Kindergarten Enrollment

Kindergarten is still 8 months away and they do take naps in Kindergarten. They try and start around Christmas getting them to stop.

He needs to start on time with the rest of his age group. If not anytime he is in sports he will be with a different group of kids, they go by age, not class at school. If he's with his age group at school he'll be on the same teams as his friends.

If it doesn't work out it doesn't work out, he can always do a transitional first grade or some other class to catch up. Lots of kids do just fine and they are a young 5 too.

Send him! It's free (preschool isn't) and there will be plenty of others turning 5 this summer. How you have a 4 year old napping for 2-3 hours is AMAZING. Neither of my kids have napped since they turned 2. Naps in kindergarten? Lots of responses here that surprised me. I've never heard of a single school that does nap time in K. Anyhow, does your district go full day or half? He may still have time for a nap.

You know your child best. We have 4 kids, with our boys having July and October birthdays. We decided to hold both of them.. our oldest missed the cutoff by a couple of days, we could have pushed the point, but we decided to wait and our 5 yo will start this coming Fall. He just was not ready to make the transition. He will ultimately have had 3 years of preschool and will be much more prepared for school this Fall. I would say hold him back and let him prepare just a bit longer.

For many years, our state had a July 31st deadline as the age limit for turning 5 if a child could start Kindergarten that school year. If the child's birthdate was August 1st or later, they had to wait until the following year to start school. I do know that kids mature alot in a 1/2 of a year or more, so I think if you don't feel your son is ready yet, wait until the following year. My daughter is in Kindergarten, and many of the kids in her class are already 6 years old. She is 5 and there are times when I do wonder if we should have waited another year. Academically she is doing wonderfully and the teacher has explained that she is already at a 2nd grade level in reading, math, and writing skills, but needs help in other areas, such as speech, social, and organizational skills which should improve throughout the year. These are areas that 'age' takes care of itself her teacher explained which is why her being on the young side for Kindergarten is in some areas a challenge.
I wish you the best in your decision and remember that only you as a parent can make the right decision for your child and trust your heart in what feels right.

Overall, there isn't anything to suggest that waiting a year is detrimental, and in most cases a good thing (otherwise, making no difference). On the other hand, if your son isn't ready, starting "on time" could make a huge difference in his overall education. I know that most teachers would agree that it's always best to wait, if you have any hesitation. My nephew was in the same situation, and my SIL decided to wait and he is the brightest little boy, exhibiting such maturity and leadership. It's been such a positive experience for their family, that my niece turned 5 in July and she decided to wait until next year to enroll her in Kindergarten.

So, in my opinion, you should wait. Good luck!

If I had a choice, I would decide based on his educational abilities and maturity. My 5YO is an October baby and really she was too immature to go to school, however, she could do the work. She still cried plenty and got her feelings hurt quite often. Now in January, I would feel differently.

Hi most schools still have nap time for kids in k-4 and k-5 also you could prepare your child for school by about a month before school starts by putting him to bed 30 minutes earlier and wake him up at the time he needs to get up for school and also start cutting down his nap by 15 minutes a week till its down to 30 minutes to one hour

My son's birthday is in June and I sent him to Kindergarten that same year. He also used to nap and I just took the opportunity during summer to shorten his nap and get him to bed earlier. The first month of kindergarten was tough and they do get rest time at school. He went to sleep sometimes as early as 7:30pm and got up 6:45am. Sometimes he would come home from school and nap while I was getting dinner ready. After a couple of months he had adjusted. Now he's in first grade and doing fine.

It depends on the individual child, but we waited with our oldest son (July b-day) and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. He is now a very successful 8th grader. I would talk to your son's preschool teachers and the teachers and principal at his future school. You can enroll him in kindergarten AND preschool and not decide until next summer; at least in our area you can. Our son was ready academically, but not emotionally. He is also small for his age. But every kid is different. I've personally never heard of a current kindergarten that still does nap time, but our all day kindergarten does have a quiet time after lunch. Good luck. Send me a private message if you want more information about our decision making process. We gave it a lot of thought and talked to a lot of professionals, but ultimately based it on our individual son's development at the time. BTW, he is in the gifted program so the decision was multi-faceted.

My oldest turned 5 in September. His preschool suggested we hold him back a year because he would be physically smaller than the other kids, which isn't a big deal in K, but I can tell you it has made a difference now that he's a freshman. He is gifted intellectually, still a 3 hr nap until he was 6. Enjoy one more year. They go by fast.

Updated

My oldest turned 5 in September. His preschool suggested we hold him back a year because he would be physically smaller than the other kids, which isn't a big deal in K, but I can tell you it has made a difference now that he's a freshman. He is gifted intellectually, still a 3 hr nap until he was 6. Enjoy one more year. They go by fast.

