My DD is only 19 months old so this is YEARS away, but I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this. Her birthday is 10 days past our kindergarten cutoff, so she will be turning 6 the year she starts. She's been in daycare full time since 12 weeks, and does really well with the "school" routine so far.
If you have a similar situation, was your kid really bored when they started kindergarten? How did you keep them excited about school?
squash / 13208 posts
Ask me in September 
DS is 23 days past the cut off so he will start this fall and turn 6 shortly after. He is in his 2nd year of Pre-K at the same DCP. Right now I can see a huge difference in his "work" at school - writing, drawing, etc but I imagine it will all even out once school starts. He doesn't nap so when the other kids nap the teacher has him do word finds, practice writing, etc - it keeps him engaged and he is doing well!
Will let you know!
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
Same situation. Chloe is end of October, and cut off is September 1. If we move to one of our desired neighborhoods, cut off is Aug 15. Baby #2 is likely coming on September 2.
I'm worried about it. Chloe is too smart for her own good, and will have to repeat one year of preschool. It's years away but we do think about it and it does suck.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
There are daycares near me that have a kindergarten program for this reason. Worth looking into!
ETA : now I'm curious what our cut off off date is since dd2 will be arriving end of August!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I think it will be fine, I am contemplating holding my son back even though he would be eligible to begin kindergarten at age 4 years 9 months in our town (given that the school goes on calendar year, I don't expect there to be 6 year olds in the grade unless they are repeating K).
I don't think it's all about smarts, it's also about emotional capacity to handle sitting for long periods of time and having the attention span to complete the work.
An option is a preschool program that does two years, or one with a kindergarten program. We're sending our son to a nature based preschool and it has a 5 year old room which is an option for us if I feel he's not ready for a public K program.
I am also currently looking into some magnet and charter schools in neighboring towns, never thought I'd be doing that!
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much. One of my closest friends is a K teacher and his advice to just about anyone who can is to keep their kid at home the extra year.
I think you can enroll her in a more education focused preschool if you are concerned. Obviously this has a lot to do with your opinion on "best" approaches to education, and what your individual child needs.
Our plan is to avoid public kindergarten all together (although we are strong advocates of public school in general). Its being referred to as "the new first grade" around here, and honestly- I'd rather my kid not be held to standards until she's a little older. Adulthood is long, childhood is very brief. Sounds like you are engaged parents, and as a result I'm sure your daughter will be fine!
nectarine / 2242 posts
Thanks for all the responses!
She will actually go to kindergarten at daycare and then kindergarten in public school the next year. I know I should just not worry about it, but hey that is what we do, right 
@Mamaof2 - let me know how it goes!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
What about other extra activities you can do with them in that extra year?
nectarine / 2242 posts
@T.H.O.U - I actually just remembered our public K has a Spanish Immersion option...hopefully they will still have that when she goes because I think that would be perfect.
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