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My husband and I have a big decision to make. Our daughter should be entering kindergarten next fall. She will turn 5 in June. However, her teachers just informed me that maybe she should do another year of preK. They said she might not be mature enough for Kindergarten. I have no idea what to do... Has anyone had any experience with this before? I know that it's common for boys who have summer birthdays. But June seems early. I'm worried that if I retain her then she'll be the oldest in her class. She would turn 19 right before she'll graduate high school. I'd be thankful for any advice!
DS was on the older end due to a late November B-day and DD is on the older end because due to her late August B-day we kept her home an extra year. DS is now 25 and in grad school, DD is 16 and a sophomore in high school. Not once have we ever regretted them being on the older end, that extra bit of maturity has served them both well.
If her teacher is suggesting it I would do it without hesitation - there are no drawbacks looking down the road only lots of things to gain
We held our youngest back in the 1st grade. July 22 birthday, so she'll turn 19 just after graduation. It is better to have your daughter repeat a year now then in the 3rd or 4th grade.
As PP's have said, having an extra year of preschool before Kindergarten is very common, some people even refer to it as "redshirting".
My oldest has an early Oct birthday, and the cutoff for K where I live is Oct 1st, so she had to do an extra year of pre-K although she was more than academically and socially ready. That extra year of Pre K was a complete waste of her time, and she actually went backwards.
If you have the resources to do so, you may want to consider a year of private Kindergarten, or at least try and ensure she is in a challenging Pre K program, just to keep her skills up on the academic end. In hindsight, that's what I wish we had done.
My husband and I have a big decision to make. Our daughter should be entering kindergarten next fall. She will turn 5 in June. However, her teachers just informed me that maybe she should do another year of preK. They said she might not be mature enough for Kindergarten. I have no idea what to do... Has anyone had any experience with this before? I know that it's common for boys who have summer birthdays. But June seems early. I'm worried that if I retain her then she'll be the oldest in her class. She would turn 19 right before she'll graduate high school. I'd be thankful for any advice!
Thank you.
OMYGOSH - DO IT, you will never regret it!
By high school she will be at an advantage over her less mature peers and will likely be more of a leader and less of a follower. She is also likely to be MUCH more ready for college and to take it seriously, not waste your money "figuring herself out" that first year.
I would hold her back a year. Kindergarten is no longer the extended pre school it used to be. There are greater expectations about reading, getting homework in many cases, etc. Holding off a year may help her greatly- she will be more prepared emotionally and academically.
As PP's have said, having an extra year of preschool before Kindergarten is very common, some people even refer to it as "redshirting".
My oldest has an early Oct birthday, and the cutoff for K where I live is Oct 1st, so she had to do an extra year of pre-K although she was more than academically and socially ready. That extra year of Pre K was a complete waste of her time, and she actually went backwards.
If you have the resources to do so, you may want to consider a year of private Kindergarten, or at least try and ensure she is in a challenging Pre K program, just to keep her skills up on the academic end. In hindsight, that's what I wish we had done.
I'm just curious, did you start her a year earlier than her b-day dictated in hopes that she could skirt around the rule or did something change midway through pre-k?
Neither of my kids went to pre-k, DD went from home daycare directly to K and DS went from preschool right to K at the same school - they both went to private K but when we enrolled DS in preschool he was put in his age appropriate group so that he hit K at the right time to coincide with the age rules where we lived.
I'm just curious, did you start her a year earlier than her b-day dictated in hopes that she could skirt around the rule or did something change midway through pre-k?
Neither of my kids went to pre-k, DD went from home daycare directly to K and DS went from preschool right to K at the same school - they both went to private K but when we enrolled DS in preschool he was put in his age appropriate group so that he hit K at the right time to coincide with the age rules where we lived.
No, she missed the cut-off for K as a 5 Year old because her birthday is a few days after the cut off. We didn't really have the choice. However, we always wanted her to start the following year (at 6). We wanted that extra year of maturity and wanted her to be the oldest in her class (she was, and will be, going forward).
What I regretted was that her second year of Pre K was not challenging enough for her. She is very bright and because everyone else in her class was 6-9+ months younger, they were teaching at that level. It wasn't until halfway through the year that I realized "Wow, she had better skills at X and Y last year compared to this". What I should have done is had her in a more rigorous Pre K, or a Private Kindergarten, or spent more time with her myself on on K level work. Honestly, though, I am not sure it makes much of a difference. My child is testing Advanced right now in 1st grade, but certainly not G&T. She was mature in K, but so were many others (including those younger than she is).
My youngest is a Sept birthday, and could start K just before her 5th birthday, but I already know I will have her do another year of Pre K. She definitely needs it.
Last edited by Texas Ag 93; 11-23-2014 at 10:21 PM..
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