Private Kindergarten for a 4 Year Old

Try not to rush him into school to soon. My mother was a kindergarten teacher for many, many years. I heard her say so many times. "If they made it a law that boys don't start kinder until 6 then we all would be better off".

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This is true in some states but not Texas. Texas has strict age standards which is a good thing especially with boys as they tend to need a bit longer for maturity. You will be glad he hadd to wait as he gets older especially because schools are so competitive here.

Public schools are required to offer Kindergarten, but Kinder is not required for the child. Even if your child "failed" Kindergarten in a private school, I don't see how they could keep him from attending 1st grade. There are students who attend 1st grade as their 1st year in school and never went to Kinder at all. (I don't recommend that though.)It is possible that there is some loophole in the law that schools could make him repeat kindergarten, but I doubt it. I do know that you are not legally bound to send your child to school until age 6. It is good for them to go though! I'm just telling you this so that you can do some more research on it and be informed when placing him in public school. By the way, my son is in the same exact position, he's 5 w/ birthday in November. We decided to wait since he wasn't ready emotionally. I've put him in a Mothers' Day Out program which he loves. I think because we waited, he will do so much better next year and truly be ready. I worried about this too, but now have peace that we made the right decision.

L.:

A desire to learn is not all that you need for "successful" kindergarten. Enjoying doing his big brother's school work doesn't mean he is ready for 8 hours of it.

My daughter is also a November birthday and at the time I also considered putting her in school early. We were going to do private school anyway so it wasn't a big leap.

At 4, she was in Mother's Day out one day a week. At five, she was still in Mother's Day out, but twic a week. I taught her to read before her fifth birthday. I then took a good long look at what Kindergarten would do for her. Would she learn a lot? Sure. Did she really need to in order to succeed in life? No. What my daughter needed was fun with kids and encouragment to love learning. Not learning for learning's sake.
When fall came for kinder the following year, we went to Colonial Hills United Methodist (CHUMS) on Vance Jackson because it was a half day (except Thursdays which was a full day) and a ton of fun. My daughter learned a lot, had fun, and is now a very happy first grader. CHUMS was not a paper and pencil school. They had field trips, Spanish class, music, computers, and motor skills. They had baby chicks in an incubator in the spring- in their classroom!- they had a Christmas play and Spring program. In short, all the fun stuff we had when we were in Kinder and we still managed to get into college and be successful people.

All that is to say, don't rush your child. My daughter was ready intellectually for Kinder, but there is a lot to be said for an extra year of maturity. Did she get bored in class? Occasionally, but her teacher was aware of her reading and math abilities and with only 12 kids in the classroom, was able to adjust some things for her- different reading books, a few extra math concepts- and she did great. She still talks about that school.

Something you might consider is sending your son to, I believe it's called San Antonio Christian School, or something like that. It is in your area and their Kindergarten is half day. Then the following year you could send him to all day public Kindergarten if he is not quite ready for first grade.

Hope this helps. You have to do what is best for your child. Just don't get caught in the hype that children who are bright and eager to learn must be in a structured learning environment or they will be bored or deprived or be behind. There are lots of kinds of learning. Just because a child can learn (like my daughter and her reading and math) doesn't mean they must be in school where they need to sit, and stand in line, and raise their hand. (I had a friend who used to teach Kindergarten and she said she could always tell which ones came from home and which ones came from Pre-shool within 30 minutes of class starting. I asked if it was reading or other academics and she said no, the pre-school kids knew how to stand in line and raise their hands. Kind of puts a good perspective on hurrying education for our little ones who grow up so fast!) At this age, there is nothing you can't teach your child yourself. As his mom, you really are the BEST teacher for him!

L., I have not heard of the later cut-off, but my 4yo goes to St. Thomas and we LOVE it!!! My 2 yr old will go there when he is old enough. Another good one is San Antonio Christian Schools. Good luck.

