Absolutely and hence the argument for homeschooling if you have the patience for it. Wish I did!!:
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Absolutely and hence the argument for homeschooling if you have the patience for it. Wish I did!!:
hehehe, and the SAHM in me thinks thats just way I'd like it!!!! :lol::
DS is 5 in September and he isnt starting Kindy (NSW) until 2012. He goes to preschool 2 days a week this year. TBH he is more than ready to start this year.. he can write his name, any letter or number off the top of his head, knows the alphabet, knows every letter's sound, can sound out words in order to read them, can look at an object and tell me what the first letter it starts at by knowing the sound (if that makes sense), and he is i believe very mature for his age. But i am waiting until next year, the year he turns 6 in September because it will give him that extra time to be even more ready. I dont want him to struggle at school.. who knows, he still may, but i believe holding him back will then make him alot higher up in his year.
I have friends who are thinking of sending their children the same year as DS, who are younger both physically and mentally because thats what the minority are doing, that i personally dont think are ready or will be ready. I think you have to do what is best for your individual child. There is no harm in holding them back another year if thats what they need. Last thing i want is for my child to struggle to keep up, then have to repeat when all of their friends move on. I remember kids doing it when i was school and being so upset over it. My cousin was one who repeated while in high school and he then just went off the rails and was bullied because of it.
So IMO.. do what is best for your child. If you dont think they can cope, then hold them back a year.. its what benefits them which is most important. And if youre really unsure, talk to their preschool teachers and ask their honest opinions what they think would be best for your child.
Thanks for all of the replies ladies :) It made for interesting reading. I brought it up with my brother and he pleaded with me not to send him until he is 5! He was a June baby and didn't cope well at all with school for the first two years. I think I want him to be bigger than the rest of the pack, not one of the smallest.
Hey Jan, Olivia is in the same boat as Julian. She is due to go to 4 year old kinder this year and primary school next year. I have been agonising about it for ages but have decided to keep her home for the extra year. I like to call it keeping her at home as opposed to holding her back! Whats the hurry for me to send her? Shes smart, out going but she also struggles with long days (she does occassional care twice a week). Her concentration span isnt the best and her temper...well thats something else and she needs to learn how to handle that a bit with maturity. I like the idea of her being a bit older rather than younger so she can look after herself in the play ground, so she confident in asking for things, so she can play sports in the appropriate age levels so that shes just a bit more mature..... It is up to you though and if Julian is ready by all means send him, but if you think he could do an extra year at home then theres no harm in that!
Hello! I'm 90% thinking he is going the year after. I agree with everything you have said. There is no harm in having them home for another year. Hopefully I will have a bubba then too and they can have some time together before he goes to school. This is what was bothering me to be honest. I thought he would have a better time at school instead of being home with a newborn. But I have to think of the long term affects instead.
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When I went to school, the idea was we turned 5 in our first year of school, not 6. So Preps in Victoria were timed to be turning 5 by June (when the Vic cut off was).
I am May 20. I started school when I was 4.5. I turned 5 in Prep and turned 17 in year 12.
I had no problems related to age at all - socially, sport or otherwise.
I did 3 year old Kindergarten and 4 year old Kindergarten. I certainly could write my own name before I started school, but as that is what they teach you in prep, it was also not a pre-requisite for starting school, nor was it expected or used as a method by which to determine readiness.
Charlotte is born in November. She just turned 3, and has just begun at 3 year old Kindergarten. She is going to Montessori next year, so will begin school at 4.
If she were going through the normal public system, she would be doing 4 year old Kindergarten next year, and begin Pre Primary (Prep) 2 months after turning 5. So I don't expect to have this issue with her, as she will be one of the older in the class - and the cut off dates in WA are different afaik they work on a calendar year basis, not midyear dates like in Victoria, so we wouldn't have a choice to send her at 4. (If I did, she would go at 4)
Anyway, for me personally, attending school at 4.5 was never an issue. I was bright, loved school, had a ball and fit in well with everyone. We were in a composite Grape Perp/1 classroom anyway and there were other kids there older than me, a few younger. But I have always been one of the youngest in a class and had no social defect because of it, nor did it cause any problems within sporting teams at all.
Good luck. If he is ready to go, wants to go, is the right age, send him.
Too right!:
I chose to not send him early, not hold him back. There is a difference!!
I'm not in the situation of having to make this choice because mine were all born in the latter part of the year, but I did have to make the choice to have my DS1 repeat kinder due to some maturity issues (he was later diagnosed with Aspergers). When I was making my choice I had an interesting discussion with the kinder teachers and part of my decision process was to consider when the child gets to High School. While there is no guarantee that an older child will be able to cope better, there is sometimes an emotional and also a more often physical difference between an 11-turning-12yo boy and a 12-turning-13yo boy. Same with girls I'm sure you will agree. I think it's something to consider when looking at the bigger picture!
