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You are correct that the exact date varies by district. However, from my experience, kids who are younger than all the rest of the kids in their grade often do not do well. They just don't fit in, which shows that it's more than just academics. Another issue is that a lot of parents hold kids back whose birthdays are within a few months of the cut-off, more the closer to the cut-off. For example, in this district, the cut-off is Sept. 30, and most parents hold back kids with Sept. birthdays, many hold back kids with August birthdays, and more than a few hold back kids with June and July birthdays. So even if the OP finds a district that has a cut-off of Dec. 31, many kids with November and December birthdays will be held back.
I agree that younger kids often struggle more due to the other factors besides academics, which I said in my post before.
My point this time was that there is not one specific cutoff that is the only right choice.
Our district believes that you need to be 5 before Sept 1 and if the child won't be 5 until Nov 2, then they are too young to be in K.
Other districts, however believe that a child who turns 5 by Dec 1 should be in Kindergarten.
Which one is correct? Neither, in my opinion, but there has to be a base guideline.
In my experience and from talking to local K teachers, there are not really all that many that hold their kids back from their intended start date here. Perhaps that's because we seem to have the earliest cut off date. You might find 2 out of an entire class who are starting a year later than they could have. Either way, you can always have kids as far as 2 years apart in age in the same class, at in grade level. Someone will always be the youngest and someone always be the oldest.
Anyway, parents need to take everything into consideration when determining to send their child to K early, on time or late. Not just academics. And they should consider down the line issues as well including dating, driving and college.
I agree that younger kids often struggle more due to the other factors besides academics, which I said in my post before.
My point this time was that there is not one specific cutoff that is the only right choice.
Our district believes that you need to be 5 before Sept 1 and if the child won't be 5 until Nov 2, then they are too young to be in K.
Other districts, however believe that a child who turns 5 by Dec 1 should be in Kindergarten.
Which one is correct? Neither, in my opinion, but there has to be a base guideline.
In my experience and from talking to local K teachers, there are not really all that many that hold their kids back from their intended start date here. Perhaps that's because we seem to have the earliest cut off date. You might find 2 out of an entire class who are starting a year later than they could have. Either way, you can always have kids as far as 2 years apart in age in the same class, at in grade level. Someone will always be the youngest and someone always be the oldest.
Anyway, parents need to take everything into consideration when determining to send their child to K early, on time or late. Not just academics. And they should consider down the line issues as well including dating, driving and college.
This is very important. I know a several kids (males and females) who were held back, and they were driving way early. In CO it is quite fashionable to hold kids back, and yet the age for getting a learner's permit is 15 and the age for getting one's licesnse is the 16th birthday. Therefore, a few kids with May birthdays who were held back were already driving freshman year. OTOH, a late driver will not be able to join friends in driving themselves to movies, etc, and Colorado law has recently been revised to allow no passengers except family members until age 17. Also, there is a midnight curfew until age 17. The dating issue is also a concern, with older kids mingling with younger ones, and vice versa. Not always what you want for your kid. My daughter's friend who was started early (long story) got involved with a "fast" crowd her freshman year in high school when she was only 13. Drinking parties, sex, etc come in to play. I am not suggesting any particular placement, just bringing up the issues to come.
Thanks for all the reply and insights. Even though my DD is one of the youngest in her class, physically, she is one of the tallest/biggest. Everywhere we went, when people know her age, the one common quote is "She is so big". We have gotten this comment since she was 2 months old.
Would a girl feel subconcious when she is the biggest and tallest in class, if she were held back? Would this make her feel less confident?
I'm in NY where the cut off is Dec 31. Most parents don't hold their children back. If she were a boy, then I would have less concern.
Thanks for all the reply and insights. Even though my DD is one of the youngest in her class, physically, she is one of the tallest/biggest. Everywhere we went, when people know her age, the one common quote is "She is so big". We have gotten this comment since she was 2 months old.
Would a girl feel subconcious when she is the biggest and tallest in class, if she were held back? Would this make her feel less confident?
I'm in NY where the cut off is Dec 31. Most parents don't hold their children back. If she were a boy, then I would have less concern.
I don't know , the jury is still out....
