My son will turn 5 the end of July. He went to preschool 2 days a week at 3 and 3 days a week at 4. Both for 1/2 day. I am trying to decide if I should send him to kindergarten in 2008 or wait a year. Academically, he is ready. He knows colors, shapes, how to write his name, counting, letters, sounds. However, he is still immature and doesn't have good self control. I am wondering if waiting that extra year will make a difference or not. I know if I send him now, there will be kids in his class that are a whole year older than him.
Anyone have a similiar experience?? Did you send him or wait?? I know I wont' regret waiting, but I don't want him to be bored if I do.
Any thoughts or suggestions....
Welllllllllllllllllll,
Since you asked, I haven't read any of the other posts, so please excuse me if I'm repeating anyone.
My son was five in July and my daughter was five in Aug. they are seven years apart and I thought that since I went ahead and sent my son on to kinder that my daughter would probably be the same. Not so!
In the case of my son, he was very ahead when it came to academics and I'm not saying that to bost I'm saying that so you can compare, maturity I thought he was very capable of handling himself. He was very mannerly, he's also not a overly energetic kid, as far as I could see the only regret I had sending him was that he wasn't up to par when it came to sports, he was always the youngest on the team, which meant he wasn't all together ready physically for the sport, that was until about 12 when he started swim team over the summer. Now he's one of the best swimmers on his high school team.
As for his sister, whole different matter, she went to preschool starting at three (unlike her brother who never went) and went until she entered kinder. We decided to hold her back the year she turned five because she wasn't a good listener and she was kinda high energy, she had a mind of her own and didn't really think she should always follow what was told to her, she's still all of those things at home for the most part but in school she's an angel. Which is just fine for me, as long as she's good in school, I can deal with the at home part.
Holding her back was the BEST thing we could have done for her, she's the oldest in the class but she has serious confidence, she's a leader, the teacher counts on her to help out those who are needing a little help in academics. The year she did a pre-kinder class (which is for those five year olds that aren't just quiet ready) we didn't even see the kid we needed to see for kinder until about half way through the year. I was a little worried starting her a year later because she was pretty smart, I was worried that she would be bored, and she is sometimes, but that's where we come in and give her things to challenge her at home, this is also where talking with the teacher about challenging her more is an absolute, but she's also a self motivater and self teacher, so if she gets to bored she will make things harder for herself so she won't be bored.
I look at the other kids in her class and you can so TOTALLY tell the summer kids who's parents started them in kinder at five who weren't ready, (and it's almost all of them) they are always being left behind, and I see their confidence dwindle each year as they feel they aren't where they see they need to be, then when they get held back it makes it even worse for them.(This doesn't include the kids that are totally out of hand because they don't know how to handle themselves so they take it out on everyone around them) As much as I would like to I can't really fault the teachers in this area, they have huge jobs, and they can only get to so many kids, and when there is a class with a few summer kids, those are the one's that get left behind because they don't have the time to spend with them to catch them up.
They never forget being held back, I know my daughter sure hasn't,LOL she will still remind me that I held her back and tells me I should have let her go to kinder when she was five so she's not bored, but trust me she would be dealing with a whole other set of problems if I had, and I wasn't willing to take the risk.
I realized that my son was an exception not the norm after I dealt with my daughter having to go through this and seeing the kids in her class struggle I've never thought I made a bad decision, infact it was one of my best as a parent.
Let's face it there aren't a lot of decisions we make as parent's that we don't second guess,
this has never been one of them where my daughter is concerned, my son I wondered often if I did the right thing and he turned out to be great in school and with maturity, but I wondered from time to time if I did the right thing because of his physical limitations in sports. But in the end you have to be the one to really weigh the options for your child and see what you think will work out for them, not for ourselves, we aren't the one's going through it like they do
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