As a kinder teacher I would suggest that you allow him to do another year of preschool and start kinder next fall when he is old enough. Kindergarten has become a very academic year, gone are the days when I was in kinder and we had naps and snack. If your son is always the very youngest in class, you are going to run into problems of maturity and frustration which will take a big toll on his feelings towards school. By law you could push him into 1st grade early but he'll pay for it later on.

You should look into Harvest Fellowship School. I used to work at the church part and the school is there and is wonderful. The kids enjoyed it, the parents enjoy it and even the school officials enjoy it. They all take pride in the school. They push them to excel. It is a little pricey, but totally worth it. It is right there at 1604/281 stone oak area. You should check it out: http://www.harvestschools.org/

Harvest Schools, a SACS/CASI Accredited School (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement) includes Harvest Preschool (6 weeks through Pre-K) established in 1995, and Harvest Academy (K – 12th grades) established in 1998.

Harvest Schools are governed by the church and school board, under the direction of our Senior Pastor, with over 450 students on our campus.

Harvest Schools is a Christian school educating young minds from a Classical and Biblical methodology and philosophy. This means we are different from other Christian schools in San Antonio.

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Hi L.,
My son & daughter both had November birthdays and attended private school. The age requirement for private school is the same as for public school. What their school had was after pre-school, there was pre-Kindergarten & then Kinder. Both my kids went to pre-K at their school & then moved on to Kinder at the right time. You may want to find a pre-K program for your son. You have to remember that if you put him in kinder now, he will be a full year younger (even more) than several of his classmates. I know sometimes kids with summer birthdays are held back but it's very rare to see a younger kid moved up. If you do this, you have to take into account that he will be behind the other kids physically, mentally & maturity & is it worth it just because he likes to do the work his older brother is already doing.
By the way, both my kids were in the correct class & really excelled in grades & sports. I don't know if they would have done that if they had been put a year ahead. My son is now in 9th grade & you can just see the difference between the 9th & 10th grade boys in both size & maturity. You wouldn't think that one year makes all that much a difference but it really does.

I sympathize. My 3-year-old (4 in May) BEGS to stay in her older sister's classroom when we visit her elementary school. And she can do the work, too! We just visited a school here on the NW side (Giant Steps on Old Tezel Rd) and they do have a Kinder program especially for those that turn 5 in the second half of the year (missing the kinder cutoff). It was my understanding their graduates can enter 1st grade the following year. In my opinion even their pre-k program (for all 4's) is as good as public kinder, at least on paper! Look for some programs like that in your area.

Another option - check with your school district about Kinder requirements and entrance testing. I know NISD has documents online that provide guidelines about what entering kinders & 1st graders must know, etc. Since your son was already in a school setting (pre-k), perhaps you can request for him to be tested and entered into kinder although he doesn't meet the typical age requirement. Again, you have to check into this quickly since most district testing/etc takes forever and/or is scheduled in the spring.

Also, remember that even if you don't get him in school "early" it may work out better: he'll be more mature, and most likely one of the oldest & tallest in his class. A leader! This may assuage his disappointment about not going to school with his older brother just yet. And it gives you a bit more time with your little man (although with three sometimes you want them to go!!! I know!!!).

Hey L.,
I just wanted to give you my own experience in this area. My son has a birthday at the end of September so he missed the cut off by like 20 days. I fretted with this too and wanted to put in a program that would help bump him up but I counseled with several knowledgeable folks and made the decision to just keep him in pre-school an extra year and let him start kinder at almost 6 years old. Girl, it was the best decision that we have ever made. He is now in third grade and a screaming success. He is, however, a little immature and I can't see him being as successful in a fourth grade setting. He like your son, was interested and could do all of the work but he just wan't ready emotionally. I know it just depends on the kid but I really think that boys need a little extra advantage. Now my son will be the oldest in his class always, he will be able to drive first and he will (hopefully) grow more mature and maybe have a better head on his shoulders (fingers crossed!).
Good Luck!