Try signing him up for summer sports activities. If he is ready for kindergarten, his motor skills will come along. He will catch up with the other kids. The one thing to think about is when he graduates from high school he will be only 17, and start college as a young 18 yr old. If you hold him back this year he will mature a bit more but he will be almost a year older than his peers in kindergarten. I would start him this year, my son has a July birthday and did just fine in school.
Hello Karry,
I have two boys (ages 8 and 7) and experienced a similar situation with my oldest, which then affected my youngest. Riley (8) was a March baby and so we didn't even think about holding him back but sent him when he was 5 (5 1/2 basically). He had been in a daycare that provided preschool activities and he was able to do everything required but the maturity just wasn't there. He ended up not passing the first year of kindergarten and had to repeat the year. He had a hard time making friends and taking on responsibility for the projects he needed to complete each day.
Kids are mean and he had to hear that he was left behind and must be stupid, etc...If I had had any inkling I would have held him back one additional year-just for the maturity level.
My younger one then got held back because we didn't want them in the same year. He did wonderfully with no issues. Now we don't know if he would have done that well anyways if he had went the year prior but I know it was all for the best for both of them.
In essence, my advice is to wait the extra year.
Kris
in my opinion, if there is any hesitation, hold him back. its going to be MUCH easier for a kid to be ahead in some things, and adequate in others, than it is for him to be adequate in most things, and behind in some. do you know what i mean? its not going to matter what age your chid is, and hes not stupid if you hold him back. i have just always felt that its to the benefit of the child to perhaps be ahead in age and some skills, than be behind in any of them. some kids just arent ready, and thats ok. im sure your school must have some sort of ecfe/learning readines classes? he can still go to those, and do things age appropriate with other kids... but dont feel pressured to put your child in school if he is just not ready.
where i live, the schools are VERY pressured. the teachers need bodies in the classroom so they can have that extra money coming in. i dont know if sometimes they just push kids through who arent ready just so they keep that number? i know for a fact that its still possible in some schools to get through the entire k-12 and not have adequate skills for simple things such as reading!!! makes me so mad that instead of holding a kid back, they just push them through. and even with my own personal experience, i know its definatly possible to get through school and not have anywhere near adequate skills for college.
a child who is behind is going to be frustrated, and every subject will suffer in one way or the other. if he is ahead, great! yes, that might lead to boredom too.... i was bored until around the 8th grade, but socially i was behind.... so they didnt want to push me ahead a grade.
but really its up to you. these days you can pretty much have your child school any way you want, even if you choose homeschooling or something similar. its not an option for most working parents obviously, but its designed to follow your child's pace and not the govts.
sooo.... after that long schpeal - i would hold him back a year - and keep him active in the programs for learning readiness or whatever. i feel he would excel if he waits a year, where if he goes too soon, he might be frustrated.
good luck with your decision...
Karry,
As a preschool teacher of 28 years, Some thoughts: Will another year of preschool make him more successful in the future. Do you want to send your son off to college or the work force barely 18 or 19. His preschool teachers have seen him alot more than the Kindergarten people that screened him. Trust your instincts, he's your child, you know him better that anyone. You will make the best decision you can.
We had the same question when my son turned 5 - whether to send him to Kindergarten or not. He is also a summer baby but we had the added complication of 2 sisters who share his birthday (he is a triplet). The girls were more than ready to start Kindergarten at age 5. He was very energetic and in fact was diagnosed w/ ADHD even prior to Kindergarten starting. Everyone we spoke to from the school counselors, teachers, resource teachers, etc all said the same thing - any academic advantage you gain from holding him back for a year levels out by the 3rd grade. We sent him to school with his sisters at age 5. He is now in 4th grade and is doing great. I think ultimately, it is your call. Trust your gut instincts. If you think that he will do fine and as he matures will grow into school, then go for it.
I teach sixth grade at a middle school, and my experience is that many of the boys would have benefited from a delayed start to Kindergarten. They just have a much harder time "getting it together" at that age--the attention, the organization, the maturity (even the physical growth in some cases, which affects confidence)--all the things that you need in middle school, just aren't there for many of them. Yes, there are some girls, too (I'm not trying to stereotype), but the reality is most of them start adolescence sooner so the issues aren't as prevalent for them. Go with your gut, but I thought I'd throw in a long-term perpective.
