Starting K at 6, who's done it?

Sorry if I've asked this question before, but have any of you held your Preschoolers back another year and waited until they were 6 before starting Kinder? Wil's birthday is very end of August, so he would be JUST turning 5 this next fall. He is currently in preschool, which is actually his second year (we put him in around 2.5 in Colorado). Another year would be 3 years total of preschool. Do they get burned out? His current teacher tells me that he will be ready come summer time. But I'm just not sure. I've heard pros and cons. My sister has three girls, held two back, and she doesn't regret it one bit. Teaches in all of their classes and can always tell the difference (maturity and reading level) with the younger kids. But DH wants to push him through because DH was the oldest in his class and hated it. We want to do what's best for Wil, but it's hard to pay the tuition for private preschool knowing K is free (just being honest).

Pros and Cons please, from those who have done it, thought about it, or teach! Or whomever wants to contribute opinions of course. Thanks

Brooke will turn 6 in October after she starts kindergarten so she will be one of the older kids. For us that worked out really well because even though I think she is academically ready socially she isn't there yet so we have another year to work on those skills with her.

caleb was in preschool when he was 5. acedemically he was ready to start school, although his birthday prevented us from doing so...however he was not ready emotionally. I think boys tend to mature slower, and so when he turned 6yrs old he was so ready and he excelled then. I dont know that he would have done so well if he had started sooner..
I think its more then just what they have to know for kindergarden, its more about being mentally and emotionally ready. especially now that kindergarden is a whole day..

Jakob will be the same way, he will start at 6 due to his birthday..and andrew is able to go early but we will hold him back until he is 6 just because we have had so much more success with it..and frankly I am in no hurry to rush my babies into the school system...

what ever you decide, its what is right for you, I am sure he will be fine if he started sooner..and just as fine if he starts later..it certainly is a much less of expence if you let him start, then preschool is..

Nope I haven't but I wish I would have done that with my oldest son, but it's too late now. He'll graduate when he is 17 and will be barely 18 if he chooses to start college that fall. I think I'll make him wait a year before I send him off to college.

Jamison's birthday is at the end of September. I did not hold her back but I thought about it seriously. I decided that if I were to hold her back, it would be in Kindergarten so that she would get the benefit of the extra year of K as opposed to preschool. There is program here for young 5s that is called Alternative Kindergarten..it's pricey but was another option.

Our school district has a young 5's program. It is totally free becasue it is Kindergarden. you can put your kid in if their b-day is from June-December. If they start and the school thinks the kid is totally ready for K you can move them into a regular K class, if at teh end of the year they think your kid is ready for 1st they can go to first or if they can go into regular K the next year. It is a pretty cool program and depending on maturity I can see where that would be handy with my August baby.

I'm not sure, this is what they reccomend here at the private school that the kids go to. They are thinking of holding Anthony back a year. I'm not sure I like that idea as that means he'll be behind when we return to Canada. I can offer more on this when we have parent conferences on Dec. 3.

I was nervous about sending Mckaylee at 5 because she was having alot of trouble learning to write and memorize, but she has amazed me. Honestly..If it were me..I would put him in Kindy and if needed have him repeat it.

Ben's birthday is in May. We agonized for so long over this decision. Every where I looked people advised me to hold him back until he was 6. The only people that thought we should go ahead and send him were Me, DH, and his preschool teacher. We went with our gut and sent him.
We were kind of in the same boat as you, he already had 3 years of Preschool at that point. He knew all his letters, numbers up to 20, shapes, colors, how to write his name, all that by the time he was 4, so the last year of PS was mainly review for him. We felt that he would be bored out of his mind doing PS again, plus, public school was cheaper, saving us nearly $200 a month.

We are glad we did it. He loves Kindy, and really, is ahead of the class academically. THey are only required to know 2 letters at this point my sight and sound. He could do that at age 3! We talked about it at his conferences a few weeks back and his teacher said that socially he is right on target.

its a really hard decision. I remember thinking that no matter what we did, it would totally ruin him for life. like there is no right or wrong way.

Are you kidding me????

Are you kidding me????

no. I'm not kidding. I nearly swallowed my tongue when she said that.

ya know thats a toughie for me. I have thought about that with Raygen. Lexi started k and 5 but she turned 6 in November she was a little older anyways. But Raygen will be 4 in June and I am putting her in pre-k but I dont think she is even ready for that. I personally think she is behind on the learning curve. I dont know if its because she was born so early or what. But I have thought about this. I am reading the replies hoping to help me make a decision also.

