Some background… I live in the US. My daughter will turn 5 this summer. The cut off date for the kindergartens where I live is Sept 30. She is currently in her second year of preschool. She did a half day program last year and she’s doing a full day program this year. Her class has 15 kids and I think 8 or 9 of them could have been in kindergarten this year (meaning they turned 5 before the school year started or turned 5 shortly after). My daughter is doing really well. She has lots of friends and loves going to school. She’s writing well and getting into reading and math. We plan to send her to kindergarten this upcoming August.
Her teachers emailed us a few days ago to say they think we should have her repeat pre-K. For two reasons: 1. Her age. They think she will have more confidence if she’s older. And 2. Her speech. She has a great vocabulary but she has some articulation issues. We are currently in the process of enrolling her in speech therapy. Nobody has ever expressed concerns about her speech until a few days ago.
I’m having concerns about her repeating pre-K. I’m worried if she repeats the same pre-k class she will be bored and maybe confused on why she’s repeating (she knows she is going to a new school next year already). The process for signs ups for schools is happening now. If I want to find her a new pre-k (and I will likely only find half day programs), I have to figure this out NOW. I don’t understand why so many people are “redshirting” their kids. Pretty soon the spring birthday parents will start doing it. And then eventually we will have 8 year olds in kindergarten. Ok that’s an exaggeration but I’m overwhelmed. If my daughter is doing well with kids 1-1.5 years older than her now, she should be ok.
The other concern is we may send her to this amazing private school we love but they want a recommendation from her prior teachers and her pre-k teachers now don’t look likely to give a good rec if they want to hold her back.
And my last concern is a little out there but what if her preschool is doing this to make more money. We already spend a lot in tuition. They are encouraging all the young kids to repeat. And they don’t usually get a waitlist.
I just wish we had more of a heads up! Any thoughts on what I should do?
Her teachers emailed us a few days ago to say they think we should have her repeat pre-K. For two reasons: 1. Her age. They think she will have more confidence if she’s older. And 2. Her speech. She has a great vocabulary but she has some articulation issues. We are currently in the process of enrolling her in speech therapy. Nobody has ever expressed concerns about her speech until a few days ago.
I’m having concerns about her repeating pre-K. I’m worried if she repeats the same pre-k class she will be bored and maybe confused on why she’s repeating (she knows she is going to a new school next year already). The process for signs ups for schools is happening now. If I want to find her a new pre-k (and I will likely only find half day programs), I have to figure this out NOW. I don’t understand why so many people are “redshirting” their kids. Pretty soon the spring birthday parents will start doing it. And then eventually we will have 8 year olds in kindergarten. Ok that’s an exaggeration but I’m overwhelmed. If my daughter is doing well with kids 1-1.5 years older than her now, she should be ok.
The other concern is we may send her to this amazing private school we love but they want a recommendation from her prior teachers and her pre-k teachers now don’t look likely to give a good rec if they want to hold her back.
And my last concern is a little out there but what if her preschool is doing this to make more money. We already spend a lot in tuition. They are encouraging all the young kids to repeat. And they don’t usually get a waitlist.
I just wish we had more of a heads up! Any thoughts on what I should do?