Sending a 3 year old to PreS or to PreK - eligible for both.

[Anonymous]

As I begin the process of filling out my son's application for the DCPS lottery, I am struggling with signing him up for PreS or PreK. He is currently 3 and has a late Sept birthday. If he enters PreS at 3 turning 4 in a month after entering, he would be 5 when entering K and turning 6 within a month of entering. Is this too old for Kindergarten? My concern about sending him to PreK (at age 3 soon to be 4) rather than PreS is that he could potentially be with kids over a year older than him. I know that this is an ongoing debate. I would prefer to put him in PreK, but it seems that so many parents hold their children back these days.

[Anonymous]

Make sure that you really do/will have this choice. My dd also has a late September birthday and the principal at the school where we are zoned will not let her do pre-k any year other than the year that she turned 4, so by keeping her in pre-school an extra year, she's no longer eligible for pre-k.

[Anonymous]

DD has a late fall birthday, so turned 6 shortly after starting K. She is the second-oldest in her class, with half the class turning 5 after the Sep 1 cut-off. To be blunt, she is FAR ahead of the other kids, to the point where her teachers don't have her read in class because it makes the other kids feel bad. This is not because she's a genius, but because she's a full year older than they are. DS has a fall birthday too, and he will likely be the oldest in his class as well. I really don't see the downside of being the oldest (the teachers seem willing to give DD work ahead of the other kids, so she's still being challenged), while I see many downsides of being the youngest. But that's just one person's opinion.

[Anonymous]

A handful of boys turned 6 this fall (mostly Sept and Oct) in my son's K class so it isn't unusual to me.

[Anonymous]

My son has a similar birthday, and we sent him to prek when he was almost 4 - mistake . we ended up holding him back per the schools request, but that is MY KID. It really depends on his personality etc.

[Anonymous]

My kid turned 4 in Pre-K --at the time it seemed like it was the right decision (he was tall for his age and very well behaved, so no reason to hold him back). In retrospect I wish we kept him back a year. He is among the youngest in his class and some kids are more than a full year older. While he is doing fine academically and socially it is a struggle for him -- he often "gets" it toward the end of the year, because he is just not there intellectually in the beginning of the year. But,as others said, that's just our experience. A lot depends on the kid. The thing is, at 3 you just don't know yet whether your kid will struggle with handwriting or with doing 100 addition problems in 5 minutes in 2nd grade.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for all of the feedback. Very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that if you are thinking of applying to private kindgergarten..most have a Sept 1 cut off so that might answer it for you..Also, Maryland public is Sept 1 so you also have to keep in mind that you may move somewhere where your child is really really young