Moms of kids who "just miss" the cutoff date

beachgirl1977

did you send you dc to a private K to get them into school early or do another year of prek? we are moving to a place where the date is dec 1 and ds was born on dec 28. I worry another year of pre k will bore him... but I don't want him to be THE youngest kid and his fine motor skills are weak. The daycare/school he has been in since 8 mo wants to put him in the K room next year since we will only be there 2 months till we move because they feel he'd do really well there...

BUT then he'd go to pre k in nov when we move 

PinkPiano

My dd didn't miss the cut-off (her b-day was about two weeks before) but we still waited.  Anyhow, we sent her to a Pre-K class that was all 5 year olds that either just missed the cut-off or were just waiting the extra year.  They had a very similar curriculum to that of Kindergarten. 

 

 

Littlejen22

Where I live you would have to do Kindergarten and 1st grade, if you only did Kindergarten he would still have to repeat so I would check the distrct's rules.  And no, I would not jump ahead of the cutoff date to push him ahead unless you think he is going to be at the very top of his Kindergarten class even when he is a year younger than some.

Halo79RN

we're considering holding our ds back one year b/c his bday is just before the cutoff.  he has the fine motor skills, he's smart. but he doesn't listen well.  he seems pretty immature compared to where his sister was at the same age. 

dd's prek was more like kindie. we have moved. I'm unsure what this new prek will be like. we'll decide what we're doing next spring/summer.  a lot can change in a year. but dh is pretty certain he wants to delay ds's start.  

4Speedy

Are you moving to Michigan by any chance?  I ask because we are one of the few states that still has a Dec 1 cutoff.  If so, many districts in MI offer a "young 5's" class.  It's not Kindergarten but it is for all the kids who are close to the cutoff (either before or just after) but not ready for Kindy.  It is designed to be more challenging than regular pre-k.  You should check to see if the district you are moving to offers it.  If you want, you can PM me what district you are moving to (if it is Michigan) and I will let you know if I know anything about the school district.

Chrisy-Wyobride

No, my DD goes to private school but it's the law here that private go by the district cut-off.  She missed the cutoff by 3 days.  I was SURE she was too smart, advanced, etc but I had no choice.  Her early teachers (before this school) always said she was so smart, advanced, etc.  Three years later she's struggling in reading (was diagnosed dyslexic 3 mo ago) & behind most of the kids in her class (several who were reading 3rd grade level in Kindergarten).  In depth testing resulted in her scores being as high as 8th grade in some areas & as low as first month Kindergarten.  Clearly there are specific areas of concern. So I am happy I didn't have the option now in hindsight...it would have bit me in the butt later & she possibly could have been recommended to be held back in K which would have been worse & a delay in getting her the specialized help she needs.  Instead being the oldest, it was clear her issues where not maturity, age or the reasons kids struggle in school--so they were taken seriously & resulted in early intervention (tutoring).  I will say she's the tallest in her class by at least a few inches--don't think that's a minus, at least not as a 6yr old--LOL!

AnnapolisLari

I wouldn't say "just missed". It's almost a month. Do the extra year of preschool and start K when you're supposed to.

Both of my kids will be 5 3/4 when they start K and I am glad. They will definitely be mature enough and ready for K.

UGAbride

Our cutoff is September 1st, and DS #2's birthday is September 17th...for preschool I do actually have him moved ahead (because I sent him last year, when he technically should have been in a 1 year old class, but there were staff infants in there, and he was turning 2 the next week after school started).  Anyway, he was the only child in his 2 year old class that knew all his numbers, colors, recognized all their names written, etc....however, I will definitely send him to the "young 5's" when the time comes so that he will start kindergarten when he is supposed to (he'll turn 6 shortly after the school year starts).  I'd much prefer him to be the oldest than push him on and have him struggle later and then regret it. 

shopgirl78

DS1 is 9/21 and the cut off is 9/1.   Our school district offers free Prek so he will got to Prek3 at almost 4 and Prek4 at almost 5 and start K at almost 6.  

emiliemadison

My DD made the cutoff by a month exactly (Aug 1st birthday with Sept 1st cutoff). We still considered waiting but she seemed ready. If she hadn't made it, even by a few days, we would have just done an extra year of preK. I think that cutoffs are there for a reason and unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances, there's no reason to bend the rules. 

mmbench

Our cutoff here is Sept. 1, and my kids are Oct. 6.  When they were born, the cutoff was Oct. 15, so they'd been in class with the older kids the whole time.

We moved them to a different school with a "transitional" pre-k program.  It was for kids who were being held back for whatever reason and had a more structured feel to it than the pre-k they'd been at.

It has been awesome for them.

With two, private K or the cost of getting them evaluated for early entry just wasn't feasible.

kellnbri

DD misses the cutoff by 10 days.  She will be 3 in October, so I can't actually say yet.  But at this point our plan is for her to attend kindergarten in a private school when she is 4 turning 5 and hopefully start first grade in a public school.  At the end of the private kindergarten we will make our final decision to either put her in first grade in the public school or repeat kindergarten in the public school. 

Being a trained kindergarten teacher, and also someone who has an October birthday, at this point I feel she would do well with the private kindergarten and then first grade.  She is pretty advanced academically and socially already, but I we will see what happens.  

lsufan

Dec. 1 is such a late cutoff already, and he's almost a month behind that.  I don't think I'd start him early.  

Angela814

lsufan:

Dec. 1 is such a late cutoff already, and he's almost a month behind that.  I don't think I'd start him early.  

My thoughts too. Our cut off date is Sept 1. December just seems so late. I mean, kids would be 4 years old for the 1st half of the year.

DandelionMom

My two older girls just missed the December cut off.  Even though they techincally should be some of the oldest in the class, there's so much redshirting they're never the oldest.  They each had 2 years of preschool and then started regular kindergarten right on time. 

winomom22

DD makes the cut-off but only by 3 weeks. We are holding her back because she is having some sensory issues that are making it difficult for her to settle down and listen, follow directions etc. The school district has Just 5 program for kids that are 5, but aren't quite ready for Kindergarten so she will be doing that. It's based off the old Kindergarten curriculum. Academically, DD1 is very smart, she just needs some emotional maturing so they will work on that, but she will still progress academically. They have kids that are reading in Just 5. 

I would definitely wait. Someone has to be the oldest and I would rather my child be the oldest and a leader in her classroom. Intelligence really has nothing to do with it. It's really about maturity and Kindergarten is more like 1st grade was for us so the expectations are higher. Because of this, most states are moving towards a Sept 1st cut-off date. Which makes MUCH more sense to me. Think about it. Do you want your child to be 17 or 18 when she graduates high school and heads off to college. You really have to look ahead to the future and the implications it will have. Is she ready for Kindergarten now? Sure. But is she going to fall behind when she gets to 1st/2nd grade? Possibly. That is what helped us to make our decision. 

ccm1203

I would do another year of pre-k.   If you were to do a year of private K would you be able to put him in 1st the following year?  I doubt it since he misses the cut off by 4 weeks.    Also keep in mind he was at a school / daycare that he had been going to for 4 years, this will be a new school, different teachers etc.