See how your round up goes. Age wise he's good to go. You know him best behaviorally. Plus you can also repeat K without stigma. I was an early start (4 yrs / Oct bday) and wasn't physically ready though I was academically ready. My mom kept me in K the next year (when I would have started anyway) and it was a big difference. Your son has the benefit of preschool too, but in the end make the decision on what works best for your son. You want him to be successful in school and to enjoy it. (I'm a teacher btw)
I am sure you have gotten plenty of input, but just in case you wanted one more- here goes! My son's b-day is in March. He to is very active (to put it nicely :) I decided to at home preschool for several reasons. After work we do things like jump rope and sing the ABC's and during lunch we count our peas. We also work on things like manners while eating and offer great incentives (like staying up an extra hour or getting more bed time stories) for sitting still for short times. I also read very easy books and point to each word while reading it. He stays at home with my husband and I have found that he is most wild when he is board. I was told that if he knows his alphabet and can sit still for reading books he will be OK. My husband was held back because he was a boy and then he was so board with school because he was always a head. I know everyone says to keep them back but I honestly believe that school with be a struggle no matter what. I would rather start getting it over now. I was told I had a leaning disability and I would be lucky if I could learn how to work a calculator! My parents fought with the school system all the way though. I got a apology at my high school graduation from the principal. I now have a great job at Mayo and am doing just fine. I think the key is to work with you kids all the time to keep them up to speed. Good luck in what ever you decide. Sorry it was so long! Kari L.
I say do it. He wants to go so let him. You have plenty of time during the summer to work on large motor. Take him for walks, play catch with him etc.
As a teacher I think that you as a mom know best. If you feel that your child is not ready for kdg. then he is not. I see many, many kids come into my classroom and they spend a very long time trying to catch up to their classmates, because they were not ready to enter kdg. Trust your gut on this one.
I would wait- I also have two that were summer babes and yes- they were very ready , beyond ready academicly. they are currently both in gifted extended classes. study wise - they are doing great- maturity it has been had- especally on my son as he plays sports with age cut offs and ends up with the boys in the grade lower. I think if I did it again- I would wait for my son-
Since he would be one of the youngest in his class, (as a teacher) I would encourage you to send him to preschool again next fall, and hold off on kindergarten for next year. Trust his preschool teachers, they also want what is best for your son. I am guessing it would be less detrimental to him to start kindergarten a year later then to have to be held back in second or third grade, if he isn't able to keep up with his class. Good luck, I know it is a big decision. And you know your son better than anyone, so do what you feel is right!
Karry,
I as well have a son born in August could have started school this past fall but went to registration spoke to the kindergarden teacher and she told us that parents with a summer baby expecially boys should wait that extra year because boys mature later than girls. I found since we chose to keep him home he is maturing a great deal I think he will do well this coming year, my son will be going to a summer pre kindergarden class .
Stacy
I am a first grade teacher, and my advise would have been to see what his preschool teacher recommend. However, if they recommend another year, I would wait. The students who are recommended to stay back seen to have a hard time catching up as the years go by. You may want to enroll him and wait through the summer to see how he does. It is still early in the year to make a decision about next fall, but it might be better for him to wait than to push him into something he is not academically ready for.
I would say listen to the preschool teacher. They see kids of the same age every day, so they have a good idea of who's ready for kindergarten, and who's not. That being said, my older son's birthday is in July, and I sent him at 5. He started day care at 10 weeks old, and preschool at 3 years old, so he learned to socialize with other kids from a very early age, and seems to be able to make friends easily. He's very bright, and I think he would have been very bored, and gotten into trouble if we hadn't sent him to kindergarten when he was five. I struggled with sending him at five because he's small for his age, but he seems to have enough self esteem that it doesn't bother him that much, even now in third grade.
I can only respond with what happened in family. My grandson turned 5 in May and his preschool teacher also recommended that he stay back a year, however, his parents chose to keep him with his preschool mates and sent him to K at five years old. He's now 7 and in 2nd grade and is an excelling student. I believe what makes the difference is the time his parents spend with him consistantly helping and monitoring his work. Hope this helps. Good Luck on your decision and remember it's YOUR decision, not anyone else's.
I have a daughter with a July 15th birthday and they did not want to send her to school. I did and she excelled and was a national honor student in high school. I also have a son with an Aug. 13th birthday and I put him in kindergarten at age 5, he did fine until the spring and then fell behind. We moved to a new town and I put him in kindergarten again and he did just great. Plus he was one of the older children in his class.
Listen to the teacher. She is watching your son learn every day, sees him interact socially with the other kids, and will know best if your child is ready or not. There is nothing wrong iwth being the oldest kid in class. My youngest is in the same position - she just turned 5 in August and was SUPPOSED to go to Kindergarten but we decided against it. I would personally rather to give my child the opportunity to shine in their class and be top of the group versus taking the chance that my child struggles with any issues due to being the youngest. If you are torn - just wait.
Thanks for all the advise, we are taking him to the k round up this week. We will see how that goesm