WWYD, kindergarten for July baby?

@andujartyler I was also the sister but I had a winter birthday and was right in the middle to younger end of my class. I ended up starting college courses early. So I guess as anecdote, some kids will just be “ahead” compared to their peers regardless of age. Now for the social/emotional aspect, I’m probably still behind at 26 lol.
 
@steffanie2020 They made me skip grades (eventually) and that was much more damaging to my social life.

Also, sadly, not everyone has the opportunity to take college classes in high school. It was not a possibility where I lived.
 
@waka To show a different side of this, I was the baby of the class but was still incredibly bored academically, and was extremely shy and had no friends.

I have no idea whether emotional maturity played a hand in being left out socially, or just the way that I naturally isolated myself.
 
@jharnack This was my experience too. Late fall baby, started at 4. I was bored anyway. I was shy until a certain age and even then, I don’t know that I ever felt like on par emotionally with my peers. Academically? I was always ahead but emotionally / puberty wise I always felt like I was a “late bloomer”.

Every kid is diff obviously. And I don’t begrudge my parents. It was free childcare sooner & I was academically fine so they saw no reason to push me forward.

My daughter is a week before me and there isn’t a choice in our district— I could appeal but based on my own experience as the baby, I’m going to supper her going to K at 5 going on 6. I guess we’ll see what happens and whether she hates me for it haha.

I also think that with COVID — most kids are a little stunted socially, based on my experience, so there’s probably no wrong answer and is entirely dependent on the kid & circumstances.
 
@waka Yes, I was a January baby (our cutoff is Dec 31 here, so January kids are the oldest) and I was so bored/unchallenged that they had to skip me a grade.
 
@waka I'm a July baby but was always one of the youngest in my class. I started preschool at 3 and did two years because in my state, you couldn't start kindergarten before 5. I was still constantly bored in classes, though, which resulted in me being rather disruptive and straight up wild at times, seeking some kind of stimulation. I feel like it really should be up to the child. Do THEY feel ready? Do they at least kinda understand what's happening? If they do, then go for it. If child is hesitant, go for another year of preschool and then later if their academic abilities are more advanced than their peers, see about letting them test to skip a grade. Education needs to be focused on the child, not what's more convenient for the parent.
 
@jellofishxo I’d follow what seems right for your child now rather than some pre-conceived notions about what life may be like over a decade from now. I personally don’t understand this trend of people holding their kids back for some sort of advantage - it just moved the goal posts. The people with September kids didn’t want to be youngest so they all hold back a year and eventually the deadline moves to august. Then the July, august, etc. and now it feels out of hand to me.

Our town doesn’t allow holding back except for extremely specific circumstances - if you start at 6, they’re going to first grade. And I tend to agree with that plan. It has to make life harder for teachers when they’ve got a wider and wider span of ages/abilities in one class.
 
@cyrilll An Aug 31st newly 5 is still in the same grade as a Sept 1st newly 6, if they follow the cut off dates and each starts as able. The massive age differences will always be there. So I don't blame parents for wanting their kids to also be a newly 6 in K, same as the kid who just so happens to turn 6 close to that arbitrary cut off date.
 
@jellofishxo I’m a late July kid and started kindergarten at 5. My husband is a late July kid and started kindergarten at 6. We both turned out fine. Our plan with our July kid is for her to start kindergarten at 5. This is largely a financial decision for us.
 
@dither Where I live, a lot of people wait until 6 if they have a summer baby. The thought isn’t so much academically but that they aren’t emotionally/socially mature yet. I have an august baby and I’m going to wait and see what his preschool teachers have to say. If they think he’s ready I’ll do it.
 
@dither The point is that they won’t be the youngest child in their class. My youngest was born the day before the cut off date. I held her back and EVERYONE has told me what a gift we gave her. She’s matured so much and is so much more confident in herself. I was literally the youngest person in my graduating class by over a year in some cases. It was OK, but I feel like school is so much more intense these days. Like K is what we were doing in first grade. Anyways, I also didn’t like the idea of her starting college (if she chooses to go) at the age of 17. Let them be little a bit longer.
 
@dither I am not a fan of redshirting but in well off areas it is a very common thing to do. The kids gain a significant advantage in academics and possibly sports (due to potentially being bigger because they’re older).
 
@dither Well a lot of people send their kids at 6, I (and my cousin actually) went at 6 and was always pretty advanced academically and socially. I worry both about early on and then later on that he’d be much younger (or even older) than his peers.
 
@jellofishxo As a teacher I’d argue that it’s not really beneficial for kids to be so much more socially or academically advanced than their peers. Those kids tend to get very bored and are not challenged by the grade level content. Boredom tends to lead into classroom behavioral issues or problems with making friends.
 
@dither Agreed. I think school tries hard to differentiate, but they teach to the middle, and it’s very hard to get appropriate enrichment for an advanced student. They often just end up being the tutors for the other kids.
 
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