Early Entrance for Kindergarten
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Anonymous
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My son has a late September birthday. The cut off for Kindergarten is September 1st where we live. I've never been interested in pursuing early entrance for various reasons. One of the main reasons is that it's hard to know how it might impact kids down the road in middle school and high school in regard to immaturity, etc. I have always thought it was a better idea to send him on time, with the stipulation that I'd reevaluate if I was at all on the fence when the time actually came. I am actually an elementary school teacher, so have seen how EEK kids do up to 5th grade but after that it's an unknown to me.
DS's preschool teachers approached me and said I may want to think about getting him tested for EEK in the spring. He's a kid who loves to learn and picks up on concepts pretty quickly. I brushed it off initially, but I thought I owed the idea due diligence and think a little bit more about it. I think he'd be fine academically, but I'm more concerned with the social/emotional component. Has anyone's kid gone to K early? How are they doing now in middle school/high school/college? I know I'm asking for anecdotal evidence, but I am curious to hear from others. |
Anonymous
| I think you could also ask opinions of parents of kids who technically went "on time" but close to the cutoff. In our school the cutoff is 9/30 but there are very few boys who turn 5 in September of their kindergarten year. So effectively those kids end up being much younger than some of the others in the class. My DS's best friend is in that category and he doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects. If you were talking about a kid who would be 6 months or a year early that would be one thing, but a few weeks behind the cutoff is well within the normal variation of kids' development. He's not going to be a foot shorter than the next tallest kid. |
Anonymous
| My neighbor did early entrance into K with her DD. DD just turned 14 and started high school when she should be in 8th grade. My neighbor has noted that she didn't think ahead. SHe really does not want her DD exposed to what she is being exposed to in 9th grade, yet. |
Anonymous
| I started K a month after I turned 4. I had NO problems related to that all throughout high school and college. Being the youngest person in my class did not affect me whatsoever. I was 17 when I graduated and went off to college, but I was more mature than most of my 18 year old friends. Definitely anecdotal, but there you go. |
Anonymous
I have a kid who started early (October birthday, September 1 cutoff), a kid who started late, and one who started on time. No one is ready for their child to be exposed to what they get exposed to in 9th grade. |
Anonymous
| We did not start our son early. He is just in PK4 now. At our parent teacher conference we learned he had basically already mastered all the academic components for the year. That being said, he is having a blast and loves school. I am so happy he gets to spend this year still playing a lot and not having any pressure. The teacher is working with him when she can on more advanced concepts but I really don't care. He is happy and that is what matters. |
Anonymous
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I have a late sept birthday and the cut off was sept 1 when I was a kid. I started early -- in the late 70s. My parents said they regretted it by middle school. I was always on top academically, but was a mess socially. To be honest, I never agreed that my awkwardness was about age -- I think Id have been socially awkward no matter when I started, but it was an easy target.
I know there had to be a formal cutoff for logistical purposes, but I really don't think a few weeks is what defines a kid. If my child seemed ready and was within 6 weeks of the cut off, Id look into starting early. Someone will always be the oldest/youngest/largest/smallest/best/worst. |
Anonymous
 Agreed. No matter how long you delay, high school is very different.
We held back and did a more academic 4 program at 5. It was too slow and while helpful not really fully beneficial as my kid was ready for more. We did more at home. The school would not supplement. They insisted this was best even though they moved other kids ahead. Come this year, there were only young 5's in the class and socially it would be terrible for my child being 6. We insisted they bump him to 1st where all the other young 6's were and its worked out very well. It sucks to have missed some of the academics of K. but its not a big deal. Looking back, I would have insisted my child go to K. with a September birthday. He didn't make any real gains in reading because he came in reading and they were teaching basics only. He was more comparable to the kids in K. (he has some mild special needs but he does far better with older kids, not younger). At least the school finally listened to me. I see no gain in holding them back. You cannot expect them to "mature" with much younger kids. If they are academically able to meet the challenge, then you send them. Its one thing if your child doesn't know basics like colors, shapes, numbers and letters, but those should have been taught in preschool and at home, so if you aren't teaching you or the school is not teaching your child, how will holding them back be beneficial. And, if your child knows it, how will it be beneficial keeping them with younger kids who act their age? |
Anonymous
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I was put ahead in K for similar reasons and while it was academically fine, it was socially very difficult. My sister, born a few years later with the same profile, was not put ahead because my parents realized they'd made a mistake. She also did well academically, but life was far easier for her socially. It wasn't a problem for me in elementary school, but it was very tough in middle school and high school. I did like going to college at 17, though.
