TTMA young kindergardeners

[chelsmat]

DD is supposed to start kinder in the fall. Her bday is 8/2 so she will turn 5 like a week before school starts. DH and I keep going back and forth about giving her an extra year of preschool to grow before starting school. Her current preschool teacher said she could go either way. She said she is young but could do the work. Anyone stay their little young? Did it work? Anyone red shirt their kindergardener? Are you glad you did?

[expectantsteelerfan]

My daughter's bday is 9/16, so she missed the cutoff to start kinder last year and started this year right before she turned 6. She was SO ready last year, and we considered testing her to see if they'd let her start early, but ultimately went with starting her when she was 'supposed' to.

You know how you never hear about people who regret holding their kids back, but some regret starting them early? I still worry I might be someone who regrets not starting her earlier. She is really bored in kindergarten and has trouble understanding why the other kids can't do the stuff she can, and she refuses to do the work that is 'too easy' for her. Her teacher has her going to enrichment and tries to give her stuff that is more challenging.

My son's birthday is 7/31, so he started kindergarten about a month after turning 5. He is one of the youngest in his grade as we live in an area where a lot of people wait for kids with summer birthdays (our next door neighbor is like 10 days older than him, but a grade younger). I saw no reason to hold him back. He's always been immature for his age, and has since been diagnosed ADHD, but academically he's never had an issue (he's in 3rd now), so I don't really think holding him back would have done him any favors.

[lexus]

From the teacher perspective, you can always tell which kids started early. Often in transition years it’s most obvious. When I taught sixth grade those were kids who cried in class while rest of the class was able to have more control of their emotions. When I taught ninth grade, those are the students who will do anything to get the attention of their classmates. Often this isolated them further (because the others are annoyed) or could potentially be bad for them (since they are so desperate for approval). Of course I have seen young students do fine but that is the exception not the rule.

[MDmomof2]

When is your school's cut off? I live in an area where people do not typically red shirt their kids. If your kid makes the cut off (9/1 for us) you go. My kids have fall birthdays so they are among the oldest in their classes, but the younger kids in their classes seem to be doing fine. My DD is in GT and there's a wide age range in her group there. If her peers won't be red shirted, you might consider sending her so she's age appropriate. Another thing to consider is that she's had pre-school for at least a few years. Kids in pre-school are better prepared for kindergarten. Lastly, she's a girl. It's a stereotype that girls do better in school than boys, but I have seen it over and over again to be true. This is a decision that only you can make, but I would send her.

[momin2013]

Unless a professional has advised you to hold her back, I strongly advise sending her on time. Please read the most recent thread on this issue on MMM for the reasons why: pandce.proboards.com/thread/592231/pre-readiness

(FTR, this issue is re-hashed what seems like once a year over there, and the answers are always the same)

[CrazyLucky]

DD is a July birthday. I'm not sure how much difference a month makes at this age. We sent her, but a lot of people in my area with summer babies hold their kids back. Actually now that I think about it, I only know boys who were kept back. I'd send her if I were you (but wouldn't judge if you didn't). Worst case is that she isn't ready and has to repeat Kindergarten.
Back in my day (lol) there was no such thing as redshirting. Our high school valedictorian had an August birthday and 3 of the top 5 were summer kids.

[dizzycooks]

I would send her, but I have a problem with redshirting. My dd1 is one of the youngest in her class and she just turned 6. It annoys the heck out of me.
I was an August bday and I started college during H.S., I was 15 when I took my placement tests and I turned out fine. Obviously not the case for everyone, but school is the only time in your life you’re grouped with people your exact same age. It doesn’t hurt to figure out how to navigate things sooner than adulthood. Barring academic or emotional concerns from the school, I wouldn’t give it a second thought.

[penguingrrl]

My oldest is 8/30 with a 9/30 cut off. We didn’t even consider red shirting her, nor would we have. She has done very well despite being 16+ months younger than some of her classmates who were held back.

From a global standpoint I’m firmly opposed to redshirting as it has had terrible implications on families for whom that luxury isn’t available. I think that the school sets the dates and parents should follow them. I love that in NYC it’s not allowed. Since K isn’t mandatory if you try to redshirt and sign a kid up for K whose age places them in 1st they’re enrolled in first grade (and this is well known and publicized).

[auroraloo]

I have issues with red shirting. DS is an Aug 21st birthday and we started him this year. He's fine. He's doing well.

Red shirting is only a thing in affluent communities. It is a privilege that contributes the achievement gap, IMO. I have a friend who red shirted her March daughter. Our cutoff is 9/1. It is ridiculous.

[waverly]

Just lurking for a minute. DS missed the cut off by 5 weeks. I considered asking the district to take him early, but they wouldn't have anyway. He is doing great, but the district does have differentiated learning, so he is able to keep going in math and reading at his own level. He ended up doing almost two years of K because he did kind of a transitional early 5's program the year before.

I've had a friend that sent hers on time (late August birthday) because it was cheaper than daycare. It ended up going OK, not great, so she repeated K, but it ended up not being a huge deal.