She might be tallest/biggest now. But will she be tallest/biggest a couple of years down the line. Children grow at different ages.
Thanks for all the reply and insights. Even though my DD is one of the youngest in her class, physically, she is one of the tallest/biggest. Everywhere we went, when people know her age, the one common quote is "She is so big". We have gotten this comment since she was 2 months old.
Would a girl feel subconcious when she is the biggest and tallest in class, if she were held back? Would this make her feel less confident?
I'm in NY where the cut off is Dec 31. Most parents don't hold their children back. If she were a boy, then I would have less concern.
I don't know , the jury is still out....
I don't know- we have the opposite situation. My daughter is finishing 2nd grade today and is shorter than many of the kindergarteners. She does not even come up to the shoulder of one of her good friends (who is very very tall). She is visibly shorter than the average 2nd grader, and at the book fair, we were putting in names for the door prizes and a 6th grade teacher, who did not recognize her ( I guess b/c we keep the older kids in a different wing and on a different daily schedule at our school) said in this doting voice "And do you go to school here?".
Rarely and briefly it has crossed my mind that she would fit in appearance-wise more with her younger brother's grade (he is one year behind her) but then I snap myself back to reality - she is socially just right for her grade and she is academically one of the upper students in the class. So changing her placement based on her size would be a terrible idea.
I can't tell you what to do in your situation, but in ours consideration of physical size has to be ignored. By the time she is a senior in HS she will likely be her full adult height, which will most likely be a lot shorter than the average person anyway. Based on the heights in our family and her height now, the pediatrician predicts she will be maybe 5 feet tall. So she is going to have to be used to being shorter than everyone anyway.
I went to Kindergarten at 4 (turned 5 in March). This was fine for me until jr. high when I was simply not interested in the same things as the other kids were. Academically, I was always in the highest classes, but jr. high was the worst time of my life and hs was not great because I was a *nerd* and not one of the popular kids.
My son went to K at 6. He was physically small and socially immature though academically he was extremely gifted especially in math and science. Luckily his school had ways of keeping up with him academically (he was cross-teamed for math most years). Even with keeping him back the extra year, he had bully problems in elementary school because of his size. His experience though was that every year got better and by high school he had found his niche.
My daughter went to K at 5. She also had no problems academically and was socially in good standing until 6th grade when her *friends* began to cut her due to wealth and status issues. I switched her to another school across town for 7th grade and she is still friends with her locker partner from that school at 35.
It all washed out in the end, btw. We are all successful and happy as adults.
You cannot really predict what will happen for your daughter, so look at what is true of her now. Is she socially mature? The academics will come, but the social maturity and ability to adjust to school are more important for her first experience, imNsho.
You can't tell who will be in the classroom until school starts. Many parents don't look at the concept of their child being six in kindergarten as "holding them out" a year; they just believe their six-year-old will have more advantages. You just can't predict if your child will be competing against kids who are a year older than she....and a year makes a BIG difference when you're four or five.
Our daughter repeated kindergarten and she was fine. I wish I'd held her out a year instead but she passed all the school's Pre-K academic tests and they said she was "ready" (possibly academically...but she turned out not to be socially.)
I am both a mom of three and a kindergarten teacher (27 years in Public Pre-K, K and 1st).
I agree with most of the others. Generally the older children do much better and I don't just mean academically. There is a lot to be said for maturity. We can actually tell the difference most of the time between a child born in the fall and one born in the summer (our cutoff is September 1), no matter how bright the child is.
A good kindergarten teacher should not allow her to be bored. Teachers who provide lots of hands on learning experiences, opportunities for play and creativity, both indoors and out, among other things like cooking, science experiments, read alouds and field trips, will not have bored students.
You didn't say what your dd's nursery school is doing in the way of teaching, but it sounds like they might be very academic. Many of those types of schools focus a lot on writing, reading and math readiness, etc. and not very much on developmentally appropriate activities like the ones I mentioned above. Hopefully she is in a pre-school where she is learning mostly by hands on activities and play. I would be concerned if she is doing a lot of worksheets, if they have desks, require time at the computer (they should provide and allow it, but not require it at her age) or any other similar things. I would strongly consider another type of pre-school for next year if that is the case.
Just my opinion!
Nancy
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