But that's just a datapoint, and you know your own kid best. Some too-young kids thrive socially. The problem with asking is that you're going to get a lot of "I did it and we're thrilled" and "I did it and I regret it," but you don't know enough about the facts to know whether it's relevant or not. |
Anonymous
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I have two summer birthday boys, one I sent on time and the other I held. It was the correct choice for each kid.
Of the child who is on time - he is the youngest and one of the smallest in 8th grade now (I was always the tallest). Academically he's fine, (actually, in K he was off the charts academically) but me and my spouse both had liberal arts undergraduate experiences and our goal is a to raise a contributing member of society, not a smart kid. We also ended up pupil placed, so I'm stuck driving (I've threatened him with going to TJ since then he'd get busing). Which means he turns 16 before his Jr year and will graduate at 17 (which I still have not figured out if that is good or bad for beach week trouble). |
Anonymous
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OP here. I came back to this post because the EEK application is due this week for where we live. I am 95% sure that not sending him EEK is the best decision, but there's still 5% of me that's questioning that decision. It could be that I've been reading too many redshirt threads where people talk badly about older taller kids in K .
As of now, he's not quite reading but he recognizes some sight words and can sound out CVC words. I have not explicitly been teaching him how to read, but he's learning the letter sounds in his preschool/daycare and he puts the sounds together to create a word on his own. He can count up to about 120 and he recognizes all the numbers and can write them. He can add and subtract 1 digit numbers without an issue and he can sometimes add and subtract 2 digit numbers accurately. He will sometimes use his fingers to help him, especially with subtraction. He can write all the letters, but I have not seen him write any words. In terms of behavior, he can tend to be more of a follower than a leader. He usually is a good listener, but can go through phases of testing boundaries. His teachers have been telling me lately that he's been calling out answers during circle time lately, without giving other kids an opportunity to answer the question. We've talked about that at home and it's been a little bit better lately. My gut is to have him use the extra year of Pre-K to have him work on his listening skills, waiting his turn and to become physically stronger. He's tall, but he had a congenital heart defect that was corrected last year that caused him to have little strength/energy when most kids were developing their gross motor skills. He was in PT, but met all of his goals so he no longer attends. He could also use some extra time to strengthen his grip and acquire some more writing skills. The K curriculum where we live has a lot of writing, and kids who don't come in with some writing skills can tend to get frustrated (understandably). If you were in my shoes, would you also not opt to test for EEK? I know only we can make the decision, but I'm curious to see what others in our position have done. |
Anonymous
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Personally- in your situation I might push him ahead. My son was on par with your son when entering PK4. He has a birthday about 6 weeks past our cut off. Honestly he has stalled academically. I try to work with him at home but he is resistant to my teachings. He still loves school, has become a leader in the class, has developed many social/emotional skills. But I think he would have essentially developed all those skills in kindergarten.
Your son will be fine no matter the decision. There is no right answer and you just have to follow your gut. Full disclosure- I don't believe in red shirting and am pretty firm on just following the time line the school district sets (exceptions for specific legitimate reasons). But there is a swing space that the district allows testing for because of this reason. Your son is ready for K. Again- it will be fine no matter what you do. So no need to second guess. Make the choice and be happy with it. |
Anonymous
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No, I wouldn't do EEK. There's a lot of writing in our jurisdiction also and it really kills kids who have delayed fine motor skills. If you want to send him early he should be way ahead of the pack in all areas. The only student I have seen do well in EEK is a girl who was reading well at that age, had amazing handwriting, and was 100% obedient to the teacher.
In contrast our DC's class had two boys who just made the cut off and were sent on time. One was probably doing as well as your child academically but was very socially mature at the time. The second was reading chapter books and could do a lot of advanced math but was less socially immature. Both of them ended up struggling and in the end had to get special needs services under developmental delays (no diagnosis). It's possible both of these kids could probably have passed the county's EEK test but I've talked to both sets of parents and both wish they had waited another year. |
Anonymous
| I would apply but they are looking for kids who basically have mastered the K. materials. We went the private route and my kid had some fine motor and other issues. We worked at it over the summer and still do and he''s caught up and keeping up. Personally I'd give him a chance. My son was reading very well by 4. If anything, I think moving him forward helped. |
Anonymous
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I have four kids, all with fall birthdays (as late as late November). All four went early, all four wound up skipping a grade additionally.
Two have graduated from college. I think there was a pang of sadness at not driving as soon as friends drove, but otherwise the age was a non-issue. One is in middle school and the youngest is in late elementary and both are thriving. |