Should we start kindergarten under 5?

[Legolas]

yup, it's a boring parental type thread.

Our cupcake is 5 next April and we just don't know whether to send her to school next year.

Socially fine, academically fine. She will, however be the second youngest in her year...

Love any experiences, recommendations or thoughts.

Legs

[Bear]

I got put forward a year so I was the youngest in my year. It blew a bit as I'm a bit of a jock and the year difference meant that I never got to play in the first XV for rugby for my school.

[karen97]

Ask Yeti, he went through early

[skimax]

no right answer here , my mates girl is 5 and born in april , also given tall parents not small and way up there on the smart scale, yet her parents decided to hold back .
I dont really think there is a wrong answer . Good luck legs

[The Frog]

Don't know why they hold kids back longer than they used to. I turned 5 in kindy at the end of march and there would have been a dozen or more kids younger than me.

The tadpole is about to finish his first year of pre-prep at school and he turned 4 last week (only does Mon/Tues). He still has another year at prep before he moves up to the kindy classes although academically he's already at kindy level.

The only benefit I see of being held back is that you turn 18 in year twelve and won't have ID hassles at the end of school.

[Legolas]

Frog, it will never be a prob for tadpole then, as he is easily within the range to go.

It's exactly because so many people hold kids back that we hesitate.

I am certain that given an even age distribution, she would be fine, but she will be one of the youngest, up against kids who will turn 6 in February before she has even turned 5!!

She is tall and academically ready, but the social stuff is what gets them in the end.

Crystal ball please!

[TB]

I dont have kids so like Id know. Easy answer to me, she's a girl and an April birth?? My answer would be sure send her. Feb girl ,March brother, april sister and May best mate. We all went early, all have worked out fine, one repeated.

Honestly I did school, Uni, post grad and all in all happy with the result but hated it. I would have had an issue with my parents if they added a year to all that.

[Officer Schmenz]

i could have gone but would have been the youngest (july) but i wasnt such a fan of sitting still for hours.. but was acedemically there..

i was held back at it was the best ever... id hate to be the runt of the year.. always getting everything last.. l's, p's etc..

and theres a maturity that isnt quite there either.. i dunno. i guess. i just liked being in the older group...

[Paul Oberin]

My best friends daughter , Meg, was more than ready to attend school the year she was to turn 5 in February but she decided to hold her back . The mother talked to "alot" of people prior to deciding including a kindergarten teacher . Teacher had a daughter who went through as the youngest in the class and it was felt that the age / lack of maturity really makes a big difference in the upper years of high school,16 year old girl trying to deal with boys in the same class turning 17 or nearly 18. Meg is only in year 2 next year and is doing brilliantly, the extra age means stronger at sports and is blitzing her school work ( she is a very clever and extremely artistic little girl).
I thougt my friend was nuts to keep her home the extra year but :inaveryquitevoice: may have to admit to being wrong ... first time ever


Frosty [img]graemlins/snowman.gif[/img]

[skichic]

Depends on the child. I had to make that decision this year. Moving schools meant that my youngest would have been by far the youngest in her year, and given that she's already smaller than kids 2-3 years younger than her, we decided to hold her back a year. Academically would have been no problem at all, but socially she has fitted in really well with a bunch of kids that are closer in age to her.

My oldest is one of the youngest in his year, but it hasn't caused any problems.

If little Legs is ready for school then let her go. Worst case scenario, she repeats a year at some stage.