Don't focus on "is he ready for kindergarten?". That isn't where any potential issues will come up. Wait a year, you won't regret it.
Kindergarten redshirt
- Thread starter MartyMcCy
- Start date
I asked this about 10 years ago, and the general consensus is no disadvantage to wait. In my situation, my son has an April birthday, but his mom and I split up the year he was going to start. With everything going on, we waited the extra year, so he is the oldest in his class, and he does not like it now, but I think all in all it was a good thing.
There is no hard and fast rule, a lot of it is the individual child. When our oldest was in preschool, there were four kids with May birthdays. She was the only one of the 4 who went to kindergarten (1 boy, 2 girls waited a year). Even with a mid-May birthday she is one of the youngest in her class, but there was no question she was academically and socially ready to start school. Now in 5th grade she is one of the more mature girls and at the top of her class academically.
Our second daughter has a mid-August birthday. She turned 5 a week before school started. There was no way she was physically or socially/emotionally ready for a full day of school. Fortunately Ames has an Early Kindergarten program (we had to open enroll to Ames, at the time Gilbert didn't have this; they do now). You have to be kindergarten eligible age-wise and it is a kindergarten curriculum, but is geared towards those kids who may need an extra year before actual kindergarten. She went a 1/2 day. We saw so much growth in her that year, it was the best thing for her. Then she went to kindergarten full time at our home school district the following year. Since it is kindergarten, kids can go straight to first grade after early kindergarten but I would say the majority go to kindergarten after. It is more than preschool, but not quite the rigorous all day kindergarten most schools have now.
She was born with health issues and will always be the smallest in her class. Even though she is a full year or more older than her peers, she is one of the smallest in class. There is about zero chance she will be the first with boobs in her class.
She is bright, but our school is very good about challenging individual students if they are above the classroom curriculum so she isn't bored. She missed 2 weeks of 2nd grade in the fall (related to her health issues) and had no problem coming in and catching up quickly. She is not athletically inclined so she will have no advantage being the oldest on that front.
My husband was a late June birthday and was one of the youngest in his class. He did just fine, I can't imagine him being a year later. He graduated top of his class and did chemical engineering here at ISU.
If you are questioning at all, I would lean towards waiting.
Our second daughter has a mid-August birthday. She turned 5 a week before school started. There was no way she was physically or socially/emotionally ready for a full day of school. Fortunately Ames has an Early Kindergarten program (we had to open enroll to Ames, at the time Gilbert didn't have this; they do now). You have to be kindergarten eligible age-wise and it is a kindergarten curriculum, but is geared towards those kids who may need an extra year before actual kindergarten. She went a 1/2 day. We saw so much growth in her that year, it was the best thing for her. Then she went to kindergarten full time at our home school district the following year. Since it is kindergarten, kids can go straight to first grade after early kindergarten but I would say the majority go to kindergarten after. It is more than preschool, but not quite the rigorous all day kindergarten most schools have now.
She was born with health issues and will always be the smallest in her class. Even though she is a full year or more older than her peers, she is one of the smallest in class. There is about zero chance she will be the first with boobs in her class.
She is bright, but our school is very good about challenging individual students if they are above the classroom curriculum so she isn't bored. She missed 2 weeks of 2nd grade in the fall (related to her health issues) and had no problem coming in and catching up quickly. She is not athletically inclined so she will have no advantage being the oldest on that front.My husband was a late June birthday and was one of the youngest in his class. He did just fine, I can't imagine him being a year later. He graduated top of his class and did chemical engineering here at ISU.
If you are questioning at all, I would lean towards waiting.
so my nephew turned 5 his second week of Kindergarten. I thought his parents should have waited a year so he turned 6 early on in K.
so now he is 6, in first grade, and has already needed some extra help with reading because he was falling behind. A big reason why his parents wanted him to start as early as possible was so my future SIL could get a new car instead of paying one more year of preschool.
so now he is 6, in first grade, and has already needed some extra help with reading because he was falling behind. A big reason why his parents wanted him to start as early as possible was so my future SIL could get a new car instead of paying one more year of preschool.
