fall birthdays and preschool

MamaBawdy

This might seem like a silly question. What do you do for preschool when your child has a late birthday? DS will be 3 at the end of October. The only programs I can find require 3 by Sept. 1st (he obviously won't be) or 2.5 by January 1st, 2011 (he wasn't). Do I just wait to put him in the 3yo program next year even though he will be 4 two months after? What did/will you guys do? TIA!

penguingrrl

I would follow the preschool's cutoffs. It's not like it'll be him at almost 4 surrounded by kids who all have summer birthdays and are just 3. I would assume that the preschool took the local school district's cutoffs to set theirs so that the program was set up for a year of the 3s program, a year of preK then the kids go off to K together.

mabma80

We have a cut off of Sept. 1st here and DS#1's birthday is Sept. 3rd.  He just finished up 3K.  He turned 4 about a week after he started 3K.  He'll be going to 4K next year and will be 5 years old shortly after starting. Which means when he starts Kindergarden, he'll be 6 years old.

I would wait 'til he's the required age.  We didn't mind waiting and puttng him in prek for two years, because he'll only benefit from it.  Last year he went to 3K 2days/wk for three hours. Next year he'll go to 4K 3 days/wk for three hours.  Then on to all day Kindergarden. 

DS#2's birthday is July, and he'll be three this year, but is not ready for school yet.  We wont put him in prek 'til next year when he turns 4. So next year he'll go to 4K while hid big brother is in Kinder.

DS#3 will be born later in Sept. and be in the same shoes as DS#1.   

shopgirl78

Our cut-off is 9.1 and DS is 4 on 9.21.   He has been in daycare since he was an infant and will be going to public PreK3 this year (tho he turns 4- 20 days afterwards).  I am OK with him being the oldest in the class and actually I am happy about it since he is small for his age.    I hear it is better for boys to be older anyhow & esp in this age of "redshirting."   (I did send my DD on time even tho she was a August bday).  

I agree.  I would just hold off that year and start him next.    Other options would be a MDO program or daycare.  

mbritto4

My DD turned 3 her second week of preschool prep at a Goddard, they were fine with it.  She'll be in Pre-K in the fall, and likely will start Kindergarten in 2012 unless her Pre-K teacher gives me reasons why she should not advance.  She is thriving at school this year and has tons of friends.  Michigan has a 12/1 cut off for Kindergarten so unless they move it up in the next year I don't see her having any issues.   

If you think he's emotionally ready for school I'd keep looking to see if there's at least a 2 day a week morning program he can try out. 

nmh2001

My DD#2 was born in November. The Goddard School has a program for kids with fall birthdays so they all advance together. Like they start the year at 2.5 and by January they are all 3.

MrsL1022

If he doesn't make the cut off for the 3s is there a 2s class? My son was in a 2yr class 2 days a week this year and it was awesome. There were also the kids who were older but missed the 3s cut off date. If you think he'd benefit from the social interaction, learning colors, shapes, hot to follow directions from teachers,etc...the I would put him in the younger class and the 3s next yr. 

babybear08

At our preschool, you have to be 3 by the end of Sept.  DS misses it by a week.  They were flexible about him going into the 3 year old class.  I think they said they had a couple weeks leeway if they parents wanted them in the 3 year old class. We did end up signing him up for the 3 yo class because he's more of a follower and likes to play with the older kids in the neighborhood as opposed to those that are his age/younger (I think he's actually scared of the younger kids).  I think, "educationally", he knows what he needs to be in the 3 yo class, so we're not too worried about that aspect.

 The only thing is that DS will be doing kindergarten twice since our public schools have a sept cutoff as well and we probably won't go through the trouble of having him tested to start earlier.

If you don't mind him being the youngest in the class, it wouldn't hurt asking them if they would take your DS in the 3 yo class. 

julygal

Our school has a young 3s, an older 3s and a 4 y/o class.  The kids can start in the young 3s at any point that they are 3 years old.  It does not follow the school district cut-offs.  The older 3s are the group that will to kindergarten together, so they must turn 3 before Sept 1st of the current school year.  The 4s also use the school district cut-off dates.

KristinKD

Our preschool also has a cut-off of September 1st, but it offers a 2s class which is what we had DD1 in this past year. She turned 3 a little over two months after school started, and she was the oldest in her class, but there were kids with birthdays each month after hers. Next year she'll be in a young 4s class (for ages 3.5-4.5) with some of the other older kids from her class, while the younger kids will move onto a 3s class. By the third year, they'll all be back in pre-k together.

I would call the school(s) and ask about your options. I know, from speaking with other moms from our preschool, that there are some kids with October birthdays who were allowed to enroll in the 3s class even though they were still 2 at the cut-off. That might be an option for you. Or, if you decide to wait until next year, you might find a school that offers a young 4s program instead of just a 3s class; that way, your son could be in the middle of his class, age-wise.