How old for pre-K?

[Anonymous]

It looks like you can apply for your child to start pre-K when if they are 4 years old by the Fall start date, but that seems really young. What if your child will have only one year of preschool by then?

[Anonymous]

In general, K starts at 5, pre-K at 4. Pre-K is basically preschool, but at many schools it would tend to be have more of an academic focus and less of a play focus. Either way, I wouldn't think that it would make much difference whether the child has been in preschool for one year or two.

What school/school system are you looking at?

[Anonymous]

Quite a few kids don't go to preschool at all and go straight to pre-K. Not everyone has the money for private preschool so they wait until pre-K which is often free if it is through the county school system. Just ask the school what the age requirement is for pre-K but I can almost guarantee it will be age 4 by Sept. 1.

[Anonymous]

5 or 6 by some of the posters in this forum.

[Anonymous]

Depends on where you are. In DC there are some schools (regular DCPS and charters) where they can start as young as 3 as long as they're potty-trained.

[Anonymous]

This is an interesting topic. The cut-off at my DS's school is Age 4 by Sept. 30. Sept. 30 is his birthday and he will turn 4. He is the youngest in his class. Some of the kids in his class will turn 5 this year.

I am certain that he is ready. But it is interesting of the age span within the class. I also wonder where these kids have been before now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an interesting topic. The cut-off at my DS's school is Age 4 by Sept. 30. Sept. 30 is his birthday and he will turn 4. He is the youngest in his class. Some of the kids in his class will turn 5 this year.

I am certain that he is ready. But it is interesting of the age span within the class. I also wonder where these kids have been before now.

Is this a public pre-K program? If so, some of the kids may never have been to school before now since public pre-K is free. The problem is that kids like your son will not be age eligible for K next year if the cut-off is Sept. 1 so he will have to do 2 yrs of pre-K. The other kids will move on to K b/c of their age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The problem is that kids like your son will not be age eligible for K next year if the cut-off is Sept. 1 so he will have to do 2 yrs of pre-K. The other kids will move on to K b/c of their age.

that is not true - you make the cut for DC public schools with a 9/30 birthdate.

[Anonymous]

Is this a public pre-K program? If so, some of the kids may never have been to school before now since public pre-K is free. The problem is that kids like your son will not be age eligible for K next year if the cut-off is Sept. 1 so he will have to do 2 yrs of pre-K. The other kids will move on to K b/c of their age.


PP- I wrote that the child would not qualify for kindergarten IF the cut-off is Sept. 1.

[Anonymous]

No actually the problem is parents who are trying to give their kids an advantage from as early as 4 and 5 years old by waiting to enroll them in school so they will be the oldest and most developed among their peers.