Kindergarten entrance and summer birthday dilema

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Kindergarten entrance and summer birthday dilema

Help! My son is registered to start Kindergarten in 2 weeks and we are having second thoughts about sending him because of his summer birthday. He just turned 5 in July. His preschool teacher and the incoming kindergarten teacher say he is ready. We agree that right now, he does seem ready. Our fear is that down the line, his being 9 months to 1 year younger than some classmates will catch up with him (academically, socially, physically, etc). He is a middle child of 3, well adjusted socially, and likes school. Any feedback from parents out there who either sent early or waited and now see the benefits/downsides? Especially those now at the upper elementary or jr. high/high school level?

Thanks!!

Kelly

Image of dk_mccargar Posted by:
dk_mccargar

Reply from: Kat Eden Date: Aug 12, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Hi Kelly,

My son is also a summer (July) baby and he just finished kindergarten. We went through the same stress about whether or not to send him. He had a similar "profile" to your son (liked preschool and did well there academically and socially, was well adjusted, preschool teacher said he was ready, and we really believed he was ready). He's actually our oldest so he probably wasn't even as confident socially as your son is.

He had an amazing year last year and I'm so happy we decided to send him rather than boring him with another year of preschool.

I think for a lot of kids, waiting a year can be a great thing. But I do think if your son is ready then sending him now will be better for him in the long run. 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 it's just my opinion but I think you should follow your instincts!

Please let us know what you decide and how the school year goes.

Kat
Education.com Community Team

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Reply from: efdeb Date: Oct 10, 2008 at 10:20 am

Hi,

Don't feel bad, my son is in second grade. He started kindergarten at 4.5 - his birthday is 12-24 And he is doing great! I agree, he would have been bored if we had held him back. My only advice is just don't waffle on it from here on it.
Good Luck

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Kindergarten entrance and summer birthday dilema