School - Red Lion,PA

My 4 year old son with a late June birthday has all the academic skills you are talking about, but he is already reading a little. We are sending him for another year of pre-K even though he is abundantly ready for K. It was more about the social aspect...and then looking ahead at how to jr. high. There are a lot of online articles about early K boys and middle school issues you might want to google. I think he have to look at the social aspect, and attention if that is an issue, and decide from that. You can always accelerate him at home with extra work or extra outings.

Good luck with this hard decision!

Hi T., My brother's and nephew's birthdays are in mid-September. My mother always regretted not waiting that extra year because although my brother is gifted, socially & common-sense wise...he was always behind. Even after talking to my Mom, my sister-in-law decided to start my nephew at age 4 and she is always worried because he is on the small side and seems to be the target of bullies although he has a lot of friends and does well academicly. Now I have three girls with birthday's in Feb & March and it never entered my mind to start them at age 4 even though they are bright as well. They are all in their teens now and are being challenged in many ways at school. Most schools have gifted programs to challenge kids from K-12, there are also many opportunities to get involved with music programs, sports etc at school. Most sports strictly enforce age requirements and if he is younger he won't be able to play on teams with his classmates. Don't focus just on education, you have to look at activites as well and graduating at 18 is IMO just right. Best wishes.

I don't know T...not to say that your son isn't bright because he sounds like he really is, but is he reading yet? Can he do math problems? These are some of the things that I would consider to be "advanced" at that age and what I would consider more of a reason to send early. I would strongly advise you NOT to send him. Feb birthday is really young and socially I think he would be in trouble. Especially with so many people holding boys BACK I think you will find his peer group to be much older than him. I have witnessed first hand in Kindergarten with my older son how the younger kids struggle. They are in second grade now and do seem to be catching up but do you really want your child's first couple years more difficult than they have to be? I would suggest finding a quality Pre-K program for next year and go with that.

Do schools still test for K? I know our district doesn't, what we do is your child has to be 5 on or before August 31st. I wouldn't push him into K before he is 5. He will be fine once he starts school and if you still think he is ahead and bored you have time to find out how he is doing and move him up.

When my youngest started K this year we thought she should be moved to the 1st grade, I am so glad we didn't becasue she is doing REALLY well and had we pushed her she probably would have gotten burnt out.

I decided to check your question b/c I am in a similar situation. I REALLY do not want my son to be bored at school. After reading the comments, thought I would do some research. Here is a link to the Pgh Pub Schools K checklist:
http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/143110511476173/blank/browse.asp...
Hope this helps. Also, just toured a charter school and there they had some Kindergartners going to other grades for the subjects they were more advanced in, so if you decide to do Pre-K this year (free in the city, also on the PPS website), then there may be that option at certain schools.

Good luck!

My husband has a June birthday and was very bright as well but my mil always has regretted sending him to Kindergarden at 5 rather than waiting a year (and she was an elementary teacher!) He just was not ready socially and coordination-wise, and, frankly, he hates school to this day and both his mom and I think it's because he was sent too early. Boys especially need a little more time.

It sounds to me like your son is on track developmentally, especially for a kid in daycare. My son is in daycare 2 days a week and at 2 yo knows all his letters (upper and lower) and colors out to turquoise and shapes to octagons. They really work with kids in daycare about that stuff. Thirty years ago, I read at 3 and wrote at 4 in preschool. So I don't think it really sounds like he is so academically advanced that you would be depriving him of anything by not sending him. Maybe he'd like to try a different preschool for a year? Or maybe pre-K is an option?

My bottom line: don't rush this or you and he might regret it for the rest of his life.

T.,

Similiar situation with my oldest son. He is the youngest child in his grade and I was torn with the decision to send or not to send. We sent him to K "early." He is currently in 8th grade and I have no regrets, but will always question if it was the right decision to make. Academically he is at the top of his class. He is actually taking 9th grade classes and holding his own. He is socially well adjusted and has many friends.

The "down" side of sending him early in my opinion was the emotional aspect. It hit hard in some grades (I remember K and 3) and others it wasn't a problem. The other kids outgrew the tattle-tale stage about 6 months prior to him. He was stuck in the world being viewed in black and white and no shades of gray longer than the other kids. There were other milestones like that that he seemed to have a 6 month delay, but no "real" problems in school. Athletically he is fine too. He did however hit his growth spurt and other signs of puberty later than the other boys. But it was never a huge difference and fortunately there were other boys who were "late bloomers."

Follow your heart. You know rchild the best and will be their best advocate either way. You will always have the what if's, so make an informed and thoughtful decision and believe you have made the best choice. Worst case scenario, you could do a second year of K.

Proceed with caution on this one!! Sure, he's bright right now, but most kiddos development is all over the place during these early years. Usually around third and fourth grade the playing field begins to level out. This is the time when kids begin to struggle because everything has been so easy for them before, and now school is getting harder. It's especially true in fourth grade because that's about the time that they stop learning to read and start reading to learn.

