Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

Tyler will be turning 5 on Oct 15th - which means when the time comes he will be 4 for almost a month and a half of Kindergarten.

He is advanced for his age now - but I can't help but worry in a few years about him being the youngest of his grade.

Do you think 4 is too young to start Kindergarten (even if you will be 5 shortly after?)

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

yes, at least MY 4 year old is

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

DS will turn 5 a few weeks before school starts. I am going to send him to kindergarten next year. I am still nervous about it. DD will turn 5 after school starts (at the end of the first month of school) - in 3 years. I will evaluate her based on her performance in preschool. So far she handles herself very well.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

No. DD is 3 will be 4 in November and just started a full day pre-k program. She is doing great so far. This was her first time in a school setting and she's adjusting really well. Shes made new friends and is excited about school.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

most of the country agrees with you

cutoff chart

in NY josh would have just started school since he is Dec.

So weird to be on here and everyone I was pregnant with sending their kids...
down here our cutoff is late august.

I have a friend with an august baby who she is holding back a year.

It is weird...my cousin had a baby in NY 11 mos after i did.
He is Nov.

At his birth, my kid was already running all over the place...
they just seem so far apart age wise...every birthday...but they will both be starting school next year.

which is weird too...that college will be the same year for both of them too...he seems so young to me.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I think it deoends on the kid, and for the most part 4 year old girls are more ready than 4 year old boys.

My son started K at 4, and he was very immature and rowdy before. Granted he's only been in for a few weeks, but there is such a huge change in him. His teacher has never had an issue with him, and even at home he is like a new kid.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

If there's any doubt in your mind now or down the road, then wait. As a 1st grade teacher, I've had a handful of parents regret early placements due to various issues.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

Personally, I think the cut off for school should be Sept. 1st, so all kids starting school are 5.

That said, in my 1st grade class this year, there are at least 5 kids (of 19) who are still 5, and they run the gamut in terms of maturity and academics.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I think it depends on the kid. E will be 5 on 10/21 and I have no plans on holding her back a year.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I think it depends on the child. DD is 5 1/2 and in kindergarten whereas DS will have just turned 5 when he starts. I know kids in my DD's class who are only 4 and will not turn 5 until november.

I dont think when the time comes that I will hold DS back a year because he is just 5 as I think he will seem so much older to start kindergarten if he was 6 if you know what I mean.

i am going to wing it and see how he is with socialization etc and hopefully he will be fine. you should trust you gut as to how you feel he will adjust.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I think there is always going to be a "young" kid in a class, unfortunately. I know so many November and late October moms who hold their kids back a year. Well then the September and October kids are going to be the young ones! I think if they pass their kindergarten screening, it shouldn't be an issue!

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

we have JK here....some kids start school at 3...go into SK at 4

DD will be starting JK at 4 and SK at 5

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

My DS is Oct 12 and started at 4......He did just fine and actually was ahead of some of the others in his class...He had 2 years of pre-k

ETA: I am an October baby myself and ended up in the gifted program in elementary and accelerated classes in middle school

Message edited 9/23/2011 7:56:40 PM.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

My sister is considering waiting a year to start her youngest in Kindergarten. He would turn 5 in August, but their cutoff is different (in NJ) so she can hold him back a year if she wants.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

DD was born on 9/7 and the cutoff here is 9/1, I see no need to push her ahead and I am fine with her being the oldest in the class. I'd rather her be waaayyy ahead of her peers than be too young to handle Kindergarten...

Message edited 9/23/2011 8:03:45 PM.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I really think it depends on the kid. I think in my DD's case (she's only 3 right now) she will do just fine. I taught Kindergarten the year before I had her so I know what is expected and she is already able to do a lot of Kindergarten level work right now. I actually think Kindergarten is going to bore her but we'll see.

Like I said, a lot of how well they will do depends upon each individual child's ability, maturity, and readiness.

My DD will turn 5 about 3 wks into the school year.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I don't believe at all in holding a child back solely because of age. Maturity, yes. I've taught kindergarten and know age is only one piece of the puzzle and doesn't always mean much.

Dd will always be the youngest in her class. She makes the cutoff by two weeks. She's not even two but is doing great in preschool right now where the next youngest kid is a full six months older than her! her teacher said she holds her own and is the mayor of the class.

It is all about the individual kid. I don't like this trend of academic redshirting ( yes, that's what its called) and don't think it helps most kids. it needs to be decided based on individual factors.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I think it depends on the kid....I am a late november baby and I was immature. My parents decided to send me. I was immature and they were on the fence about keeping me back again in K but they decided to send me to first. By the end of first grade I caught up maturity wise.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

17 seems young to go off to college.
I was newly 18 and remember the mess.

If i stayed in NY, my Dec baby would spend his first semester away at 17

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

definitely depends on the child. I was 4 for a month when I started and was fine. My sister was 4 until Dec 1 (the cutoff) when she started and was fine. but my parents did debate whether they should send her at 4 or wait a year. It is definitely more common nowadays to wait it out if you think the child seems too young. So he would definitely NOT be the oldest child in the class in that case.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I guess it depends on the child. My DS is in pre-k and he turns 4 in October so when he starts kindergarten he will be 4. He is going into his 3rd year of preschool so I think he should be okay. My DD also has an October birthday and she too will have a few years of school before she starts kindergarten at 4.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

It really depends on the child. My dd will turn 5 two weeks before school starts, and I plan on waiting to see if she is ready or not before I send her. I don't have a problem holding her out one more year if need be. However, if she is ready and mature enough I will send her. There are some really immature 5 year olds and some really mature 4's it really depends on each individual child.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I guess for me, it's too early to tell. We decided to put him into K because he's very intelligent. His maturity was always, and is obviously still, the question mark. But in speaking to his preK teacher, she really felt that it would be holding him back to keep him in another year of preK and that he would mature in due time.

Re: Kind of a spinoff - do you think a 4 year old is too young for Kindergarten?

I do think that every child is different and as his mother you would know best what is right for him. As a former teacher I do think it is better for the child to wait to start kindergarten then to have them fall behind by 2nd, 3rd grade and have them retained then.

Emily, however, was born on October 6th. She was 4 going into Kindergarten, and did beautifully. She is an advanced reader, but did need some help with math. She got math extra help 2x/week in a small group outside of the classroom and is now reading 4 digit numbers and basically performing above and beyond where she needs to be. So far her age doesn't seem to have impacted her progress in school.