Help.. Missed the Oct 15 Age Cut off for Kindergaren... but Child Is Ready

You don't really want your daughter being by far the youngest kid in the class. Just teach her all the cool stuff at home (reading, science kits, etc.) and send her next year. Some of the kids will be up to two years older than her if she goes to kindergarten now, because so many people hold their kids back (Some do it so that they are bigger when it's time to play grade-level sports and the others do it because their friends did it.) Those older kids might be 6 3/4 while she's 4 3/4!

I was very tense about this with my first daughter for several years, actually, but now that she's in seventh grade, it's been obvious for a few years that she's exactly where she needs to be.

I will say that these schooling decisions and sports decisions and such become a lot easier with the second and third child.

Hi Angie - I would talk to your friend about putting her child into Jr. Kindergarten. JrK's are available all over Douglas County and are academically oriented rather than socially oriented like regular pre-schools.

btw - my son was 5yrs and a month when he started kindergarten and he's doing awesome.

I missed the cutoff for kindergarten 35 years ago, and it was the best thing that happened to me. Being almost a year older, wiser, more physically developed, and more experienced was a huge benefit to me. Both of my children (ages 2 and 5) will be in a similar situation. Think about it this way - the older kids in the class are able to benefit from that additional time at home and become more mature. They make better decisions just simply because they have had a whole year more experience. I highly recommend a pre-K program. My oldest is in one this year and she has grown a lot more than if she were here with me full time this year.

Just enjoy it for one more year.....Teachers say real differences in whether or not a kid is ready often isn't noticeable until 3rd grade. In the mean time you can work with her to learn new things that kindergarten curriculum lacks such as geography and social studies. Plus it never hurts to get started on sight words and early reading.

Try a Jr. K program at one of the preschools. It could be a good bridge between regular pre-K and Kindergarten. I personally wouldn't start the child early. I would rather my child be one of the oldest and be that much more advanced, than be the youngest in the class.