Check with your school district and see if they offer a full day kindergarten or a combo 1st/kindergarten program. You may want to look in to some extra curricular activities or get him some formal Spanish lessons.

Also, my daughter was the tallest in her class from k-4. She is in 6th now and is the shortest. Again, it all evens out! Sounds like you have a terrific kid. I hope you find what works best for him! Good luck!

Oh I can so relate!!! My son is 4 in December, 47 in and 45 lbs =-) Big kid too just like your son. Although my son is bright (can now read, write, knows his states & solar system and does math since I homeschool but make learning as fun as possible), has a super fun imagination, plays piano and can dress himself, wash his hands after going to the bathroom, picks up after himself, takes turns playing board games/chess, is very polite, so everyone has advised me to start him in kindergarten this Autumn they think he’s ready…ME HOWEVER, my biggest concern, he looks like a 6 year old, but socially has the maturity level of a 3-4 year old. When he is around a group of kids he gets VERY shy, will not engage and looks to me to introduce him to the other kids. He never approaches without me being right by his side and would rather play alone. He’s even like that with the neighborhood kids he sees practically everyday and they are all about the same age! I don’t mistaken his independence and intelligence on being a “big kid” and with my guidance and support he’ll come out of his shell.

He has never been to school or in daycare so instead he is starting Junior K this year, 3 days a week. I think it’s a good transition before starting Kindergarten since he’s had no exposure to a school setting. I would so much rather have him be one of the older kids in his class, then the youngest. For boys, that can be real tough! Good luck with your decision!
Your his Mom and you're the only one who can make this decision for him. I'm sure whatever you decide will be the right choice for your son.

The red-shirting comment: This is being done so the boys are larger & more coordinated as freshman & therefore have a greater chance of making a varsity level sport. Especially football. I don't know why so many parents think their kids are going to be scholarship athletes.
I was young for my grade b/c of a move to a different state & I loved it. My best friend had a feb bday & was the youngest in our class & loved it. We were both in honors classes our whole school career & made great friends. She is the MOST social person I have ever met. She is confident & makes friends where ever she goes. I don't think being the youngest affected either of us at all. As for drivers licences...my 3 closest friends were significantly older than me & all 3 of their parents refused to allow them to get their licences, so I was actually the first of us to get it.
You need to make the decision based on your child's personality & what is best for him. If he is too bored & starts causing trouble b/c of it, that would be bad. If he's too shy in the new group & can't make friends, that wouldn't be good either.
Good luck with your decision. My boys are scary intelligent for their ages too & I will probably be facing this decision soon too.

I wouldn't push him into K because the age difference will stick with him for the rest of his schooling career - its hard enough to be a freshman boy in HS, it would be even worse if he were a year younger than everyone else. A year later to hit puberty, a year later to get his license, etc. If he's bored in school, you could look into a private kindergarten and have him do one year of private and then one year of public kindergarten. You could also try to enroll him in some more "academic" extracurriculars if that's where he gets his fun.

My daughter is also in pre-K and, based on what I have seen of her and her friends, your son is right on track. He's no doubt bright, but he's not reading books independently or writing stories or doing more than basic addition and subtraction, right? He's where a lot of kids are when they are in pre-K, so I wouldn't worry too much about him being light years ahead of his peers.

Good luck with your decision.

Physically he may act and look like he is 6/7, but socially is he? I would not push the entering him into K yet. I am a mother of a 4 1/2 yr old who will be 5years old the beginning of Sept. I too was wondering if I should enter her into K this year. I opted to keep her in Pre K another year, so that she will be 6 when entering K. My daughter does not play well with older children because she feels "less", and not smarter than them, so after long thoughts, I realized that if she was the oldest, she would adapt easier. Most children will be 5 in K, and will be 6....I do not want her to feel "not smarter, and such"....in the end this is your choice!

You will have to check your district and see if it is even an option. I am fairly positive that it is not in ours. My opinion is not to rush him...

I started kindergarten at 4 years old for the same reasons. My preschool teacher recommended that I start school because I was getting bored with preschool. There were only a few times in my life that I wished I was with kids my own age. One was in High School when everyone else was driving and I still had another year and one was in College when I was younger than everyone else and one was when I began my own teaching career and lied about my age for a few years so that my students wouldn't know that I wasn't that much older than they were. Now I am finishing my PhD and it really isn't a problem at all. Honestly I wish I would have been out of High School earlier for the most part. I was very bored in school and wasn't challenged at all. The only concern I would have is on the maturity question. If your son is mature enough to interact with older kids and hold his own then I'm sure he will enjoy school. Have you had play time with older kids to see how he does? As another option, you may want to consider summer classes in areas he is interested in. Maybe dance, martial arts or some other experience where he would get to interact with other kindergarten age children. That might give you an idea how he would handle the social aspects. I hope this helps.

I had a brother who went a year early, and did fine - he was "ready" to learn. My mother did have to send him into a private school to do this though. Most public schools have cut off guidlines they have to follow - you may want to chek into that and see what way you need to do if you decide to start him early. Good Luck!

