Kindergarten (Kelly: middle school, transit, teacher)

[AJ1972]

Is it full day or half?
In Florida it's a full day, but I have heard that some states still do half days.
What about Wake County?

[lamishra]

It is full day in Wake.

[AJ1972]

As much as I'd love only half day (meaning more time with my baby), I kinda figured if any County would have a full day it would be Wake. With your schools being so good, and a top notch area for Education, I couldn't imagine Wake allowing Kindergarten to only be half a day. LOL

[weluvwakeforest]

It's a full day here, as are the majority of the private schools.

One thing to keep in mind, the cut off date for kindergarten is changing beginning with either the 2008 or 2009 school year.

Currently, a child must be 5 years old ON or BEFORE October 16th.

The new cut off date will be the child must be 5 years old ON or BEFORE August 30th.

With the exception of YR's, this pretty much guarantees children will be 5 years old when they begin Kindergarten.

That's fine... the only thing is this : SOMEBODY has to be the youngest, ya know? If the cutoff date is in August, some folks will start holding back their very capable summer babies in order to avoid "being the youngest."

More and more kids may not even be starting kindergarten until they are nearly six, but since they've pretty much taken the kinder out of kindergarten, this may not be a bad thing.. overall....

These same children, would have been deemed "perfect" under the old cut-off date..

Guess we'll see more and more kids turning 18 and beginning their SENIOR years, not graduating until they are nearly 19. Weird for me, being I graduated at 17 and loved it.. but that was a long time ago.. in a galaxy far, far away.

It doesn't effect me though.. good thing.. my child will be one of those graduating at 17, under the new rules she would have missed the cut off by a few days, and that would have been a shame....

[AJ1972]

My son misses ALL cut offs LOL.
He turns 5 this year....Dec 7th.
So I get him one more year.

My daughter is actually August 1st, so it looks like by the time she's 5,
she'll just make it.

[sundaze]

Some kids really aren't ready for kindergarten yet the first year they are eligible. It isn't about being the youngest, or about being intelligent (although younger children may be more likely to lack readiness.) Minimum dates are based on when most children are deemed ready for kindergarten but some are not. I think you have to look at the individual child. There are some lists of skills children should have to be ready for kindergarten. However, I think most parents know if their child seems a bit "younger" than others the same age.

[weluvwakeforest]

.) Minimum dates are based on when most children are deemed ready for kindergarten but some are not. I think you have to look at the individual child. There are some lists of skills children should have to be ready for kindergarten. However, I think most parents know if their child seems a bit "younger" than others the same age.

I still maintain will the cutoff date is moved to August 30th, people with children born in June or July will consider holding their kids back another year in order to avoid being the youngest, where are most - not all of these children (in the past) would have turned 5 during the summer and started kindergarten in August.

Way back when, I knew oodles of people with September babies, and they chose to hold their kids back.. because they feared their child would be the youngest... not due to maturity/social readiness (which is monumental, IMO).. but simply to avoid being the youngest in the class.

Really, at the end of the day it doesn't matter.

The only issue I see, is holding a summer baby back, the child has academic issues and repeats a grade.. then that kid is like not out of high school until 20 !!!! But they'd still survive

[KellyCrash]

My daughter will start kindergarten at 4 years old!!

I'm a bit freaked out about it actually. It really bothers me that so many parents of summer kids are holding them back because we're sending ours. I think she's more than ready although adjusting to an all day situation is going to be rough I'm sure. I just wish more people would send their kids so she's not alone in being young, ya know? Oh well.

[weluvwakeforest]

Originally Posted by KellyCrash

My daughter will start kindergarten at 4 years old!!

I'm a bit freaked out about it actually. It really bothers me that so many parents of summer kids are holding them back because we're sending ours. I think she's more than ready although adjusting to an all day situation is going to be rough I'm sure. I just wish more people would send their kids so she's not alone in being young, ya know? Oh well.

Our dd also started at 4 years old, she turned 5 in September. It worked for us, and I respect other peoples decision about their kids. Some aren't ready it - I believe as parents we instinctly know what to do.

Those of us with children around the cut off date always struggle what to do.... they say when in doubt, hold back.

I read an article in Newsweek a few years ago, that so many boys are being held back they'll soon have a majority starting to shave in middle school (tongue and cheek here).

[sls76]

Our daughter will start when she's 4 too. Her birthday is in September. I just had my parent teacher conference and her teacher (who recommended almost half her class do a year of transition) told me she was absolutely ready socially and academically. My choice then is I can hold her back and have her at the very top of her class in a system that I don't believe does a good job with gifted children or I can let her go and be one of the youngest. Also, I grew up in CT where the cutoff is December 31. My close group of friends for some reason mainly consisted of girls born in October, November and December (and somehow a few born in January that must have been tested to get into Kindergarten early). We all excelled academically and socially. Also, I've heard that a 6 year old girl is about 6 months ahead of a 6 year old boy.

As far as the half day thing goes, I wouldn't personally think there's a correlation between good school systems and full day kindergarten (I can think of many much better school systems than Wake County that do half day), but that's me.