I was one of those that went to school at 4 back when the cut offs used to be later, and I did great. It's really dependent on each child. I would lean towards sending my child and seeing how they do. I am not a fan of red shirting, but both my kids have later birthdays, so it didn't end up being a question I had to ask myself since DS is considered to be going on time.

[court26]

We have a Dec 1 cutoff (which I hate) and we sent our 10/28 baby on time. I will admit that while he was, and still is on target for academics, I cried at his parent teacher conference last year (3rd grade) because I felt we did the wrong thing sending him when I did. The teacher assured me that all 3rd grade boys are immature and that he was doing well emotionally and socially. He is also small for his age which doesn't help! As a side note, DH and I were both fall babies and "young" when we started school. Neither of us have any negative feelings about it.

[erbear]

Teacher here: There is no need to redshirt a younger kid unless there are concerns academically or behaviorally. Put your kids in the grade in which they belong.

[cabbagecabbage]

My kid is mid August and is thriving in kindergarten. Her preschool curriculum was letter sounds and writing her name. She is currently reading complex sentences, writing paragraphs, and doing subtraction and graphing. She would be at a disadvantage if she was doing that pre-k stuff this year and possibly acting out or being bored. I feel like even on the border of ready, a teacher who has specialized knowledge of development and young kids will give your kid so much more in a challenging arena than a preschool teacher who is less likely to have early childhood expertise and won’t be challenging their brains to learn. Even if emotional readiness is the issue, I feel a good teacher will help more than a second go at preschool.

[honeydew1894]

We were in the same boat with DS, birthday of 8/22. Academically, we knew he was ready so we sent him. We also knew he is immature, and that has been an issue. We suspected it would be, and it is. We are riding it out, but it has not been easy.

[jag01]

Feb 2, 2018 14:42:59 GMT -5 cabbagecabbage said:

My kid is mid August and is thriving in kindergarten. Her preschool curriculum was letter sounds and writing her name. She is currently reading complex sentences, writing paragraphs, and doing subtraction and graphing. She would be at a disadvantage if she was doing that pre-k stuff this year and possibly acting out or being bored. I feel like even on the border of ready, a teacher who has specialized knowledge of development and young kids will give your kid so much more in a challenging arena than a preschool teacher who is less likely to have early childhood expertise and won’t be challenging their brains to learn. Even if emotional readiness is the issue, I feel a good teacher will help more than a second go at preschool.

They are doing all of this in kindergarten?! It’s so funny how the curriculum is so different than ours. They don’t learn that stuff till grade 1 here. In kindergarten they learn their letters and numbers 1-5.

[momin2013]

Huh. DS is doing a lot of the stuff listed above in JK (short of writing paragraphs). They've done different types of graphing, the letters, writing their name, reading sentences, and addition and subtraction so far.

[cabbagecabbage]

Feb 3, 2018 8:45:21 GMT -5 jag01 said:

Feb 2, 2018 14:42:59 GMT -5 cabbagecabbage said:

My kid is mid August and is thriving in kindergarten. Her preschool curriculum was letter sounds and writing her name. She is currently reading complex sentences, writing paragraphs, and doing subtraction and graphing. She would be at a disadvantage if she was doing that pre-k stuff this year and possibly acting out or being bored. I feel like even on the border of ready, a teacher who has specialized knowledge of development and young kids will give your kid so much more in a challenging arena than a preschool teacher who is less likely to have early childhood expertise and won’t be challenging their brains to learn. Even if emotional readiness is the issue, I feel a good teacher will help more than a second go at preschool.

They are doing all of this in kindergarten?! It’s so funny how the curriculum is so different than ours. They don’t learn that stuff till grade 1 here. In kindergarten they learn their letters and numbers 1-5.

It seems pretty standard to everyone I know. They do a lot of play based learning and their math uses toys, stickers, paint, etc. but absolutely and they soak it up.

[mrspez07]

I have two boys with summer birthdays (August, July) who are thriving as some of the youngest in their classes. They were both so ready to leave preschool, they couldn’t have kept them interested for another year! That should be as much a part of your decision as going to kinder.
Both of my boys are tall, but I did notice in 1st-2nd withDS1 and his best buds who are 10 months older that the coordination/motor skills were different, but mostly associated with football catching and playground bravery. I don’t see it as much now in 3rd grade, maybe some but those kids are also often in different age brackets in organized sports.
I’m guessing we’ll see them fall behind on height and maturity as the older kids hit their growth spurts in 8-9 grade.

[lolalolalola]

Oh lord, put your kid in the grade they belong SOMEONE HAS TO BE THE YOUNGEST.

Both my kids are December born, and routinely have kids in their class who are 15 months older than them because parents didn't want their precious kids to be disadvantaged. It pisses me off. And our cutoff isn't until March 1. 

For the record they are in 5th and 7th grade and are both doing very well in school and socially. My 7th grader is doing 9th grade work! If she was a year behind, she would be so incredibly bored. 

[cabbagecabbage]

I want to say that I’m tired of hearing “Giving a child the gift of an extra year.” Why not give a child the gift of a challenging and age appropriate learning environment? They’ll get that year when they graduate high school or college nice and young.