Tara, exact same thing here - I talked with the Director of Wil's PS today and she thinks I should send him on through. I asked her what they need to know to be "prepared" for K and she said "how to trace letters, how to write their name". Um. Wil learned all of this LAST YEAR at age 3 in PS. I'm not sure if it's the CA vs CO system, but that seemed really odd to me. I told her, but he knows all that. And her response was "see, well then he's ready". I guess to me it's more of the maturity/social thing. Wil is very social and has no dependancy issues, but he isn't the most mature 4 year old. His ST says he at the level he should be at, so no more worries there, but he still acts out terribly when he doesn't get his way. I don't get any complaints about hitting other kids or anything like that, but he definitely is that kid that gets super emotional if he doesn't understand how to do something other kids CAN do. I noticed it at the park the other day when he noticed a 7 year old boy climbing this rock thing...Well Wil couldn't come close to climbing it. He kept asking us to lift him up and we said "you need to learn how to do it on your own". Because truthfully, once he was up, we wouldn't be able to help him down (too high). He got so mad and there is no talking him out of it by that point! Normal 4 year old behavior I suppose, but I wonder if he will frustrate easily in class and "give up" if he doesn't get something as quick as others.

See I started K at 4 and I always felt immature for my class. Very shy, never excelled at much except art and dance. And yes, I was 17 my first year in college. I can't say I would have been better off if I was held back, but I do remember always feeling "behind" my peers.

Thanks for the advice. I'm still on the fence. But at least we still have almost a whole half year of PS left to decide.

TBH, every child is different. I think either way there are pros and cons and there isn't an easy yes or no answer. Tanner is a late July baby, and we sent him. Glad we did, because his teacher said you'd never know he was the youngest in the class. Although, if he didn't look older (always big for his age) and he wasn't as ready maturity-wise, then she probably would have been able to tell. I think the maturity level is important too, but I also think it depends. There are some kids who just never mature until WAY later, and at that point you can't wait until the child is 8 to send them. But, some kids really do better being held back for that extra year, especially when their b-days fall towards the middle/end of summer. As far as acedemics go, the teacher should be teaching at each child's level, so if he is ahead of other kids, she should be challenging him on his own level...regardless of when he actually starts school and no matter what school he is in. When kids are bored, they start trouble. So, I wouldn't worry about him being bored in school, wherever he will be attending, because the teacher should be doing that. I say just think about it until you absolutely have to make a decision. No matter what, everything will work it's way out.

Alyssa will be turing six november after school starts and Alyssa will be 5 the may before the starts... I'm kinda glad Alyssa will be six because I could tell she wouldn't be ready maturity wise for kindergarten and I guess we will find out when Autumn gets there if she is ready or not. Good luck with your decision

I went thru this with my dd. Her bday is 8/25. I sent her to K when she had just turned 5 bc I didn't want to pay for another year of PreK.

She went to K just fine, but at the end of K, her teacher recommended she repeat. I was on the fence, dh was totally against retention, and my dd kept saying she was going to 1st.

We put her into 1st and she is doing great. She gets a special reading program bc she is most likely dyslexic. And she still gets speech therapy. Her reading teacher is a SpEd teacher and taught K last year. She seems no reason dd was recommended for retention! Her classroom teacher said she is doing fine too. She's quiet, but that's just her. Outside of the class, you can't shut her up! lol.

On the other hand, my oldest's bday is 8/26. Yes, one day apart, not planned btw. We sent him to K just turning 5. No one ever recommended retention, but there has been alot of times where I wished we had held him back. He's struggled all along. He's a very sensitive and anxious child. He's started ST at age 2, which his classroom teacher from last year thinks affected him. SHe said he is very self conscious and afraid to be wrong. She thinks it goes back to his speech delay. He stopped ST in 2nd grade. He's in 5th now.

Rick was born in early September and we red-shirted him because he wasn't academically or emotionally ready for school. It worked out well for us.

