Hi all -
My DD was born in November - 2.5 months after the cut off date for starting school. She will end up being the oldest in the class, which is fine, but she goes to a preschool program now, and based on feedback from her teachers she is not only on target with her class, she's ahead (coordination, cognitive development, speech, reasoning, etc - all their words), and very mature for her age.
That being said, (and obviously everyone thinks their kid is the smartest, etc), has anyone found any programs in their area that allow you to go against this policy? Or is it just what it is?
Again, I don't mean to sound like my kid is the smartest, etc, I'm just going on what the teachers tell me which led me to think about if this is going to be an issue.
Sorry if this sounds dumb... but thanks for any thoughts.
Re: For those with kids born after Sept 1st - school question
DD #1 was born in October, and I'm also in MA with a Sept 1 cutoff date. She does make the cutoff for the private kindergarten that her daycare center runs, so we signed her up for that. However, from what I understand talking to other parents from my area, the public school doesn't allow them to go into the first grade from the private K unless they are 6 by Sept 1. While I think DD#1 is developmentally ready to attend the private kindergarten, I do worry about her being bored in public kindergarten learning everything over again. Our choice was to have her repeat pre-K or go into private kindergarten and then repeat it in public school. We figured they were actually learning how to read and write more in kindergarten, so why not have those skills reinforced.
You can always ask your local public school district if they would consider allowing her into the first grade after attending a private kindergarten even though she would not be 6 by Sept. 1. I know around my area they live and die by those cutoff dates. Having a November birthday myself, I know that being one of the youngest in the class can sometimes be frustrating from a social perspective (being the last of your friends to get your license, turn 18 and not even be an adult when you first go off to college, turn 21), so it may not be so bad if she has to wait. Good luck!
I plan to follow the cut off dates wherever we're living at the time (DH is in graduate school and will be graduating and moving on to a postdoc before DD1 starts school) and she'll either be by far the youngest or the oldest in her class (her birthday is 8/30). I'm more nervous about having her young than old to be honest. My siblings both just made the cutoff and while they did okay with it young, both had serious maturity issues when they started high school and at 13 they were just not ready for the issues high school kids encounter. I won't hold DD back because of this if the cutoff is after 8/30 (this varies by state and/or district) but I wouldn't push a kid to enter early either.
I have several experiences that relate (although my son is a Jan birthday so the point is moot for him).
My brother has an Oct birthday and we were on sabbatical the year he turned 5. Since we were living in a new place my parents thought it would be important for him to be in school so he could make friends. They approached the school district and the school gave him a Kindergarten readiness test. He passed with flying colors. (that was in WA state). Then we moved back home the next year and the public school wouldn't let him in to 1st even though he'd been to K. He therefore went through school as one of the oldest and has done fine. He didn't love repeating K but it was with a whole new peer group so he just focused on making friends.
Also, I teach at a private school that starts at 3 years old and goes up to 8th grade. We are faced with the question of sticking to the cut off date or not all the time. Over the last several years I have had only a few kids come through who are young for their grade. All of them had been at our school for a while and were truly ready for the grade they are in. We had others who we let start early as 3s and have held back since then because they didn't stay ahead of the curve. That can be hard on the child/family. So, while your child may be ahead now, and may continue to be ahead you also have to be prepared for the fact that they may not stay ahead and making the adjustment later is harder than waiting now. Teachers are taught to differentiate instruction so it's not the end of the world if your child is way ahead of their peers necessarily. Though I will agree that there are better and worse teachers out there.
This has been a huge topic over on the Parenting board lately since most of us have kids going into kindergarten next year. There are a lot of people with kids born close to the cut off that are considering holding them back an extra year. Academics are just part of kindergarten. The socialization aspect is also very important, and some parents want their child to have the extra year to mature.
DD1 is in 4K this year. Academically I think she's on par or ahead for her age, but she's still learning a lot. Besides academics, she's learning how to interact with the other kids, follow new routines, convey emotions, respond correctly to different situations, etc.
How old is your DD now? She may not be one of the oldest in her class. You might find kids with July-August birthdays that will start kindergarten at 5 years, making her somewhere in the middle in terms of age.
My thoughts are that with the number of parents holding back children, your DD may be at a disadvantage starting earlier where she could be more than a full year younger than the oldest kids. But ultimately you know your DD best, and when the time comes, you'll make the decision that's best for her.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
My ODD has a late Oct birthday and our cut-off is 9/1, so she will be starting kindy when she's almost 6. I never even considered trying to start her early, and I think the only way we could is if we did private school, which I'm not willing to do.
I was a late-Sept birthday and I went into kindy at 4. They had me takes the tests and I passed them all with no problem, so my parents figured it was no big deal starting so early. While I turned out fine, if I could do it again, I would have asked my parents to hold me back (and they agree, in hindsight) Although it's not a big deal when you're younger, it's hard as you get older. It's hard being the last to get your license, last to turn 21, going to college at 17, etc... I look back at some things I did now and know it was because I was that much younger than my peers, a year can make a big difference in maturity levels when you're a kid.
It will never hurt to hold them back but starting too early could have some negative impact. Your child will be in school for the next 13 years, why not give her one more year of real "childhood"? If you think your child will be bored, try finding some enrichment activities she can do outside of school to enhance her learning. However, I really can't imagine that she will be so bored that it will make her not like school.
This is just my opinon, coming from someone who's "been there".