Repeating Pre-K vs. Private Kindergarten

[gemery]

My child has an August birthday, and we don't think he will be socially ready for MCPS kindergarten next fall. We are considernig having him repeat pre-K in his current preschool in a different classroom or enrolling him in a private kindergarten. Can anyone comment on how you made this decision and how it worked out for you? Any recomemndations for private kindergartens are appreciated as well. We are in the Rockville area. Programs with some Spanish component (even immersion) are especially of interest, but not a must-have.

[Anonymous]

I've posted on this topic before. We have 2 sons - one with a late June birthday and one with a late May brithday. They both attend the same montessori preschool, and the preschool includes both a pre-K and a K class. We plan to have them both go to K there for convenience purposes (daycare is included before and after class, having both kids at the same location for an extra year, smaller K class size - about 7-8 students with 2 teachers).

My oldest is 4 and in the pre-K program right now. So far, they've seen nothing to indicate that he is not on track socially or developmentally for public K. I think he'd do just fine if we went there, but I also know keeping him in the private K will give him one more year to mature socially. The difference between 5 and 6 year olds is pretty big. So he'll go from Private K to public 1st grade, unless we see some compelling academic reason to have him repeat K in public school.

[Anonymous]

We sent our youngest DS (birthday 2 months before cutoff) to private Kindergarten, with the thought that he could always repeat K in the public school the following year if necessary. However, he did just fine and was able to start public school in first grade. He is in middle school now and even though he is one of the youngest in his grade, he has excelled academically and has always had lots of friends.

Whether or not to start a child in school is a decision that has to be made on an individual basis, even within the same family. We held our oldest back from starting due to his shyness/socialization skills and that was the best decision for him. He has always enjoyed being one of the oldest kids in his class.