Send late August birthday boy to school?

[Anonymous]

I agree that your child will probably turn out fine either way, but the safe choice is holding back.

I held back my late August boy, he is in K this year. He also had average height, no social issues and appeared average academically the spring/summer we were making the decision. Very similar it seems to your child. His daycare advised to hold him, said it wouldn't hurt. We also have an older child that is middle of pack age wise but struggles academically, so that probably swayed our decision some, I didn't want to go through that with two kids.

He is sailing through K, no problem with all those worksheets they give him, I don't think he gets much attention, I guess I do think it might be better if he was challenged a bit more, so that is my one regret right now, but it might change, early days still, plus there is the AAP option. I do think if we had sent him earlier, we would be having to work a lot more with him to keep him on grade like we do with my older child.

Our school is very UMC, so most kids are above average academically and I think my son fits in better as the older child, gives him lots of confidence.

[Anonymous]

IF there is no confirmed medical reason to hold a child back, then the child should go to school. Poor academics is the last reason to keep a child from starting school. In school, your child will get the help that he needs to succeed academically and if necessary, socially. Is the pre-school going to provide your child the services he needs to catch up to his peers? Are you? Are you or the pre-k teachers trained to provided the additional help your child may or may not need?
I sent my late September birthday son to school on time. One more year home would have drove him and us crazy. He was stuttering and a poor reader. I feel that if I had delayed entry he would be even further behind in reading. Right now he gets the attention that he needs for reading and stuttering and is able to excel in math and science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IF there is no confirmed medical reason to hold a child back, then the child should go to school. Poor academics is the last reason to keep a child from starting school. In school, your child will get the help that he needs to succeed academically and if necessary, socially. Is the pre-school going to provide your child the services he needs to catch up to his peers? Are you? Are you or the pre-k teachers trained to provided the additional help your child may or may not need?
I sent my late September birthday son to school on time. One more year home would have drove him and us crazy. He was stuttering and a poor reader. I feel that if I had delayed entry he would be even further behind in reading. Right now he gets the attention that he needs for reading and stuttering and is able to excel in math and science.

This is a good point. I'm not a fan of delaying unless there is a real issue, but this points out that even when there is an issue it could keep kids from getting important services and help. For some kids, instead of an additional year "of being a kid" (as I've seen some parents put it), it can instead be languishing for an additional year.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I would not send him. Find a 5s program. It's not an issue as much right now as it will be in high school and college when he's so much more immature than the other boys his grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IF there is no confirmed medical reason to hold a child back, then the child should go to school. Poor academics is the last reason to keep a child from starting school. In school, your child will get the help that he needs to succeed academically and if necessary, socially. Is the pre-school going to provide your child the services he needs to catch up to his peers? Are you? Are you or the pre-k teachers trained to provided the additional help your child may or may not need?
I sent my late September birthday son to school on time. One more year home would have drove him and us crazy. He was stuttering and a poor reader. I feel that if I had delayed entry he would be even further behind in reading. Right now he gets the attention that he needs for reading and stuttering and is able to excel in math and science.

I am glad things are working out for your son. In our case my DD’s preschool has an extra year for kids born After the cutoff. My DD (end of August) and several other summer birthdays will be in that class next year and only after that will be in K (about to turn 6).
So my DD will be with some of her current classmates doing things age appropriate. She will not need to catch up to her peers because she is among peers already

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that your child will probably turn out fine either way, but the safe choice is holding back.

I held back my late August boy, he is in K this year. He also had average height, no social issues and appeared average academically the spring/summer we were making the decision. Very similar it seems to your child. His daycare advised to hold him, said it wouldn't hurt. We also have an older child that is middle of pack age wise but struggles academically, so that probably swayed our decision some, I didn't want to go through that with two kids.

He is sailing through K, no problem with all those worksheets they give him, I don't think he gets much attention, I guess I do think it might be better if he was challenged a bit more, so that is my one regret right now, but it might change, early days still, plus there is the AAP option. I do think if we had sent him earlier, we would be having to work a lot more with him to keep him on grade like we do with my older child.

Our school is very UMC, so most kids are above average academically and I think my son fits in better as the older child, gives him lots of confidence.

Wouldn't it be in a daycare's financial interest to advise this? People post this sort of thing often, but this isn't necessarily a neutral opinion, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former K and First teacher, if he is socially ready, I would send him.

+1 Didn't read the rest of this thread but the social component is the most important pre-req for K. Not the academic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF there is no confirmed medical reason to hold a child back, then the child should go to school. Poor academics is the last reason to keep a child from starting school. In school, your child will get the help that he needs to succeed academically and if necessary, socially. Is the pre-school going to provide your child the services he needs to catch up to his peers? Are you? Are you or the pre-k teachers trained to provided the additional help your child may or may not need?
I sent my late September birthday son to school on time. One more year home would have drove him and us crazy. He was stuttering and a poor reader. I feel that if I had delayed entry he would be even further behind in reading. Right now he gets the attention that he needs for reading and stuttering and is able to excel in math and science.

