Advice on Kindergarten

I just received something on this topic from my son's preschool. It said that NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) feels that "Kindergarten entry should be based on chronological age, not on mastery of skills." You can read their whole position statement on school readiness at
www.naeyc.org/about/positions/pdf/psready98.pdf.

My son will be 5 1/2 when he starts because he has a December birthday. My daughter started kindergarten while she was still four (November birthday) and is 6 now and in first grade. She's doing wonderfully.

Good luck with your decision.

M....Liz M.'s summary of the NAEYC article is not accurate. Please read it for yourself.

We are in a similar situation. My daughter will be 5 in July (close to the Sept. 1st cut-off). We really love the preschool that she is in. She has no developmental delays, but we feel that she needs an extra year before starting K. So we aren't enrolling her until next year...She will have 2 years of preschool under her belt before entering K. We do not have any peers in our neighborhood that are the same age as my daughter. Her friends from preschool will also be entering K at the same time my daughter is...So that helped sway our decision too.

I would only send your son if all of his peers in your neighborhood were also entering K this fall. He should stick with his peer group as far as when to start K. Also, if you aren't set with a terrific preschool as an alternative to K this year, then send him to K.

We love the benefits that our daughter will be receiving this next year in preschool. So we feel that it will benefit her in the long run to delay her entry.

Ultimately it is up to you. Don't worry about what other people think. Do what you know in your heart feels right. You are his mom, and you know what's best for your child. It is easy to get swayed by other people's thoughts on what is correct/standard. Just wade through all of that, and decide based on your child alone...not on what other people are doing.

I would say to send him. If he can't handle it, the school will know. Since the Kindergarten school thinks he is fine, he probably will do great. He might be one of the youngest in the class, but that it not always a bad thing.

Sounds like the exact post I made a year ago. My son will be 6 on August 21st. We sent him to kindergarten. He too was immature and had problems with his fine motor. Our school district has a wonderful OT program call the "hands" program which he attends once a week and my son has gone from not even wanting to hold a crayon to writing stories in no time. As for immaturity- on the advise of a therapist she said send him. Children mirror themselves to their peers, if we put him back in a class of 4 yr olds, he was going to act like a 4yr old and we would only delay his maturity a year. And it is true. There has been a REMARKABLE change in him and his dependance since starting Kindergarten.
She also told us to "interview" the teachers and sit in on a few kindergarten classes. Pick the best teacher suited for your childs needs. You pay the taxes. You have the right to the best education for your child. These schools have all the resources available to make your child successful in school. Explore them. I am VERY happy with the decision my husband and I made and I know my son is too.

M.-

My advice? Do EVERYTHING you can to ensure that he is ready to go to Kindergarten with his peers. There seems to be a trend to keep kids, especially boys, back a year so that they can "mature" or be more "athletic". If kids need help, get them the help but unless there is a medical reason, you should keep him with his peers.

As a side note, a friend of mine held her son back which she had planned on doing for over a year and now she is miserable with her decision. Her son was socially behind but cognitively where he needed to be so she held him back. Now he is the tallest boy in his class and bored. She is trying to get him with his peers again but the school won't let her and as a result, she is now in a position where she is having to change schools and go from a public school to a private. Long story short, based on her experience, if you are concerned...do everything you can and then start him with his peers. If the school is concerned by his lack of progress they will either provide resources to help your child (no child left behind law) or they will encourage you to drop him back a grade. Either way, I would advocate not holding him back at this point. It really is very early to tell.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
N.

I too have a summer boy. And whatever decision you make, you will not feel 100% at ease. We have a personal friend who just retired as a reading specialist and we expressed our concerns to her and she felt that many younger 5's, mainly boys, do benefit by starting kindergarten a year later. Even though our son has made great strides in learning his alphabet and numbers, he's immature & very sensitive. The last thing we want is for him to become frustrated with his educational experience at such a young age or to be disruptive in the k-class because he isn't ready for a more structured environment. Much like your district, 220 is very competitive and forward thinking. We also feel that if he should show signs of boredom once he gets into kindergarten they would be able to challenge him, as they SHOULD be trained to spot these situations. He is scheduled to attend a pre-k program in the village for the fall. He will be in there with other summer boys and all we can do is know that we tried to do the right thing for OUR son. It sure beats putting him in on time and potentially having to hold him back if things don't work out.