5 y/o in kindergarten - Page 2

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom 

Yes, the belief is that girls mature earlier than boys. It's true that in general, girls possess the ability to sit still sooner and often have stronger fine motor skills than boys but academically, boys are usually ready for all the learning that girls are. 

Originally Posted by ~PurityLake~ 

Originally Posted by newbymom05 

Re: girls vs boys, it's the boys who are starting at 6. The girls seem to be starting when appropriate, that is, at 5.

Why?

 

I have heard that before, that boys are more restless, can't sit still, are more kinetic learners, learning by doing, and that girls sit still, are less physically active, and learn by seeing. But I disagree that it is a gender based thing, Sure, it may be true for some, but I don't think it's true for all because I think the way a person learns is individual, not based on sex alone.

I have two daughters. The oldest one is detail oriented, has great levels of concentration, but is frustrated easily if she feels she has made a mistake she will correct it and redo it repeatedly and I'm working on helping her not be such a perfectionist when it slows down her ability to move on and borders on obsessive. My younger daughter is a mover, doer, has a very short attention span, doesn't focus on any one thing for very long at all, and seems to not pay any attention to anything until she surprises me later with having more knowledge about the topic than originally assumed. She cannot sit still, and rarely stops moving. Details bore her and she's more interested in abstract concepts. 

Yes, they're a year apart in age, but they've clearly shown these differences since they were infants. It is just who they are and how they learn, which is very unique and individual, and in our case not sex-based at all.

[whatsnextmom]

Of course it's not true for all. No generalization is true for EVERY member of a group. It just a tendancy for a large enough portion to be noticable. I taught preschool fro many years and there is certainly a reason the gender generalizations exist. Personally, I don't see the need to move, the desire to learn through doing as "immaturity." However, I do see that a large portion of the young male population have these leanings and elementary school has low tolerance for it unfortunately. Certainly some girls will have these traits but far less than boys of the same age. Some boys like my DS will be more like the girl generalization. He started kindie at 4 and the teacher often remarked on his being the most mature kid in class.

Originally Posted by ~PurityLake~ 

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom 

Yes, the belief is that girls mature earlier than boys. It's true that in general, girls possess the ability to sit still sooner and often have stronger fine motor skills than boys but academically, boys are usually ready for all the learning that girls are. 

Originally Posted by ~PurityLake~ 

Originally Posted by newbymom05 

Re: girls vs boys, it's the boys who are starting at 6. The girls seem to be starting when appropriate, that is, at 5.

Why?

 

I have heard that before, that boys are more restless, can't sit still, are more kinetic learners, learning by doing, and that girls sit still, are less physically active, and learn by seeing. But I disagree that it is a gender based thing, Sure, it may be true for some, but I don't think it's true for all because I think the way a person learns is individual, not based on sex alone.

I have two daughters. The oldest one is detail oriented, has great levels of concentration, but is frustrated easily if she feels she has made a mistake she will correct it and redo it repeatedly and I'm working on helping her not be such a perfectionist when it slows down her ability to move on and borders on obsessive. My younger daughter is a mover, doer, has a very short attention span, doesn't focus on any one thing for very long at all, and seems to not pay any attention to anything until she surprises me later with having more knowledge about the topic than originally assumed. She cannot sit still, and rarely stops moving. Details bore her and she's more interested in abstract concepts. 

Yes, they're a year apart in age, but they've clearly shown these differences since they were infants. It is just who they are and how they learn, which is very unique and individual, and in our case not sex-based at all.

[nd_deadhead]

One thing to remember is this: the older your son (and his classmates) get, the less meaningful the age difference.

My twin sons have a cousin who is two years older than they are. When they were 5 and 7, it wasn't always easy for them to play together; by the time they were 7 and 9, it was much easier.

My sons made the K cut-off by 2 days, so they are the youngest in their grade. One of their 2nd-grade teachers did not realize until spring that B was the youngest in her class - it wasn't obvious to her (and she had been teaching for over 20 years).

[SoCaliMommy]

 I would not hold my child back.

  My daughter's bday is the start of August, I didn't hold her back. The school she started K at was all day K, which started in Sept.She was at that school K - 2nd (3months of 2nd grade) we just moved and she was put into a 2/3 combo class.

 My  son's bday is the end of May he will turn 5 in 2011 and he will be starting K which where we are now living is only half day am or half day pm which starts in August.

[meemee]

ABsolutely never would i hold your son back.

so you say you would go to another school and start all over again. so yeah the people are going to be different.

but the curriculum is going to be the same. do you think he would be ok with doing those "readers" (i forget what they are called) all over again. 

5 - 6 is a hard age. many of the children go through their first pre-puberty. not enough reason to hold "your" son  back. he would be miserable. 

[homemademom]

I'm not sure where I read it but there have been studies that say any academic advantage disappears by 3rd grade. I wouldn't hold back given what you've written about your ds.

[Owen'nZoe]

I wouldn't hold him back, either. He may seem immature compared to his peers right now, but that will pass.

My son was in a school-aged summer school camp the year before kindergarten (so, when he had just turned 5). He was one of the youngest kids in the program (it admits kids who are age 5-11), and he did struggle socially. As a matter of fact, I was sure we had made a huge mistake putting him in the program instead of keeping him in daycare that summer. He went back to the same camp the summer after kindergarten, and the change was amazing! He was a young 6 and the kids he was with still ranged in age from his age to 11, but this time he understood what was expected of him socially, and how to navigate relationships with the other children. They develop and mature a lot in kindergarten.

[meetoo]

 Having him be the oldest is no guarantee that he isn't going to "feel stupid" at times or have any other social problems. Being the oldest is not always the best thing. Personally I think the rate of parents holding their kids out to "give them an edge" is just getting INSANE. You can not make your child smarter by holding them out a year. You are actually giving them less access to an education. They are learning things a year later then they should be. All the older kids I know that were held out/back know that she "should" be in the grade above and have mentioned it to me on more than one occasion. You are holding them back a grade! Unless your child has a birth close to your cut off and seems both academically and socially not ready, why even consider it? 

My DD has a June Birthday too. After K I felt she wasn't really ready for first and she did seem younger then the other kids. She did fine in K she just didn't seem ready for so much academics. We ended up homeschooling last year and it worked great. She really matured around age 7. She is in second grade and it 's where she belongs. The kids who were red shirted are not preforming like they did in K. For the most part the kids are on pretty even footing. 

My son started school this year at not quite five and he had 90% of the K curriculum mastered on his first report card. What is the point of holding him out? He is obviously ready, he also can not stand being around kids younger than himself! He is already bored with the K work this year, I can not imagine him having to do it next year too!. Just because he might end up the youngest is not a good enough reason to hold a child back.  There will always be a kid at the top and bottom of the class, there will always be a oldest and a youngest...... All this holding out is just getting nuts. Let them go in on the right grade and talk to the K teacher about whether or not to repeat. Personally, I think preschool teachers are to quick to tell parents to have their child repeat preschool, so they can fill their "transitional K" program. 

I also want to add the kids that are ahead this year because they already did the work in preschool are not going to stay ahead. They will not be learning much this year and the kids will be on more equal footing at the start of 1st grade.