See, I don't agree with this. I'm in NSW, and understand that the starting age is turning 5 by June. The latest you can start them, is the year they turn 6. They must be in kindy by then. If I were to send my DS who is 5 in March to kindy next year... then yes, I would be 'holding him back', as he is already in the starting age range this year.:
I totally agree tho that it needs to be assessed for each child. There is simply no way I could hold DS back another year, he is sooo ready. He's done 2 years at preschool and would go crazy doing another year of that. He is itching to learn. He will be younger because the 'trend' now is to hold them back until the latest time you can enrol them, but he's always played with kids other ages anyway... we've never stuck to him just hanging with kids his own age.
^ I think that nearly all our little march babies are starting this year.
I really do agree that it is really dependent on the child and there is no one rule fits all. I was young, started school at 4. But I never had any issues socially, academically or with my sporting skills. I was school captain, top of my class right the way through my schooling. I did compete in sporting events with people not in my class and it was never an issue, maybe because i went to smaller schools where being friends with people in another grade was encouraged through school activities :dunno: I went to uni at 17, and was as responsible and mature as my friends who might have been 18 for close to 12 months. I was never disadvantaged by my age.
I think everyone makes the decision that is right for their own child. ( and that there is no need to defend or justify why they did so. ) I will be deciding closer to school time for my girls, and my decision will be based on their readiness, not what anyone else did.
This is where different areas do it differently, not just individual parents.:
Every child in Za's last year class, is in his school readiness class this year.
Not one went on to school. Za is a March baby.
It would be the very odd child that went this year if they weren't 5.
The trend of sending 4 yr olds didn't last very long here at all, and except the public schools, it's actually hard to get the school to take them.
And it would be very rare to get to yr 12 now at only 16 turning 17... they have started repeating them at yr 6 to stop this I heard just a few days ago... so the trend up this way has very much changed.
So I guess its not state to state, but town to town too???
I would be horrified if a school wanted to make my child repeat a year in Primary school simply to make them the "right" age in year 12!! That is a disgrace. Are they really doing that?
Limey, I'd withdraw my child from a school that tried to hold them back for such an insane reason.
Jodie, our March babies are pretty much all over the place not in one area - I'm talking about our belly buddies babies.
Yep.
Apparently they are scoring very badly, and not coping with high school. They are trying to "catch" them before they leave at yr 10 for not coping.
I havent expereinced this, but have heard at first day that it is happening a lot... which is why the schools are cracking down on when they can start, so it doesnt happen.
Again, just from parents, I dont know it as fact.
But I do know they have cracked down on starting young ones, so it wouldnt surprise me. Most teachers I talk to are really against young ones starting, up here at least.
It just isnt the done thing. Had I wanted to send Za this year, it would of been a fight. Not a single one went on to the catholic school, they are all in the school readiness program.
This is in the catholic schooling, I dont know about public/private... although I hear the private is the same.
We found out yesterday at first day, I hadn't heard it before..... but Ad just said he wonders if it because of the school website thingy?? Where the schools were rated?
Makes ya wonder......
I don't know if it's different state to state, because even apart from my belly buddies and those living in my area pretty much everyone I know is starting their similarly-aged children this year. The youngest I know turns five at the end of May and did preschool last year at the same Catholic school he has just started prep at (Qld).
My DD will be one of the youngest in her class, but not the only four year old, in fact from her preschool class there will be at least five children yet to turn five who have all started at different schools this year, both public and private. I do know of some parents who held back their children who could have started last year, but they were all July babies. The school starting age in NSW for kindergarten (which is prep elsewhere) is if they turn five by July 31. So turning five in March isn't early! By rights there could be other kids in her class who are four months younger still. Some of the private schools have their cut-off as turning five by the end of May, which is still another two months after March.
If you look at the first year (kindergarten) curriculum and what they're expected to do during the year and know by the end of the year, it isn't an over-extension of a five year old's abilities. I'm worried my DD will get bored if anything! Her preschool was much more extensive in terms of skill development. Kindy is early childhood learning. The kindy teachers are there specifically to deal with very young children. Who will all be at different stages anway, regardless of their birthdays.
Isn't QLD a year ahead of us? So are supposed to start the year before?
Its too confusing!! LOL
I too worry Za might get bored, he is very bright, so that is something we talked about. But his school readiness program has a reading program in it, so its kinda like school, just not 5 days, which he will cope with better.
He is still a mummy's boy, who definatly wouldnt cope being gone 9-3, 5 days. He still brings home beginner readers, so will hopefully be very confident next year, something he is not this year. He is still a little nervous, even after a full year at the same preschool.
Kane is a different matter. He is a July baby, and although he cant go the year ahead, he could definatly handle it!!! lol
He is bright, and very social. He is on par with his brother, whom is 16 months older. But his speech would of held him back anyway, could he go early if it was allowed.
Harmony is a January baby, so will turn 5, then go within a few weeks. So will be at the younger end of her year by our school standards, but not by far.
I dont know anyone personally who has sent a 4 yr old ....Wonder why its different here?
Its not a very small town, but its not the best place either!!
I know part of my reasoning is the school we chose, and because we have no uni, so they must travel after highschool, but there must be more to it?
With so many sending them from everywhere else, its got me thinking.....why doesnt it happen here?