Waiting to send a child to kindergarten?

[Mimomof3boys]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with waiting to send their child to school? Our middle son is a September baby. He will be four this year and in the next year my hubby and I need to decide what we are going to do. He is suppose to go to school Sept 2008. We are thinking of holding him back a year. In Michigan the cut off for Kindergarten is December 1st.  My son will start preschool this upcoming fall (sept 2007) he is only going two days a week. If we don't send him to Kindergarten next year we will put him in an early fives program. I have spoke with numerous teachers on the matter. They all basically say the same thing. They (the teachers) have never heard of anyone regretting not sending their child...but have heard numerous regrets when they did send them and then had to hold them back a year. Any parents out there that have done this please give me any feedback so I can make an informed descion! Thankyou!
Jenni

[phillymama25]

I'm having almost the same problem. I have a 4 year old son who won't be 5 until December 11th. Our cut off here in PA is September 1st.  He'll be almost 6 by the time he gets to go to kindergarten. I'm not sure if I can test him in early or not. I just think it's a shame to make him wait out a whole year just because he has a late birthday. :-(

[bits78]

I think if you have any doubts at all about sending him to kindergarten then you should hold back for one year.  The other thing to consider besides he is a sept baby is that he is also a boy and they say they take a little longer to mature so that should be something else to think about- can he sit and learn ( what child can) but seriously my son's bday is in June and we were worried about the same thing.  The teachers were all confident for him going forward so we listened and everything has been fine but we were all ready to hold my son or his sister back should there have been a question about them succeeding- they are both summer birthdays. 

Far better to have him start late then making him redo a grade and that grade may not necessarily be kindergarten it might be  a grade higher up where the other kids will notice.

[riotgrrl]

I have an August birthday and started school on my fifth birthday. I was a very bright and high-achieving child. It was hard to keep me challenged by school anyway, I can't imagine if I had been that much more advanced by being a year older how the school would have kept me engaged. My son is a July birthday and also one of the youngest in his first grade class (we have an October cut off). Like me, he is already in the tip-top of his class, really he's ready for second or third grade work but emotionally still a first grader.

At your son's age, I think it is too soon to tell. See how preschool goes. See if he is doing well and ready, willing, and able to learn, and socially adept. There's no one-size-fits-all solution for when kids are ready to go to school, use your judgement to see if your child is ready when it gets closer.

[krielly]

Definitely see how preschool goes. A lot of kids with fall birthdays have parents who wait a year. But there's a girl in Meredith's class who has a Nov birthday (turned 5) and she's doing better than a lot of the winter/spring birthdays. Talk to his preschool teacher too, they're supposed to evaluate them as far as emotionally they'd be ready.

[RArnold18]

Emmett is was a September baby, and I struggled with the decision to send him to Kindergarten early or keep him in preschool for another year.  I spoke with the director of the Preschool who has been in child care for 30 years and she told me that boys mature slower than girls and her advise was to keep him in  Preschool so he could have an extra year to grow both physically and mentally ( Emmett is really small for his age he just turned 7 and just broke 40lbs last month). After getting a few other opinions from family and the doctor thats what I did. I kept him at home and in preschool. I feel it's the best thing I could of done for him. 

[40isfun]

Let your child be  your guide.  And also ask the teachers in his pre-school class what they think.  Here in Maryland the cut-off is Setpember 1 and I'm glad.  My daughter started kindergarten when she was 4 because back then the cut-off was December.  I really wish we had waited a year.

Christi

[Maryellen]

Here school starts around the third week of August and my son won't turn five till the 31st of August. The cut off date is September 5th. So when he starts kindergarten he will still be four. So I'm having the same struggle as you. Do I send him at four (almost 5) or wait another year till he's five (almost 6). I put him in three year old preschool this year (he was still 2 when it started). The first couple of weeks were hard but he has really grown and learned alot. So, I'm gonna wait and see how things are next year (2008) and if I don't feel he's ready, then I'll keep him home for another year. I would rather have him start later and do really well, than start him too soon and have to hold him back at the end of the year.  I say just do whatever you feel is best for your son. You know him better than anyone.

[SixPakMom]

My son's b-day is in November. The year he turned five, I was told that he tested to high to go into the pre-k program. The choice was to send him to kindergarten at four years old, or keep him out of school for another year. He really wanted to go, and with five siblings I figured he was socially capable of going. Boy, was I wrong! School started the beginning of August and by October I had pulled him out after talking to his teacher and the principal about it. The principal (who used to work with middle schooler) made the observation that boys who start school early often are not ready socially and that by middle school, they are a year behind other boys and aren't going through puberty at the same time, which can lead to teasing and feelings of being "different". Being "different" at that age can be quite rough on kids. I would think that being a year older than most of the other boys would cause similar problems. My opinion would be to send your son to kindergarten the year he will turn six.

[supermom74]

My almost 4 yr old son will start the year he turns 5 but his birthday is in Feb so he will get to start a few months  after he turns 5 so I guess it's ok if you hold back  and send  yours a year late. I wish I had waited and done that with my oldest now, maybe we wouldn't be repeating 1st grade again. That one mom was right boys are late developers. 

[controlledchaos]

Quoting phillymama25:

I'm having almost the same problem. I have a 4 year old son who won't be 5 until December 11th. Our cut off here in PA is September 1st.  He'll be almost 6 by the time he gets to go to kindergarten. I'm not sure if I can test him in early or not. I just think it's a shame to make him wait out a whole year just because he has a late birthday. :-(

i too am in PA and my son turned 5 oct 24th last year so he waited and is now in kindergarten and of course turned 6 soon after it started.  one downfall I see to late starters ismy son is bored after being home for alittle while and is mentally ready for an all day program (K is only 1/2day in my district)
but i have heard about being able to test them in early just not sure how that works.