I was 4 turning 5 when I started kinder. My twin brother did the same however when it came time to go to 1st grade he was sent to an all pre-grade school so he attend pre-1 before attending 1st grade splitting us up. He def excelled after that and was one of the smartest in all his classes. I think it all depends on how your child is. My grand mother taught us our numbers and letters together and how to read but the teachers saw a difference.

Thank you all for your input. I have major anxiety and I tend to overanalyze everything. I know I'm making the right choice, but confirmation always helps me sleep at night! You are all awesome ladies with wonderful insight! Thanks again!

K.

Sounds like your backtracking, Snarf. "It depends on the parent's involvement" and asking if we will just put them in from of the tv instead of school. Maybe your don't want to say what you really mean, but your message was pretty clear. I think its great that your kids are academically, socially, and emotionally ready for school at a younger age. It definitely saves on preschool cost.

I never said that people who hold their kids back are bad parents. But read my post however you want I guess.

I understand what the discussion is about i just don't have any input that would be helpful. I was just curious about the system over in America. I'm sure one more year isn't going to do him any harm

Where are you Rachel that the cutoff is so early?

I haven't read all responses but I will after posting this, but he might not even be able to go to Kindergarten yet. My birthday is July 17th, and I had to wait until I was 6.

@snarf.....kids that are held back a year can go to preschool and pre-kindergarten. Or be home schooled! Just because you delay kindergarten for a year, does't mean your kid has to sit at home watching tv all day! My child will be going back to preschool for another year, with the same teacher she has this year. It's the right decision for her socially. Academically, she can count to 100 and is starting to read. She's ready for kindergarten in that sense but definitely not socially but then again, she's a Christmas baby and had minimal interaction with other children until she started school. It's a personal decision. You have to decide what's best for your children. Starting them in school a year early doesn't make you any better of a parent than someone who chooses to start on time or a year late, and vice versa.

Children typically go to kindergarten at age 5. Then they go to grades 1-12 after that. So they are in school from ages 5-18.The discussion here is whether to start them in kinder at age 5 or wait until they turn 6 to begin school.

Are you all from America? I'm from Australia so I can't really give advice but I thought it was funny since kindergarten for us is children before the age of 5. Then they go to school after 5 years of age ;)

When do your kids go to school?

My son goes to a charter school. You have to be in a lottery. ( first come first serve) my son was the next one in line for 2 months. So went in at 6. He had an extensive vocabulary knew abcs counting colors shapes and puzzles. Once he got in by the 2nd month he counted to a hundred and could read by the end of the year. He always is way ahead of other students but with his ADHD he gets bored easy and they wouldn't move him ahead. He does 30 minutes of home work in 10 minutes now. He's in 3rd grade. The school is free so if you have one look into it.

what we have to remember kindergarten now is not like it was 20 years ago when we were children. and no my child didnt sit home and watch tv all day and my dh and I are very attentive to him. He went to Transitional Kindergarten which was all day monday thru friday at 5, and started regular kindergarten at 6. But like I said if you it is best for your son do it. I will never regret our decision to wait a year, it really gave my son a jump start. He would have been ready as far as knowing what he should at 5 for kindergarten, but I knew socially he wasnt ready, which is common for boys.

Snarf, you are just determined to view this in a negative light. Why? My son is very smart. He knows his colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. He can add and knows most of his letter sounds. There is so much more to being ready for school than that. This is not a "my child is ready so I'm a better parent" competition. It is being proven time and again that children are benefiting from waiting an extra year and more parents are choosing to do this. I have no problem with other children starting at 5, or even at 4, like I did. But don't insinuate that we are bad parents for waiting an extra year.

With my son we have no choice you must be 5 by August 1st to start kindergarten that year

I held my youngest one more year. I didn't feel he was ready yet, emotionally. I put him in a great preschool and now I know we are both ready for kinder this fall! I don't regret my decision at all, considering I was a summer baby and started way to young! I had to be held back a year and that was so hard and so embarrassing! I wouldn't want that for my lo

Its crazy to me how the cutoff dates vary so much from state to state! And of course your kid will have an advantage if they are held back, they should be in first grade already not still in kindergarten! They are older than other students and should be performing at an higher level as well.

But, like I said before, you know if your child is ready or not. Like snarf and a few others, I was 4 when I went to kinder and always excelled in school. I actually even graduated early. My five year old that is reading, writing, doing math, telling time, etc. should of been admitted to kindergarten last year instead of us facing the decision to skip a year so she wont get bored of listening to stuff she already clearly knows.

In Hawaii the cut off is Dec 31st, my sons bday is in November, I will be holding him back.

my birthdays in August and I started school at 5. but I could read and write before I started. it just depends on the kid. my niece started at 5 and her birthday is in August as well and she ended up skipping first grade and is finishing second grade soon. she will be 7 August 24th.

I flourished in Kindergarten being a brand new five year old and was reading on my own before first grade. I guess it all depends on the parent's interaction.

I have also heard that a lot of kids especially boys do better starting at 6 than 5. i would definitely hold my son back til the next year if he was barely 5 id be afraid of him having to repeat kindergarten because of putting him in too early or something. he has a december bday tho & will be turning 6 this year in kindergarten. it still makes me nervous even though he's been in pre-k this year but its still going to be a big transition going 5 days a week 8-3 or whatever. it may work for some people and their kids may be ready but you know whats best for yours!

Maybe think about sending him, but have him repeat Kindergarten again if you feel hes not ready to move on.

It depends on the kid IMO. If you think your kid can do with staying home an extra year great. If you want them to start at 5 that's great. Lets all just do whats right for the kids man.