My daughter's birthday is September 2. We always planned on holding her back a for an extra year of preschool. We took her for an evaluation at the school and the pre-k teacher said academically she is with her kindergarden peers and ahead in some ways. We had the choice of either putting her in pre-k or in kindergarden. We live in a small town and we chose to put her in kindergarden this year because it is a much smaller class this year than there will be next year. This year they have 18 kids in their class. Next year it will be much bigger.
My daughter also took a 2.5 to 3 hour nap everyday. Her kindergarden class has a 10 minute "rest" time. She actually has done pretty well with that part. The end of the day at first she would come home and crash on the couch and still go to bed at her regular time.
My daughter did have some problems at the beginning of the year. She went from being home with me all day to being in school all day. She had never been in preschool/pre-k. We have a great school that worked with us. We had many problems the fist day and were second guessing ourselves. The teacher/principal said lets see what we can do to work things out and help her. It took some give on both our parts. For the first month until she could get comfortable with school and everything she only went 1/2 the day. I would pick her up before lunch. The we had her stay through lunch. Then through recess. If something proved to be a problem we worked through it a little longer. We slowly increased her day and in about November she started staying all day and doing great. Yes, it took longer and there was a period of adjustment, but she is now doing great. I don't know if I'm helping at all, but this was our expirience. We are really lucky in that she has a good class/teacher/principal. They were willing to work with us and her. Also since we live in a small town and she goes to a small school. She will be with most of these kids throughout most of her school years. Yes, people come and go and we could always move, but for now she will at least know most of her class.

Just debating this very topic with some friends on FB. I posted the link to this Parents Magazine article (May 2011) It makes a lot of sense to wait. Hope it helps.

http://www.parents.com/kids/education/help-son-succeed-in...

If he leans towards giftedness, you should send him. If he is a regular, average kid (which is terrific and wonderful in itself) you should seriously consider waiting a year.

We sent our July birthday son to kindergarten and now, in fifth grade, his immaturity is showing, and he is struggling with attention, organization, and completing work. I wish we had waited.

I haven't heard of a kinder that allows naps. But I am not saying the other mother is not correct, but check with the school to be sure. As a teacher, mother and counselor I would strongly recommend waiting an additional year. Especially since you have a son. I could run off stats and all of the sorts but I will just briefly tell you that children who are put on ADHD meds are typically boys and also happen to be the younger ones as well. I am not saying your son has or ever will need to be on meds or has ADHD but my point is that as a society we start our children to early in school and it is showing itself in how we rank in the world in terms of education. Also many of the children who struggle in school are the younger ones. I am sure someone will post something about how their child is the youngest and the smartest but just be ware that starting a child to early can lead to years of struggling. I am dealing with that now with my oldest daughter, my second daughter was on the cuff like yours but we put her in any way knowing that we would hold her back for a second year. in her second year she is thriving and able to be a leader in her class. Go with your gut, what can go wrong with holding him back? When he is going away for college you will wish you had one more year with him! Trust me, I have been through that expereince as well. If you have time read outliars, same author who wrote tipping point. it talks just about this dilema. You will be amazed! Good luck this is just one of the many........good thing you have this website. You will get opinions from both sides and then you will be able to make an informed decision!

As a teacher and mother to a boy with an August birthday, you really need to look at your son and where he is developmentally. My son is bright and will qualify, but his maturity level does not match his smarts so we'll wait. What I've seen is that kids may very well be capable mentally, but socially they just aren't there yet. I was also the older kid - did early start and then stayed to be in my "correct" grade (yep, 2 years of K). I'm happy it was that way. I liked being the oldest in my class..

I can spot my younger kids in my class fairly quickly. What I've experienced and seen is that the younger kids (July and August birthdays) struggle more with behavior and tend to be redirected more often. Based on grade level expectations for behavior they aren't there. For age appropriate behavior, they're spot on, but it doesn't help in the classroom. A principal I knew delayed the start of kindergarten for his child who was a june or july birthday.

You'll have to decide based on your expert knowledge of your son. You can also talk to the K teachers at the school. It also depends on if you can afford that extra year at home. Kids aren't hurt by delaying their start to school.

I like to offer the non-academic future perspective. My daughter is an Aug b'day so she is the youngest in her class and she is now 10 and in 5th grade (will turn 11 next Aug). Academically she is ahead of the game, and she is tall for her age so she doesn't look out of place.

But let me offer this perspective. She is in classes with other kids who WERE held back, so there is QUITE an age gap in the class.

When she was in the 2nd grade (and 7) there were 'older girls' who were already 8 and turning 9 and one girl started her period.
Now she is 10 and there are girls who are 11 and turning 12 in the next couple of months in her 5th grade class - they all have their period except her. Some of them have kissed boys. They text and email COMPLETELY crazy messages. She feels a bit alienated, cuz she's not at their level.

Yes - go get friends with whom you have much in common. We have those talks. She does. But it's REALLY hard to feel extra out of place at a time when feeling in place is so very important to kids.

She will be the last kid to drive (yes, I consider that a blessing - I may not let her drive til she's 30). But every other kid in her class will be able to drive and she won't.
She will have friends who are 'dating' seriously a year or two before she is their same age, but she will be in that social circle because they are her classmates.
She will be 17 when she goes to college and will turn 18 after the 1st week of college.

