Haven't read through all the posts but wanted to say that my ds is a former preemie as well as a July birthday and we started him "on time" and it has been great. Now, given that, he is in a half day K and if it was full day I think we would have waited. Mostly we would have based it on whether he would do well socially and emotionally, not academically.
I was a November b'day and started school at 4 and had no problems.
It is totally kid-dependent. Unfortunately, the tendency around here is also to "red-shirt" kids, especially boys, for things like sports and size, etc... and I think that does a disservice to all the kids in K. It makes K much more academic, because now you're dealing primarily with 6 year olds instead of 5 year olds and it creates this huge disparity in maturity as well as ability for teachers to deal with.
Oh and with regard to reading--it's totally developmental. Absolutely cannot be pushed. They will read when they're ready. Like running, talking, etc...
I was a November b'day and started school at 4 and had no problems.
It is totally kid-dependent. Unfortunately, the tendency around here is also to "red-shirt" kids, especially boys, for things like sports and size, etc... and I think that does a disservice to all the kids in K. It makes K much more academic, because now you're dealing primarily with 6 year olds instead of 5 year olds and it creates this huge disparity in maturity as well as ability for teachers to deal with.
Oh and with regard to reading--it's totally developmental. Absolutely cannot be pushed. They will read when they're ready. Like running, talking, etc...