Of course I don't have the research in front of me, but a friend of mine and his wife are having this same discussion. Basically, from an academic standpoint, it's been shown it all even's out by about middle school (no one is further ahead/behind).
It's usually more of a social thing....i.e. your kid is the first with a mustache in his class or a foot shorter than the other guys.
It's usually more of a social thing....i.e. your kid is the first with a mustache in his class or a foot shorter than the other guys.
I would say looking back socially is the biggest difference. I was a year younger and a year slower to mature as well which sucked. I did alright but it was a bit of a double whammy that could be tough to deal with. I got a ton of crap for having a high pitched voice, didn't get braces until mid-late high school because I hadn't lost baby teeth yet, ect.
I was a July birthday and when I went to Kindergarten round up they tried to talk my Mom into starting me in first grade because my older brothers and sisters and parents had already taught me so much. She said no because she was concerned that I would be so much younger than my classmates. In the end I was pretty bored for much of school but I would have been way behind physically. As it was I really didn't get any coordination until my senior year - too late to really make a difference for me in sports.
I have a co-worker who decided to hold back her July birthday son and start him later. It worked out well for them. We debated starting our February birthday son late due to some slowed development because of medical issues, but decided against it. He is still struggling a bit in Kindergarten, but he would have been ridiculously bored in another year of pre-school. I'm not sure if that would have really helped him. Even if he has to be held back a grade he probably will be much better off due to how much he has been able to learn and how far he has come in the last year.
I have a co-worker who decided to hold back her July birthday son and start him later. It worked out well for them. We debated starting our February birthday son late due to some slowed development because of medical issues, but decided against it. He is still struggling a bit in Kindergarten, but he would have been ridiculously bored in another year of pre-school. I'm not sure if that would have really helped him. Even if he has to be held back a grade he probably will be much better off due to how much he has been able to learn and how far he has come in the last year.
Can we get a poll to vote on? haha. Just leave your kids future to cyclonefanatic. But seriously, I would wait a year and have him be a little bit older than everyone else. Once he starts school, there's no turning back until he's done with high school/college.
I have a July birthday and my mom chose to send me. I was fine academically. I would have been bored either way. I also didn't have a big problem with being smaller. For me it was the emotional maturity. I probably would have been better off waiting a year.
cychosis, if your son is pretty outgoing socially and will be fine academically, go ahead and send him. If he's goi8ng to be over 6' then he should be fine physically too.
My problem was that I was shy, even in preschool.
One other thing to consider is siblings and their ages. If they are a certain number of years apart it might be tough to have older siblings way ahead or little siblings catching up to them grade wise.
My problem was that I was shy, even in preschool.
One other thing to consider is siblings and their ages. If they are a certain number of years apart it might be tough to have older siblings way ahead or little siblings catching up to them grade wise.
If you have even a little doubt about how well he'll function in a school setting, then wait a year. My parents put my little brother in early against their better judgment. Two years later he got held back, and it stuck with him psychologically for a long time. My mom still calls it her biggest mistake as a parent.
Also, I look forward to your boy and my son leading the Cyclones to Fred's fifth national championship in 2029.
Also, I look forward to your boy and my son leading the Cyclones to Fred's fifth national championship in 2029.
That's terrible...but I can understand how daycare can be a burden financially. It will be a welcomed "raise" after he starts kindergarten, but that is no where near one of the deciding factors for us.
I downloaded some research papers saying the same thing. I'm not really worried about him falling behind academically, more the social stuff (although he is fine now).Of course I don't have the research in front of me, but a friend of mine and his wife are having this same discussion. Basically, from an academic standpoint, it's been shown it all even's out by about middle school (no one is further ahead/behind).
It's usually more of a social thing....i.e. your kid is the first with a mustache in his class or a foot shorter than the other guys.
My son is a July bday and we held him back. He's in Kindergarden this year and we are still glad we made the choice. No brainer from our standpoint. Also, and I realize this is superficial, but athletically I think it will help as well. My wife was an amazing athlete and I'm lucky my son took after her more than me but he is going to very comptetitive athletically...already is. If your son isn't all that gifted physically yet a year will really help. I think most guys will agree...that **** matters when you are young and developing your sense of self.
No real point in sending them early.
No real point in sending them early.