I was a big proponent of go ahead and send her cuz she's smart and tall and socially ready and could follow all the directions (day care baby) etc. Now, I think I would have held her back. I have had to have "conversations" a year or two earlier than I really wanted because her 'classmates' were experiencing things that I wanted to make sure she could handle.

Good luck with whatever you decide. It's a tough decision.

My son turns five in July and we're starting him this coming school year in Kindergarten. We like you have thought lots about it, and have had comments from people who believe both ways. I would talk to your district and see what their philosophy on schooling is. Our district's convinced me to go ahead and put him in. They're big on no matter where your child is, they accommodate them.

Another idea - our district does 2, two week Kindergarten prep classes in the summer right before school. It costs money to send the kids, but it might be a great indicator of readiness if your kiddo's district does that. We're in Eastern Carver County (Chaska)

Or just send them to a 5 or 4 day a week preschool and see how they do is another idea!

I would say: Enroll him now (if your district is like ours and you have to be enrolled by Jan 15th the year before kind of thing)... and if you feel he's not ready come summer, unenroll him and wait a year. It's usually very easy to do prior to the first day of school. After they've physically attended it can get a little difficult. SO much can change over 9mo it's very hard to make decisions that far in advance. This way, you'll have both doors still open and available. He may be more than ready, or he may do better by waiting.

My first son, with a June birthday, ended up having to repeat 3rd grade and that is really tough on their self esteem. So for my second son, with an April birthday, I had him do 3 years of preschool and started him in kindergarden at 6. That was the best! Like your son, he still needed naps at 4 and even when he was 5. He has such great self esteem and he was a child that you never had to ask him if his homework was done because he always finished it even ahead of time! That carried on through high school and college and he has been very successful in his career and life.

I would absolutely enroll him. You can always change your mind up until school starts. He may very well give up naps in the next 9 months. I grew up in a district where the cut off was December so lots of kids started at 4 - there will always be someone who is the youngest and someone who is the oldest. Now we have a Sept cut off and DS was born in December. We enrolled him in a Montessori (change from his previous preschool) so he would not be bored to death waiting a year to start. So we are ending up with two big changes (Preschool to Montessori to public school) instead of 1. The newest research is that there is no advantage to kids of this so called 'red shirting' Best of luck.

My little girl turned 5 Aug 5th. We did hold her back. My recommendation, ask her pre-school teacher (if your child is going to pre-school). They would be your greatest resource with suggesting your child stays back another year or goes on to K.
Napping: Again, my child is 5 and takes maybe 1/2 naps per week. If you're concerned about naps, slowly start making the adjustment. You have 9 months to go. Good luck.

I think waiting is a good option for late birthdays especially for boys. Boys mature later. It will set him up to be a natural leader in his class, rather than a follower. It usually pays off later, in his teen years, in sports and life in general if he is a year ahead of his peers. The fact that you are questioning if he is ready or not, probably means that he isn't. However, you are still 9 months away - he could mature a lot in that time span. I say double enroll him - in Kindergarten and in a 5 morning pre-school. That way you can easily make a decision this summer and not have to scramble to get paperwork done or find an opening. If you do choose to send him to Kindergarten you may need to adjust his bed time. 6:30 or 7:00 might help to give him the rest he needs.

I was a pre-k teacher for several years. This was the same advice I always gave to parents in your situation. But only you know your child.

I am going to write based on our experience with our son (mid-August birthday). Here is what we used to make the decision:

1) His preschool teachers were on the fence, they said he is so bright that waiting a year could result in boredom, but he was behind in social-emotional development so waiting a year could help that.
2) He really wanted to go to K when he turned 5.
3) He had never done an all day activity so I worried it would be too exhausting and stressful. Our son had the idea that he should "practice" so we signed him up for 2 weeks of an all day summer program (the 1st week was play based and the 2nd week was more academic). It was incredibly valuable.
4) Our son is not a morning person and had always done afternoon preschool. So we selected a school that had a later (9:30am) start time.
5) He was socially reserved and didn't really try to make friends. So we spent a lot of time over the summer introducing him to new social situations and encouraging him to talk to other kids. He blossomed.
6) I was stressing over the decision and felt like making a decision 9 months in advance was impossible. So I registered him for both preschool and K. That way we didn't have to make our decision until the day school started. This was the BEST decision I made!
7) Sensory Processing Disorder...made being in group settings rough at times due to noise and overstimulation. Also has an effect on his writing. We have sought OT help a couple times and it has made the diference for him.

Ultimately we decided to have him start K right at age 5. And it has been a great decision. Sure it has had its bumps but by volunteering in the classroom I have been able to give the teacher insight into how to work with him. He has become a class leader and is in the top math and reading groups. He loves to make friends and is the go-to guy for all the kids who have trouble making friends. He welcomes everyone into his circle.

In regards to your son's napping needs. Start to transition him to shorter naps and earlier bed times. Also find out how the school he would attend handles naps for K kids. Our school had nap time after lunch for the 1st quarter and a quiet time for the rest of the year. A couple kids would fall asleep everyday and the teacher would let them rest as long as they needed.