Mamas of boys, at what age did you place your ds in kindergarten? - Page 3

[Cinder]

Kincaid started K at 5.  He turned 5 in March and Started K in August.  Travis will start K 2 days after turning 5 since to continue special education services he has to start school the year he is eligible.  So he will turn 5 on August 13th 2012 and start K on August 15th... 

Janelle started K less than a month before she turned 6.  The district we lived in at the time had a cut off of September 5th and her birthday is September 9th, so that was the first year she was eligible.

[Usually Curious]

My boys were almost six when they started K. It worked out well. They are in 8th and 12th grades now and doing well emotionally and academically.

[omelette]

My son will be 5 in April and will be starting Kindergarten this September; he'll be almost 5.5yrs old when he starts.  I'm very comfortable with this.  My 2nd son is only 1yr old now but he's an October baby.  He should start Kindergarten at 4 yrs old and turn five a month into it but we have already decided that we are going to wait so he'll start at 5 yrs old and turn 6 a month into it.

I taught Kindergarten for 5 years and I agree with the research that says boys should start later then girls.  There are always exceptions but in general I found that most boys who were late fall babies would have benefited by waiting another year.  I find this based more on social readiness than academic readiness.

[JudiAU]

Assuming you are talking about a public school, check your district policies. Our state is changing the requirement so the kids are slightly older now. DS will be about 5y2m when he starts. He is large and very verbal so I am not too concerned.

As a side note, our preschool started a "developmental kindergarten" for about six kids. The kids are mostly physically small, younger than average, and with a lower skill set. It is a pretty awesome environment. LIke the 4 year olds, they ahve class 9-3.

[treemom2]

The cutoff for school here (on base) is Oct 1st and DS's birthday is Oct 28.  In most states Kinder isn't a requirement. . .on military bases it is not required.  We decided not to send him at all.  Right now at the kinder, the kids are learning their numbers, letters, and playing on starfalls way to much.  My DS can read chapter books, write, and do basic addition and subtraction.  He'd be so bored.  I'm not even sure we'll send him to first grade. . .might just enroll as a non-attending homeschooler.

[beebalmmama]

My ds turned 5 less than a month before he started kindy. So far it has turned out great for him. Academically he is doing really well and I would imagine he would be bored in pre -k. He's also in full day kindy. Socially he is a little behind. But really that is more because of his personality, he is very reserved/shy and takes quite a bit of time to warm up to people. I don't see that staying in a preschool or staying home for that matter would necessarily help with that. He is definitely very capable within the classroom as far as maturity is concerned.

[straighthaircurly]

 DS had to be 5 by September 1st to start K, he turned 5 on August 18th. We debated an on time start or a late start (age 6). Ultimately we started him t 5 and while it has had his bumps, we are all glad he started then. He is in 2nd grade and has tons of friends, is in the top reading and math group. He is working on 3rd grade and higher material. His behavior is sometimes on the young side but part of that is his personality. He is extremely out spoken, independent thinking, and very high energy...none of which tend to be valued traits by school teachers.

Factors that helped us make the decision...

1) DS wanted to start at age 5

2) I was available to volunteer in the classroom a lot which eased the transition for him. Not all schools allow this though.

3) Very bright and would have been academically bored if we held him back

4) Lots of parental support at home to help him process social-emotional challengees as well as arrange for special therapies to help with weak fine motor skills before it became too big of a discouragement for him.

5) DS was worried about being gone all day (he had done 3 mornings a week for preschool) so he wanted a chance to practice. We signed him up for 2 weeks of an all day academic summer program. It was invaluable to him and us to see how he handled the schedule and to figure out what worked to help him succeed each day..

6) We registered for both preschool and K. That way we didn't feel pressure to make the decision when he was only 4.5yo. He changed a lot in the next 6 months and we were able to make a better decision in August. We actually waited until the day before school started to make the final decision.

[Pepe]

DS started kindergarten (Spanish/English immersion) this past fall at 5.  His turning-5 b-day was just under a month before the Sept 1 cut-off.  Though there was a lot he didn't "know" at the beginning--for example, he was reluctant to do much drawing/writing before this year--he's doing very well and we're happy we sent him into K.

I'd recommend going to observe the kindergarten class (if you can), getting info about the curriculum, and talking to kindergarten parents to find out if what they're doing in K looks appropriate for YOUR kiddo--keeping in mind how much he could change in the next few months. 

One tip: once you make your decision, be ready to own it!  At the start of kindergarten, DH and I were annoyed that people kept commenting about how "young" DS was--he's the youngest in the class.  I think this bothered us because (a) we were a little insecure and waiting to see how things would shake out and (b) we were sort of dismayed that the teacher and classroom aides jumped to conclusions about DS just because of when his birthday is.  No one is going on and on about how young he is anymore.  :)

Another thought: I started kindergarten (which was, of course, a very different animal in the mid-seventies) shortly before I turned 6, and perhaps it would have been better to have started earlier.  Due in part to having a mother who was herself a kindergarten teacher, I could already do most everything that was happening in the class--I had learned to read very early, etc.--and it took me a long time to learn how to learn at school.  For quite awhile, I would completely shut down when I encountered something I did not already know how to do.  You might think about how things will go for your son if he is one of the older ones and not suitably challenged by what's happening in K.   Will he be bored?  If so, will he act out?  Will he be overlooked and not encouraged to make progress at his own pace? 

Good luck with your investigation and decision!