Hold off My Son for Kindergarden or Not?

I think since Kindergarten is optional here in Texas, you could hold him out this year and see where is is next year. if he is ready for 1st grade then start him in first grade if not then do kindergarten and you have not lost anything...

Good luck
A.

Hold off. I am a teacher and this this is best. They say that even high school football coaches know which seniors are older and which are younger....it will be hard, but do hold off.

Hi L.,

From my experience, definitely hold him back. He'll be SO young and if you hold him back a year, he'll still graduate at the age of 18 and be one of the most mature in his class, not the youngest and graduating as a more mature 18 yr old will only benefit him more for college.
My daughter is very intelligent, a June b-day and we started her in Kinder at the age of 5 only to take her out in the middle of the year to put her back in a Pre-K 5 class. So, she started Kinder at 6 and did great. Her teachers at her school would tell me that they can "always" tell who are the summer babies meaning they can see a difference in maturity with those who are older. I'm so happy we made that decision and if your son is already attending a daycare with a learning setting, I would keep him there one more year. It can only hurt to start him to soon and him not be ready, it can't hurt starting him one year later when he's more ready and will do great. Oh, BTW it's NOT against the law in ANY way to start him in Kinder at the age of 6. Trust me, I know this from personal experience. We just enrolled my daughter in the public schools as a 7 yr old first grader and there were no problems. You sound as if you're leaning towards holding him back and I'm sure everything will work out for you whatever you decide to do for your son.
Good luck with your decision!
PM if you have any questions.
~N.~

Hi L.,
I have this same situation. My son's birthday IS the cut off date- Sept. 1st. I can say that having taught MIDDLE School for 10+ years (I am a stay at home now), there is a SIGNIFICANT difference in the boys that are younger vs. older. So while it can be an "if-y" situation now, later I truly believe the younger boys are at a HUGE disadvantage. I am holding my son back so that he will be the OLDEST. Plus, I don't want him going off to college at age 17! Yikes.
R. B.

Being a former teacher, I would say "hold him back." The reason I say this is so much is expected out of kids these days at school (at least in terms of testing, attention span, etc) that having him be more mature will be extremely helpful. Give him as much of a chance as possible to be a kid and succeed!

I know you have gotten a lot of feedback, but I had to give my 2¢. My daughter's birthday is August 6... I put her in Kindergarten the year she turned 5. She is very mature, makes straight A's, and gets along well with others. BUT... there are many times I wish I'd held her back. More as they get older, they are exposed to things that I wish she was one of the "older" ones.

Right now, she will be 16 in August. She is the absolute LAST one of all her friends to drive -- she hates that. Plus,she also has friends who are already 17 -- the kids who had summer birthdays that their parents held them back.

When she graduates, she'll only be 17. She has already told me that she may not want to leave to go to college after graduation due mainly to the fact that colleges require them to come early and she'll just barely be 18.

If I could do it all over again, I would have kept her at home (in preschool) for another year.

AND, definitely if he's a boy!

Hi, I know you have already received alot of feedback, but just wanted to say that we have a son that will be 5 at the end of July. We are holding him back, but we are putting him in a Pre-K program. He is very smart, but the emotional maturity is just not there. Every Mom that I talked to with boys with summer birthdays, said that they were so glad that they waited to put their boy in the following yr after their 5 yr bday or that they wished that they had waited. I had to convince my husband of this, but we are in agreement now that it will be best thing for him. Good luck with your decision.

I have taught kindergarten for 4 years and my mom taught kindergarten for 20 years, and both of us agree. There are 3 reasons to hold a child out of kindergarten: 1) summer baby, 2) boy, 3) baby of the family. My son was an early September baby and he is the oldest in our family, however, I still held him out (he was going to private school so they would have let him start at 4 and turn 5 shortly into the school year)and it was the best decision ever. He still is not the greatest student and can you imagine how discouraging it would be to go and really struggle. This last school year, I had a September, baby of the family, girl start and by December, she was SO overwhelmed that she was starting to deny things we knew she knew. So mom and dad took her out and it was hard for her. I know kids -especially at that age - are very resilient, but it affected her and the class to be without one of their friends. So I whole-heartedly agree with the other ones who said - "Why rush it?" They are in school for the next 12+ years. Seriously, I can always tell in the class room who are the summer babies regardless of sex. They are always just a touch behind in every aspect. It does not mean they do not pass, but it just means they have to work harder, which I know is not always a bad thing. However, teaching at a smaller school, I have had plenty of opportunities to see that usually how a child performs in Kindergarten is how they perform the rest of their school years. So I prefer the confident start instead of the overwhelmed start. Now someone commented that it is against the law to not start them, but I have never heard of that before and maybe it's because I work in the private sector instead of the public schools. But anyways, good luck!

We held our son back and thank God everyday for the wisdom to do it. You can never go wrong with having a bigger, older boy.

I think you are absolutely right. I think he would have an advantage by being one of the older boys. That's what I would do.

I think he'd be fine. My son turned 5 in June and will be one of the youngest as well. Kids sometimes do better than we think. At least start him and see how he is doing after a month or two.

