When will you send your LO to school?

BlueBird72011 · March 2012

Being July birthdays this will definitely be a topic of discussion for when to start school, like kindergarten. This has been a huge topic for my family. My nephew is a July 28 birthday and my sister basically sent him to kindergarten the day after her turned 5 to avoid paying for childcare (in the south school starts in early August and it is very typical for people to hold their kids with late birthday, and a late birthday could be as "early" as May!!) So my nephew goes to school with kids that are almost a whole year older then him.

Personally I think it depends on the kid, my nephew would have benefited from another year of preschool to develop more socially. I know a lot of families that try to "bred" a fall baby so they can start late and have an upper hand in sports.

Being that DD's birthday is the 20th I think we will wait to start her, since we will probably live in the south and school starts so early here.

What will or did you do?

swimiz500 · March 2012

Agreed, it does depend a lot on the kid. I started school at 4, was 4 until the end of November. I did just fine academically (even better than fine), but socially was rough. I still think I will start her at 5, if she is anything like I was. I would have been so bored had my parents waited. So I guess as it stands, I am planning for when she is 5, so like, 2016.

lisamoe · March 2012

Honestly, I couldn't make that decision now. I have to see where DS is as far a social developement. I have no idea if he will be ready yet, we will just have to wait and see.

lucylea · March 2012

lisamoe:
Honestly, I couldn't make that decision now. I have to see where DS is as far a social developement. I have no idea if he will be ready yet, we will just have to wait and see.

This. We have friends who had a baby a week after us and they had made the decision to "red shirt" before he was even born since he has a July birthday. I think its ridiculous to even consider making a decision until you are closer to the time to register for kindergarten. DD could have started kindergarten this year based on academic and social milestones (at age 3.5) but obviously we will wait until she is 5. If DS follows her he would be bored out of his mind staying in preschool any longer than absolutely necessary. However, as a PP pointed out boys do tend to lag a lot of times so its completely possible we will wait. I will make the decision over the winter before he turns 5 using the guidance of our pediatrician, my parental instincts, and his preschool teachers.

weebos8 · March 2012

lucylea:
lisamoe:
Honestly, I couldn't make that decision now. I have to see where DS is as far a social developement. I have no idea if he will be ready yet, we will just have to wait and see.
This. We have friends who had a baby a week after us and they had made the decision to "red shirt" before he was even born since he has a July birthday. I think its ridiculous to even consider making a decision until you are closer to the time to register for kindergarten. DD could have started kindergarten this year based on academic and social milestones (at age 3.5) but obviously we will wait until she is 5. If DS follows her he would be bored out of his mind staying in preschool any longer than absolutely necessary. However, as a PP pointed out boys do tend to lag a lot of times so its completely possible we will wait. I will make the decision over the winter before he turns 5 using the guidance of our pediatrician, my parental instincts, and his preschool teachers.

I agree completely; I just believe it's too early to tell.

Saltina11 · March 2012

She will have just turned 5 when we send her. Isn't that the normal age for a kindergartener?

If she needs to be held back, so be it but I'm going to at least give her the chance.

aimeelynn116 · March 2012

As of right now I plan on sending him when he's 5 which I thought was the norm. I started when I was 4 but I was born in November and I did just fine. I'm happy in the long run that my parents sent me early.

Deblondie1 · March 2012

DD's birthday is in Apr so she will start the fall after her 5th birthday. Which I had always thought wasvthe norm? FWIW my brother started days after his 5th birthday and was fine. I've never understood 'redshirting' a child.

Nutrguru · March 2012

I agree it depends on a boy or girl. Studies have show boys and girls learn differently so it's better start girls earlier and they reccomend boys on the later end. It had to do with learning styles, and the hormones/puberty later on.

boogerbearoriginal · March 2012

I plan to send DS to kindergarten when he turns 5, and plan to do 1/2 days in preschool at 4 too.

My bday is the 22nd of July, and I was 17 when I graduated so I was among the youngest in my class. It didn't impact me socially or academically other than being sad I had to wait to drive lol.

Not too long ago I read something about the drawbacks to redshirting, especially for sports advantage. That it actually isn't the great advantage for sports or academically, especially as the kids get older. Basically it's a bad idea because kids need to be challenged both in physical and mental tasks to excel. Obviously if the child is struggling that's a different scenario.

LauraLynneC · March 2012

Was just looking at cut off dates and application deadlines (we're doing private school). We'll need to apply by January 2013 for preschool in the fall of '13. That means he'll enter K right after his 5th birthday. (the school has preschool, pre-K, and then K/1st grade combined)

Little&BigPea · March 2012

We are going to start pre-school at age 4 and see how she is adjusting in pre-school. If the pre-school instructor and us feel that she is ready to enter kindergarten then we'll enroll her when she is 5. If we don't think she is ready we'll do another year of pre-school and then start kindergarten.

My birthday is in September, right after Labor day, and I started before I was 5 and then had to do kindergarten twice, because I was not developmentally ready. All through elementary and middle school I hated birthday time because I was always older and, being a kid, I felt I had to tell people I was held back in kindergarten. It was a little emotionally scaring for me. I would rather DD do pre-school twice and be a ready and adjusted for kindergarten then to do what I did. Lots of kids do pre-school for multiple years before starting kindergarten.

Teresa1896 · March 2012

In our district, you have to be 5 by Oct 1 to enter kdg, unless you pay for testing to test in earlier. When i was little, we started school at 4, and we've always been the youngest in our class (sorry to say "we," I'm a twin). :-) They used to be more flexible with ages for kdg entry when I was little, but they've tightened up their policies considerably over the last 25 years.

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