Ashley wasn't even 5 yet when she started Kindergarten because of when her birthday falls. School started the second week of August and she didn't turn 5 until September. I debated whether to hold her back or not. Academically she was ready but I wasn't sure about maturity level. I think she is right on track maturity wise for her age, but the problem is that it is a trend to hold kids back a year if their birthday falls close to the cut-off date. So, while Ashley was turning 5, most were turning six or already six. I think it will always be an issue. For example, when Ashley played soccer, she played on the team that was for first and second graders. She is in first grade and hadn't even turned six yet, but she was playing against 8 year olds who were in second grade (because they had stated kindergarten a year later) -- now to me that is a big difference when you are playing sports. I never really thought to take into consideration that everyone else was going to be at least a whole year older than her, sometimes even more because most do hold them back.

thats a good point. I never thought of that.

I really loved reading this because it is so much of what we're dealing with. Wil's birthday is August 31st, which is so close to your kids. Plus he started ST at 2 (maybe 2.5, but anyway). DH is dyslexic, so I do worry about this in my boys. I think Wil is right up there academically, but like I said, not sure about his maturity level. Emotionally, he struggles a lot. He seems more anxious and sensitive than most kids his age. But I do see him excel with older kids because he looks up to them. It's a tough call - and like Jenny said, really does depend on the kid.

It's good to hear different opinions.

Dee Dee, yes this is very true regarding sports. One of my closest friends has three children and have held both her boys back for this reason alone - she wants them to have that advantage in sports, being the oldest. They are super big kids to begin with, so it really shocked me when she told me that she would be holding them back until 6. Her youngest is 4 and he already looks 6, maybe 7! 12 lb baby, not kidding. But both her and her husband are huge sports people and I guess it's important that their kids also excel in sports. I don't necessarily agree with her reason, but it is their choice.

The public school Wil will be going to has a "Kindergarten" open house on the 5th, so DH and I are anxious to attend and have a lot of questions.

*shrugs*

Kindy here is at 5. When Zach went, he was 4, because the school year started the week before he turned 5.

He's in 5st grade now, a 1st/2nd grade mixed class actually, he scored high on the academic side and was deemed able to cope. he's doing fine!

Emilie is turning 5 in december.. and she's doing fine as well!

Naomie will be 3 when she starts pre-k in september (or end of august..) and still be 4 when she starts kindy. She'll be ready as well, she just turned three and recognizes pretty much the whole alphabet, and is sounding out most of the letters she can recognize.

It starts at 6 one province over though.

*shrugs*

only you know what's best for him!

Are you kidding me????

no. I'm not kidding. I nearly swallowed my tongue when she said that.

omg. The school system here requires the kids to know how to write their name, recognize ALL letters, count to at least 10..know all shapes, colors... and of course be potty trained.

By PRE-K.

(Which here, is turning 4 before december 31st.)

Are you kidding me????

no. I'm not kidding. I nearly swallowed my tongue when she said that.

omg. The school system here requires the kids to know how to write their name, recognize ALL letters, count to at least 10..know all shapes, colors... and of course be potty trained.

By PRE-K.

(Which here, is turning 4 before december 31st.)

At the Kindy screening they asked Ben all kinds of stuff, like to recite his address, and colors and shapes and all that. I spend a lot of the summer reviewing with him and practicing. I was told that they had to know all colors, shapes, and count to 100, Know how to write their names, and know their phone number and address . So when she told us they were only required to identify those to letters by site and sound I was so floored. He is WAY more advanced than that academically, he is writing sentences for petes sake, but socially, I think he is where he needs to be.

I was 17 when I started college too, I never felt behind my peers maturity wise, but socially it was a bummer....they could all drive a year before me, date a year before me, etc. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but at the time it really bothered me. Just another aspect to think of.

Macie is in Kindy, and she won't be 5 until January. When we move, she'll be switching to a public school and have no choice but to be in PreK because of the state laws. I'm torn, she's doing well but at the same time, if she's going to need to be held back at some point to catch up emotionally or socially, I guess I'd rather do it now. She won't even really be held back per say, it will just put her back on the same track as other kids her age.

And DH has been concerned about the athletic aspect too, she'd likely be two years younger than the other kids. For him it's not so much about her exceling, he just doesn't want her to be physically outmatched and have it become something that frustrates her rather than boosts her confidence.

I just had a meeting with Anthony's teacher today. She is seriously thinking of holding him back next year because she said he's to hyper to move on to grade one. Most of the kids in her class now are 6 and he's the youngest one she's got.