Only you know your child and what he is capable of right now. It sounds as if you are leaning toward holding him back. If that is your gut instinct then that is what you should do. Everything else aside, a mother just knows these things. I am lucky my son is a December kid, so he should be ok, but if I have doubts when the time comes, I will certainly hold him back. The academics are easy enough to teach, but maturity just takes time, and there is nothing you can do about that. Good luck.

I have a sister and a neice who both started kindergarten as the youngest. Both really struggled. My niece was eventually held back in the second grade and that was really traumatic for her. She felt embarrassed and didn't get to stay with the friends she had made. My sister never stayed behind, but also struggled and never developed a love of learning. Everything we've learned since then suggests to err on the side of starting them later. Since you have a great pre-school program, I'd leave him there and let him continue to develop his skills so he's already ahead of the game when he starts kindergarten. Hope this helps!

my 3 sons all have summer b-days. my 2 oldest started kinder @ 5 yrs and did great. when my odest went to 1st grade he did great too and made a&b honor roll the whole year. in august they will be going to 1st & 2nd grade.

my boys never went daycare or pre-k always at home with mommie. but it depends on the child some need that extra year. but i also kids that start at 6 yrs still have to repeat kinder at the year of the year. do what you think is best for your child?

My daughter started kindergarden last year. I wanted to hold her back but everyone kept telling me she was ready and would do fine. So, against my better judgement she started school. I went to her teacher a week after school started in tears because we were having such a hard time. Sure she went to mother's day out and we worked with her at home but it was horrible. Luckily she had a great teacher who really worked with us and was soooo very great with Josalyn and we almost had her caught up and ready to move on with her class. Just needs a little bit more work so we are holding her back into kindergarden again this year. My point is follow your great motherly instinct. If you feel like it is best to hold off until next year then do it. It really will work out for the best in the end.
C.

Hello my son will be 10 yrs old on Aug. 6th...when he turned 4 we put him in pre-school which was great because his pre-school was at an elementary...if he hadn't gone to pre-school though I would have probbaly been concerned on the level of his learning and if he could be on the same level as the other childen. In pre-k he learned how to spell his name , and write it along with many other words, he already knew his ABC's but they taught that to. He learned colors, shapes, and numbers. It is a great program to get little ones ready for kindergarten. My son started kindergarten a couple of weeks after he turned 5 years old and he has done well. He learns just as quick as others and he is a A,B honor roll student. I do belive thought that if he didnt attend pre-k then he would be behind the other children. If your child has went to pre-k then I would say absolutley go for kindergarten. If not though I might consider waiting because alot of kindergarten kids have had pre-k and would be way ahead of him which would put him behind. My son is one of the youngest in his grade. Most of his friends are already 10 and have been for a while and he won't turn 10 until a couple of weeks...good luck to you though.

My son is an August 27 birthday, and I will be holding him until the next year. Why start him off at a disadvantage?

Also, someone else mentioned that it was "the law" to start them....actually kindergarten is not required by law, so you don't have to worry about that.

My best friend and I just had this discussion- her son is an August baby. I think it is ok to send them, unless there is really a noticeable reason that they would not succeed. What about when we were kids- we started school when we were 5- no concerns about holding back a year, boys girls it didnt matter. Im not sure how this trend get started but I believe that the school system has set a cutoff date for a reason. If the kids fall within the guidelines- they should start school. My stepson was a Septmeber baby so he had to wait another year. Now, about to start 8th grade- he is way ahead of his peers in many areas and he feels he is behind in school- he wants to be in 9th grade with kids that are his age. My daughters birthday is in June and she is always the youngest in her class- that bothers her sometimes but she has made great friends and done very well in K and 1st grade. That being said, you have to go with your instincts. Do what you feel is right for you and your family. Good Luck

I am an August birthday child (August 20th to be exact!) and I wish my mom had held me back. Academically, I did great, but especially as I got older there was a HUGE maturity difference. Also, it STINKS being the youngest - last to drive, last to do everything! I would hold my boys back if they had August birthdays.

My kiddos both have Aug. b-day and I held off sending my daughter until this past year. She went to a 5s program basically kinder and then Kinder at our neighborhood school-- best decision-- Better to be older than the very youngest.
Try finding a 5s program or enrichment program.

My parents held me back and I loved it, especially in high school! I was the first in my class to drive, to vote, etc. . .

As a teacher, I agree with the teacher below. Childhood goes by to fast, why rush it?

Good luck!

I would go ahead and enroll him. Give him a chance in kinder and then if at the end of the year when they do Gisell testing they can let you know where is maturity level is at in regards to learning. He can always do kindergarden again if needed.

(you might want to check on the holding him back, unless he is attending private kinder you will have to enroll him somewhere, I thought it was the law.)

Also if you are in the Keller school district the Kinder programs are only half- day.

You have to know your child. If we had not moved back to TX -my dd would have already completed Kindergarten - the cut off to start where we used to live was turn 5 by Dec. 31st!! She is a November baby. I have a Sept. baby too, who started school here and then we moved - she was a full year older than her grade level where we were living - it was hard for her, but she excelled!!

If your child is socially ready, I would send him.

You know your child better than anyone and if you feel like he is ready then let him start. Talk to your daycare teachers and see what they have to say about him starting. I have know lots of children who started school being an early five year old and they have done great. Best of luck.