This is a good point. I'm not a fan of delaying unless there is a real issue, but this points out that even when there is an issue it could keep kids from getting important services and help. For some kids, instead of an additional year "of being a kid" (as I've seen some parents put it), it can instead be languishing for an additional year.

Socially immature or social issues are reasons to hold kids back (as long as they can attend some kind of school of course)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started my August DC on time. DC's in HS now, in a private school which means with a bunch of kids who were redshirted, and is of the opinion we made the right choice. We think we made the right choice.

I bet if we had held our DC back, I would be saying the exact same thing about all us thinking we made the right choice. I think it's the minority of cases where a child or parents think they made a mistake by sending on time/holding back.

We sent our August 22nd boy on time and regretted it. He wasn't ready. After discussing with his kindergarten teacher, we ended up sending him to kindergarten for a second year. (Luckily, that coincided with an out-of-state move so he didn't have to watch all of his friends move on while he stayed back, but it still wasn't ideal.) This was in 2014.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF there is no confirmed medical reason to hold a child back, then the child should go to school. Poor academics is the last reason to keep a child from starting school. In school, your child will get the help that he needs to succeed academically and if necessary, socially. Is the pre-school going to provide your child the services he needs to catch up to his peers? Are you? Are you or the pre-k teachers trained to provided the additional help your child may or may not need?
I sent my late September birthday son to school on time. One more year home would have drove him and us crazy. He was stuttering and a poor reader. I feel that if I had delayed entry he would be even further behind in reading. Right now he gets the attention that he needs for reading and stuttering and is able to excel in math and science.

This is a good point. I'm not a fan of delaying unless there is a real issue, but this points out that even when there is an issue it could keep kids from getting important services and help. For some kids, instead of an additional year "of being a kid" (as I've seen some parents put it), it can instead be languishing for an additional year.

Socially immature or social issues are reasons to hold kids back (as long as they can attend some kind of school of course)

But, a child is still four and not reading is NOT poor academics.
Agree with last PP who said social issues are a good reason to hold a kid back. If OP's son fits in with the age group, I would send him.

[Anonymous]

I have one late June, one late July and two August and I sent all of them to K when they were 5. They did great. Two are adults now and one is in 9th and will graduate with honors at age 17.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a former K and First teacher, if he is socially ready, I would send him.

+1 Didn't read the rest of this thread but the social component is the most important pre-req for K. Not the academic.

If you keep your child another year in a preschool that didn't get them well prepared for K, aren't you failing that child. If the school could not do it in 2-3 years you were there, what will an extra year do. They can get the social part in K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF there is no confirmed medical reason to hold a child back, then the child should go to school. Poor academics is the last reason to keep a child from starting school. In school, your child will get the help that he needs to succeed academically and if necessary, socially. Is the pre-school going to provide your child the services he needs to catch up to his peers? Are you? Are you or the pre-k teachers trained to provided the additional help your child may or may not need?
I sent my late September birthday son to school on time. One more year home would have drove him and us crazy. He was stuttering and a poor reader. I feel that if I had delayed entry he would be even further behind in reading. Right now he gets the attention that he needs for reading and stuttering and is able to excel in math and science.

This is a good point. I'm not a fan of delaying unless there is a real issue, but this points out that even when there is an issue it could keep kids from getting important services and help. For some kids, instead of an additional year "of being a kid" (as I've seen some parents put it), it can instead be languishing for an additional year.

Socially immature or social issues are reasons to hold kids back (as long as they can attend some kind of school of course)

But, a child is still four and not reading is NOT poor academics.
Agree with last PP who said social issues are a good reason to hold a kid back. If OP's son fits in with the age group, I would send him.

If a child isn't reading and it wasn't a focus at home or preschool, holding them back will only hurt them. If they haven't gotten it by age 5, another year of preschool isn't going to help, but K will. If a preschool was great, they would have gotten your child prepared, even if you didn't supplement or help at home.

[Anonymous]

If a child isn't reading and it wasn't a focus at home or preschool, holding them back will only hurt them. If they haven't gotten it by age 5, another year of preschool isn't going to help, but K will. If a preschool was great, they would have gotten your child prepared, even if you didn't supplement or help at home.

So, you think that a four year old who cannot read has not been taught properly?

FWIW, I taught school. I'd much rather have a kid who has a large vocabulary, curiosity, and good social skills than a kid who was "trained" to read at four.

I taught a few like that--they could not think their way out of a box. On the other hand, many kids who could not read when they started the school year could easily pass the others by if they had great language skills. Being read to and talked with is a lot more important than learning to call words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a former K and First teacher, if he is socially ready, I would send him.

+1 Didn't read the rest of this thread but the social component is the most important pre-req for K. Not the academic.

If you keep your child another year in a preschool that didn't get them well prepared for K, aren't you failing that child. If the school could not do it in 2-3 years you were there, what will an extra year do. They can get the social part in K.

No, it has to do with the personality of the child. I have a sensitive and extremely social girls who gets very sad when “rejected” by the older girls and is much happier around younger or same age kids. School can’t do anything about that.