekah1021

I turned 6 a month into school. I had to wait because of my birthday in Oct. I liked being one of the older kids in class.

EliseB0323

My son's birthday is 5 days after the cut off, so he will be almost 6 when he goes to Kindergarten. I've done a bunch of research, and most studies show that kids do better when they start school a little later. Since you have a choice, I'd wait until he's close to 5 and see how he's doing compared to the other kinds who will go to Kindergarten.

Jodi&Joe

Joey will start when he is 5 however he will start in Sept and turn 6 two months later (in Nov). 

I can't think of a single disadvantage to waiting to start him (them) but can think of a few disadvantages for starting them too early.

katie277s

My DH was the same way.  He turned 5 in July and his parents put him in kindergarten.  I was 5, turning 6 in November when I started.  We have decided that we are going to wait until DS is 6 to start (his birthday is in August). 

DaiLyght

As long as we're still living in FL (I hope not), we don't have a choice. He will not not be permitted to enroll into the 1st grade unless he is 6 prior to Sept 1st, and his bday is Sept 4th. Since his daycare is also a VPK program, he will basically end up repeating pre-K, once as a regular daycare student, and then again as a FL enrolled pre-K student. Same class, same teacher, just an enrollment technicality.

 

VivaAmore

All of the older kids in my class always seemed smarter and more confident to me that then younger ones. Maybe it wasn't true but it certainly seemed that way!

penguingrrl

It depends on whether that's "allowed" where you live. I currently live in New York City and the cut off is Dec 31 (later than I've ever heard). Apparently, I've heard from other parents here that if you try to enroll a child who will be 6 before Dec 31 for K they skip them right to first grade and they don't go to K. My DD is Aug 30 and I was thinking about holding her back, so once we get to where we're living then I'll look into it, but there are some districts that simply don't allow that unfortunately.  I had a friend whose kid started in NYC and moved to NJ with a Dec birthday, so they made her repeat a grade even though she did really well in it!

SportsMama

My son has a July birthday and I think we are going to be starting him at 6 as well.