Hi T.,

Well, I'm a mother of four. In my opinion when you advance a child (no matter how bright they may be) they miss out on social development, peer interaction and other things. What I would suggest is to try a second language or an instrument. That is a good age to advance in other areas, exspecially with boys!!! they really need to keep busy.

Good Luck!

My Mom has a Dec. birthday and they started her in K when she was 4, and she turned 5 in Dec. She graduated at 17 and she hated school. Never went to college or any follow up schooling because she hated it. She said it was due to being send so early. And was a bit older than your son. She was very intelligent, and very social, and had lots of friends but just hated school. She sent me when I was 5(May b-day), but held my brother back and sent him when he was almost 6, and I have to say he was so much better in school than me. I loved learning and we are both gifted, but I think that extra year did him good. I am holding my 4 yo back and not sending her to K this year, she will be 5 in June. I will send her when she is 6 if I feel she is ready. Academically she is, she can do simple math problems, knows all the letters and sounds and is beginning to read, can write all her letters, knows a lot about a lot of things, but I am sending her to a 5 yo preschool class for socialization and I am going to teach her to read at home in the afternoons. So anyway, my opinion is don't send him early, my daughter has an IQ of 170 plus, she topped out the scale, so her IQ is likely higher but even still I will not send her prematurely, she can always start in 1st grade next year instead of K, or even 2nd grade if she is ready.

My daughter tested into early kindergarten in CO. Our cutoff was Oct. 1 and her birthday was Oct.30. Plus with two older siblings, she was used to older kids and was very mature for her age. She also was a head taller than the other kids in her pre-school class. She was writing her name and spelling out words by the time she was 3 1/2. Her pre-k teachers strongly recommended she start early. All of these factors combined convinced us to let her start kindergarten early (plus I started early myself and never had any problems growing up). Another year in pre-k would have bored her to tears. She's in 2nd now and doing just fine. That being said, if she'd been a boy, there would have been other issues we would have considered. The recent trend has been to hold back boys a year (they call it red-shirting) so even if they make the cutoff, they wait one year and then are the oldest/biggest/supposedly smartest in the class. I'm not sure why parents are doing this, but they are...a lot. So it's possible your boy would one day be a 6th grader (who should be a 5th grader) in a class full of boys who should be in 7th grade. Those years can be brutal, so if your son is the youngest/smallest, etc, life could possibly be kinda tough for him. Just something to consider. On the other hand, my brother was the shortest kid in his class thru middleschool, had his growth spurt and graduated as one of the tallest in his class (he was not held back nor did he start early), so the physical differences in middleschool might not be an issue for your son at all. Also, my son is in 6th right now (although he looks like a highschooler) and I'm constantly surprised at how young some of those 6th grade boys look (I swear, half of them look about the same as my 3rd grader!). I'm not saying keep your son back or start him early, just to make sure you consider all angles. It's not just about how he's doing RIGHT NOW, this decision will affect him for the next 13 years.

Also, re: state of PA, I was told by school officials when we moved here from CO, kindergarten was not required in PA, so even if my daughter had started in another state, when we moved here, she'd have to re-test to start 1st grade early. Needless to say, we delayed our move here for one year so she could just enter 2nd without having to do all that testing again. So even if your son started kindergarten early, it's possible he'd have to 1) repeat kindergarten or 2) repeat testing for early entry into 1st grade...you should check into this. Good Luck!

My daughter will be 5 in September and misses the cut off for kindergarten. She also knows all of the things you need to know for kindergarten, but I am keeping her in preschool. Based on my experience with my older daughter and friends of hers, I think, in our case, it is better to wait and be one of the older kids than to be one of the younger. The social aspect is really important. My older daughter is one of the youngest in her grade and, while she does well in school, I see her as less mature, emotionally, than the other kids.

What about a pre-K program? Some are a little more academically challenging. Even with testing, our school district will not normally take kids early, especially with a February birthday.

It is your decision, but I feel that it is better to wait. Once he is in school and if he is still bored or not challenged, you can work with them to decide what is best for him.

Good luck.
Jen

I just went through something similar this past week. My son is 5 (Nov birthday) and is taking Kindergaarten through daycare in a neighboring district. I wanted him tyo go into first grade in Sept.even though he is age appropriate for Kind. The school said no problem. I got him evaluated last week to make sure he knows what he needs to for first grade in our school district. I know he is bright and thought no problem. Well you have to be able to read a book by the end of kindergarten, as well as other things. (And not "See spot run" books). Kindergarten is not what it use to be. I opted to put him into Kindergarten again. The school district he is in now in much more relaxed, our school district is much stronger. As far as Redshirting, I found that it is NOT up to the parents to hold there child back, it is the schools decision, parents can request. My school said they DO NOT hold kids back no matter the parents say unless it is deemed truly neccessary. Only 1 child was held back who needed it. I think this Redshirting is all hiped up. I worried about it at first, but really is no problem.