Hellobee Boards

@katsupgirl: the problem I see with the 12/31 cut off is kids have to start K at under 5 years old. In the towns around me, kids are expected to be filling reading by around January, which leaves kids who just barely turned five expected to be reading, which we all know isn’t appropriate for all kids. At least with a 9/1 cut off everyone is already 5.

The big problem I see is the kindergarten standards aren’t appropriate for the age of the kids in it.

Mine is December 1. Some neighboring towns are December 31. My second is a mid-December birthday. One friend is starting her kid in private K since he misses the cutoff by a week and then moving him to public school for first grade since it won’t matter then.

@LindsayInNY: So your friend is starting her kid a year early, basically? If she has to pay for childcare for that year anyway (whether daycare/ pre K or private K) why not wait? Genuinely curious since most people I know want to hold their kid if anything, not start early. BUT I also think there is a gray area around the cut off where some kids who just miss it would be ready, while other kids who are just before it just really aren't ready. I am thinking of my daughter (red shirted because she was ready) and a girl in her class who is a month and a half younger than her, so just a few weeks after the cut off, who seems like she would be doing absolutely fine in Kinder.

I’ll just chime in and say I love almost everything about my son’s Kinder. They are doing art and play and technology and choice time. No homework... They even quit the reading program that tracked how many books because it become competitive so now they just have a whole school total...

Do your research and talk to the school about what you hope to see.

(I work for a school district but different than my son and and at high school. It’s been scary and fascinating!)

I think this is a really good conversation. I wanted to add that the idea of a 9/1 cutoff meaning that all kids are already 5 doesn’t exactly work across all states.

I grew up in the Midwest with a 9/1 cutoff and now live in the southwest with a 9/1 cutoff. But my first grader started school this year on 8/9. Many nearby school districts started the week before but some start in late July.

I also think it is important to get the specifics about your kindergarten and your child. We are in a project based/play focused school that I find to be developmentally appropriate. No homework. State testing doesn’t start until the 3rd grade here which helps and our principal regularly cites research about the limited utility of homework.

My second child turns 4 in July and is a boy and we are definitely sending him on time. He is smart, has good peer skills and emotional regulation skills and it really feels like a no brainer for us. But that doesn’t mean that what works for us would work for someone else or that another kindergarten setting may be more difficult for him.

Our school cut off is 9/1. DS has a November birthday and at first I was really not thrilled about the cut off because where I grew up it was 12/31. For a while I researched how to get him to start early because I was super bored the entire time in elementary school and I hated that he was going to do pre-k twice.

Ultimately I gave up on that idea. DS is a different kid than I was. He also can be kind of hyper and really struggled with circle time in preschool. Turns out he likely has sleep apnea which is making him over tired.

I’m glad now he’s had that extra year of pre-k and being in a play based program. I think he’s a whole lot more likely to be successful than if I’d put him in a private kinder program last fall. I’m also happy with my school’s kindergarten. The teachers seem great and program still incorporates a lot of play and movement for the kids.

DD has a birthday 2 weeks before the cutoff and at this point I have no plans to redshirt her. She has a much different personality than DS and I’m hoping she’ll be fine. Her teachers even joke that they could just leave the toddler room and DD would run the place just fine, lol.