I didn't realize 60 minutes looked into this. I'm glad they are realizing the benefits on a national level.

Wow, Snarf. That was a little snippy. My son will be in preK next year. That's what most parents do before kinder.

So for kids that are held back, what do they do for the year that they sit at home? Watch Sprout?

60 minutes just did a show about this. they said that children who start kindergarten a year late actually do better academically and are more likely to succeed than children who start kindergarten on time. My daughter was born christmas eve so we have no choice in the matter but even if she wasn't, we would have held her back a year.

Have you checked with the school he will attend and see if they will let him start and see how he does? Some schools will do this to see if a child is ready. I did it with my lo. He was 4 but would be turning 5 two weeks into the start of school. He tested very well so we tried it out. He was the smallest in his class and the youngest. A few months into the year it was plain that he wasn't ready, so we pulled him out and waited till the next year. Best thing we ever did.

I never knew people held their kids back. Where I live kindergarten is not mandatory and children start at five. Both of my kids went to pre k and started kindergarten at 5. Mt dd#1 is very bright and she will be starting the second grade this fall and she just turned 7. The cutoff is they have to be 5 years old by dec. 31. If they are already in pre k I say send them to kindergarten.

i started kinder at 5 but was in preschool from 3 and have a sister 2 years older than me and we would play school alot... they wanted to fail me because i didnt want to do anything but thays because i was bored cuz i already knew everything they were teaching.... idk if that was relevent but anyways the cutoff here is sept 1st if u dont turn 5 before then u wait till the next year

My brother, sister, and I all started kindergarten at 4 as we had nov/dec birthdays. We all did well in school and all graduated university.

It doesn't matter how "smart" your child is, it also is how socially and emotionally mature they are. There is nothing wrong with holding your child back. My son is a summer birthday and we put him in transitional kindergarten when her turned 5. TK was all day Monday thru Friday at the same Elementary school he goes to now as a kindergartener. I will never regret the decision to hold off on kindergarten until he was 6. He is a very smart boy and is already reading and doing multiplication in the kindergarten. I know I did what is right for my child. Unfortunately there are so many judgmental people out there , just ignore them. If you feel like the choice you are making for your son is the right one then stick with it :) Plus, more parents are making the decision to hold off a year now days. Wouldn't you rather give your child an advantage, then have him struggle in school to keep up?

Have just discussed this with my friend who Is a teacher after seeing your other thread. She has been teaching for a number of years and says she's fed up picking up the pieces after parents who insist on sending their kids to school so young when they are not ready so they don't have to pay for daycare. They are saving money sure, but at what cost to their children who are struggling to keep up???

Financially, it would be easier to send him this next year. Preschool is crazy expensive!!! We are only sending him 3 days a week. He can do 5 days when he starts kinder.

My ss turned 5 last august and we could have put him in kindergarten but I didn't think he was ready so he will start this september when he is 6.

I was an August baby and my mom held me back and I am so glad she did. I am glad i wasn't the youngest person in my class and it gave me an extra year to mature. I worked in daycares too and you could tell which kids were the youngest in the class just by watching for a few minutes. I say if you can do it give your kid an extra year.

I asked because it is a big step and if anyone had a negative experience with holding back I'd like to hear it. So far I haven't heard any. This is such a big forum I like to hear the different sides.

My sister and I started kinder at 4. We were both very smart. We were in the honors classes and graduated at the top of our classes. We started college at 17 and entered the adult world early. I'm 35 now and it doesn't mean squat that I did all that stuff early. I was the last one to drive, the last one to get privileges because I was so young, and the last one to be able to go clubbing with my friends. Petty, I know, but it was a big deal at the time! My boys will be 18 for a whole year before they leave for college. It gives them a taste of freedom before we let them loose on the world!

All of the parents I know have held their summer children back. And they are all glad that they did. More often I know parents regret sending them at 5 if they had an option to hold them. Boys in general are falling behind in school. They are tracked at lower levels and tend to be more disruptive. I want to give my boys the best chance to succeed. It's not about how smart they are. Caden knows what he needs to for kinder. But asking him to sit still and pay attention for hours at a time would be a challenge. Yes he could do it, but he can do it more easily in a year.

I say start your kids in school as soon as you can. :)

my son will be 5 in July and he is starting kinder this august

i will be homeschooling him though.

I had a summer birthday and started K at 5. I was younger than everybody else but I graduated at 17 and have accomplished way more than people "my age" you know? I think starting earlier is better.

I hope this doesn't come off rudely but if your kid doesn't know basics like his abc's, colors, and such then they shouldn't be attending kinder if holding them back is an option. My neighbor is a kinder teacher and she admits that she would have easily covered more material with her class if all children came prepared. Because so many if the younger children were obviously not ready is exactly why they changed the cutoff date. Which ended up hurting my daughter and others that were ready.

I've always heard its better to start boys at 6yrs because they tend to be better in school than had they started at 5.

The cutoff date to turn 5 to enter kinder used to be Oct. 16th here. They changed it a few years ago to Aug 30. I have an extremely smart Oct 3 daughter. She has to be held back which we all thought was a huge mistake. Sure enough, we just took her to her kinder assessment and they were so surprised with her knowledge that they are now discussing skipping her to first grade. I think that might be a bit tough on her because she's never even been to preschool so going to school all day is going to be a huge adjustment as it is but she was more than ready last year. I think that it needs to be a parental decision. You know if your kid is ready or not. And the schools should possibly provide some sort of testing just to make sure. Its all rather frustrating to me!