Am I sending my son to Kindergarten too early?
My son will be 5 this month, however he is in Kindergarten. His teachers told me that he is doing fine. Academically, they will give him extra work because he is advance, and socially he made some friends. However, I am concern that this might not have been the best decision. Most of his classmates are turning 6. He seem to be able to interact well with others but he is the youngest in his class, (at least he is tall). He is exceptionally bright, but I wonder how this will affect him down the road. I understand that every kid is a world in itself, but I would like to hear from other parents that might have had a similar experience. Thank you
Posted by:
NY MOM
Reply from:
NY MOM Date: Feb 10, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Reply from:
Bob Brown
Date: Feb 11, 2008 at 5:25 pm
What I have seen and read (Leonard Sax: Boys Adrift) is that boys can have more trouble in Kindergarten when started young. But it sounds like your son isn't one of them. What Dr. Sax describes is that many boys just can't sit still for the academics at that age, so why try? Wait a year. Again, apparently not your son. Individual differences are vast.
Check to see if your primary school has a multi-age class for the early years and if so, talk to the teacher about your concerns. A couple of my children were in multi-age classes grades 1 - 3 and in those rooms, age matters less.
Reply from:
NY MOM Date: Feb 11, 2008 at 8:32 pm
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I WILL INQURIRE ABOUT IT. Also you are right about my son, so far, he is able to go along with the rest of the class and sit still for a while.
Reply from:
SarahRubar Date: Feb 12, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I myself went into grade one at the age of 5. Many of my family members (I come from a family of 9) all started grade one at the age of 5, skipping kindergarten completely. I do recall being one of the younger ones all the way through school, but it didn't make a difference at all when it came to interacting. I think it all depends on your child and how he interacts with kids in general. Just my two cents worth. ;0 My child is now 5 and will be starting grade one in September.
Sarah
Reply from:
Redwood_City_Mom Date: Feb 12, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Hi Maria,
My son is also a "young kindergartener" and having the same experience. (He likes school and is doing well academically and socially). It was a really hard decision for us to put him in kindergarten but his preschool teacher really encouraged us to because he was so "ready".
I think for a lot of kids, waiting a year can be a great thing. But I worry that now it's becoming the default decision even if a kid is ready. I think that's a mistake. they may fly through kindergarten but could have problems later on. When I was researching this for our son I learned that kids who start late when they were ready to start on time can end up having a really hard time in middle school and highschool. If elementary school is easy for them (because they're intellectually ahead of the other kids in their classes) they don't learn good work and study habits. They're able to just coast along and get great grades. Then they hit middle school and the work is hard (for everyone) and because they haven't ever had to really work at school they can have real problems adjusting.
So I think you did the right thing for your son!
Reply from:
NY MOM Date: Feb 12, 2008 at 5:13 pm
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