Better to follow your child's teacher's suggestion.

Hi Lissy,

Deciding when to have your child start kindergarten is a tough choice!  There are advantages and disadvantages either way.

I'd put a lot of weight into your daughter's preschool teacher's recommendation.  However, I think it might be worth having a follow up conversation with her to learn more about how she formed her recommendation to have your daughter do another year in pre-k.  If it's really just that she doesn't know all of her numbers and letters yet, I'm not sure that's a good enough reason to keep her out of kindergarten.  (My son was in kindergarten last year and lots of kids in his class started the year needed work on those skills).  

However, if the pre-k teacher has other concerns about your daughter's readiness for kindergarten (like social skills) it may be a good idea to follow her advice.

In the end, you know what's best for your daughter and will have to make the decision based on your own thoughts and feelings.  But preschool teachers do tend to have great insight about kindergarten readiness.

Good luck and please let us know what you decide!

Kat
Education.com Community Team.

I have taught preschool for many years now and have recommended some students to stay an extra year in Pre-K.  My reasons for a student staying back vary from child to child.  First and foremost I consider the child's age.  If a child is young in their class and is having difficulties learning then I usually suggest to hold them.  If a child is older in his or her class and is having difficulties I usually refer them to a child psychologist for evaluation of a learning disability. It is vital to identify possible learning disabilities as soon as possible.  For example, if a child is struggling with learning letters and phonetical awareness at four, it can be an early sign of dyslexia.  If a child receives therapy early, there is a good chance they will do much better with reading the next year. Ultimately, deciding whether or not a child stays back comes down to... will another year of preschool help.  If a child is struggling in Preschool, usually they will struggle in later grades as well.  If your daughter is young in her class...give her the gift of another year of preschool.  Think of the future years.  There are so many expectations on these children once they enter high school and being another year older is certainly an advantage.  In my state, there are many standards that the state believes a child should have in order to be successful in Kindergarten. They are expected to be able to identify uppercase and lowercase letters, know most of their letter sounds, be able to put sounds together and take sounds apart to make and take apart words(phonetical awareness), eg. "C" + "at" = cat, or walnut without wall = nut, identify numbers 1-15, count to 31, understand more or less, just to name a few pre-k academic standards.  Socially they should be able to express their needs, follow directions, interact with classmates and teachers, follow classroom routines and rules, and have some sense of independence.  Ultimately, your child's teacher is the professional and it would be wise to communicate with her regularly and consult with your child's pediatrician before making this decision.

yes or you can do 1 on 1 with her?

I don't have an answer for this as I am struggling with the same thing.  My son started pre 4 in january (middle of school year).  He just turned 5 in march and the prek teacher is now recommending that he stay in prek.  He loves school and this is the first time he has ever been in school.  I think if he had attended from the beginning he would have moved on and if we had waited until K he may or may not have moved on.  Any one have any suggestions for me too.  Lissy let us know what you decided.