DS will be 5 in March for prep 2013

[Caz1971]

I dont know if he is ready. Is it too soon its only Sept. He doesnt really talk about school, doesnt want to write his 'name'.

Ive enrolled him but if he is not ready will keep him in kindy again next year. alot of his friends have turned 5 already or turning 5 in January.

What to do.

[Trillian]

Dont worry too much about it. Boys generally are a little slower than girls in writing their names etc and taking an interest in that type of thing, but you're aware of it and it sounds like you've got a plan to deal with it if he still isn't ready. Besides, 6 months is a long time and by the time he starts he could be fine.

[Caz1971]

Thanks Trillian, I do guess boys are slower and not as interested in school as girls huh. Time will tell.

[myturn]

A few thoughts to ponder.....

There is always a distribution of skill and ability in every year level, if you send him, yes he may be the youngest... but if you don't, he could well be more than 12 months older than the youngest child in his year level....
I guess think about it at the other end too.... do you want him to be 18 in year 12??? just 18 when going to further study/work/uni?
You do not want to repeat him when he GETS to school - research is quite clear that repeating is more negative than it is positive.... so if you are going to hold him back - before he gets to school is the best time to do it....
Kinder teachers can advise you.... But the best people to speak with are the prep teachers at the school.... if you can have a chance to sit with the principal and the prep teacher and talk about your concerns and get them to meet him and chat with him and ask him a few questions... they may have a bit of an idea...
make sure you take him to ALL the prep transition groups at the school - ask the teachers how he goes in the group stuff with them... does he behave, does he listen, is he interested and engaged.... that is probably more important, than whether he can write his name yet, or recognise all his letters...

in the meantime you can play games with words and writing and letters etc - rather than make it learning/serious (if you can!!)
use the soap that draws on the tiles, and get him playing and copying etc on the walls of the bath/shower.... as well as those letters on the fridge etc....

it's a hard decision, and there's not a lot of research about holding kids back from school - There IS evidence that those countries that start their kids later have higher performance levels... however that's very different to holding your kid back, when all the other kids his age are going to school - if no parents held their kids back, then there would always only be 12 months age gap between kids in one year level.... there will always be variabiliy amongest kids, but if you have 2 years age difference, then you have an even bigger range of ability! in my humble opinion anyway... you probably wouldn't be in such a pickle if so many people didn't hold their kids back from starting school!

anyway... I really think speak with the staff at the school, they will have more of an idea of what is expected than the kindergarten teachers (although kinder teachers are great - they are not in the schools.... so.....they really don't know what your school expects and the level of achievement at that school).

good luck! it's such a big decision - and lots of parents get worried, but essentially, whether you hold him back or send him.... he will be fine either way!!

[ticklish]

Hi there,

I take it that your DS is doing 4 year old Kinder this year.

September is not too early to decide as there is a bit of a process to get through to access a second year of funded four year old Kinder.

Your son's Kinder teacher is the best person to guide you as she/he will know whether your DS is acquiring the necessary skills to be ready for school.

Check out the Victorian Department of Education website as there are factsheets there on what is needed to access a second year of four year old Kinder but basically your Kinder teacher needs to assess your son as having delays in at least two of the following areas:

From the Department website:
"The areas assessed include:
• self-care
• the ability to speak and/or understand language
• cognitive (intellectual) development
• social development, and
• emotional development
Other factors may also be considered."

You may also need to have an assessment by the Preschool Field Officer to support a second year of funded 4 year old Kinder. I believe most councils in Melbourne have these and your Kinder teacher should be able to advise what the department requires.

If your son is fine with his development and you simply want to delay his entry to school and you have already accessed one year of four year old Kinder, you may find yourself in the position of having to send him to school anyway or fund the second year of Kinder yourself. The Department of Education has to approve your son's funding for second year of four year old Kinder on sound developmental reasons.

There are plenty of sources about school readiness and there is research about holding kids back from school. I am going through the same process as you with DS2 and have been through it all with DS1. Let me know if you would like me to point to any of the resources I found helpful.

Good luck with it all.

[Indadhanu]

I think if you are concerned then talk to your Kinder teachers. It's not unusual at this stage (during Kinder) to not be interested in writing etc. I work at a Kindergarten (pre-prep) and we have a range of children from ones who can read simple words to kids who can write their names to kids who are just simply not interested, and all of them are ready for prep next year. The only time we would consider keeping a child in Kindergarten rather than moving on to Prep is if emotionally they are not ready to deal with prep and we think it would be in their best interest to stay in Kinder so they build social/emotional skills for one more year. It is also a bit of a process to keep them back for a second year - extra funding, enrollments etc. Talk to your Kinder teachers this week and get their advice - they are probably thinking about transitions by now and will be able to give you an indication on if they have considered your son for a second year of Kinder.

In Melbourne, when is the cut off for Prep? Do they have to be 5 by the end of June that year? Because if yes, he will be the 'average' age. There will be children older and younger and of varying developmental levels. My focus would be on if emotionally he will handle the routines and processes of Prep rather than if he has an interest in writing, but really the best person to answer specific questions about if he is ready is his Kinder teachers. Kinder teachers are often in close contact with Prep teachers, and have a thorough understanding of the schools area and the expectations and limitations of the local schools, especially at this time of the year when considering transitions, and please remember and respect that they are actually registered teachers who have the same qualifications as they school teachers so even though they don't work in a school classroom they do understand what is expected of children when they go to school.

[Kmn]

In Melbourne the cut off is the end of April. There is a trend at the moment to hold boys back a year if their birthdays are between January and April.
as an example, in my DSs kindy class, there are 2 boys who will be not-quite-5 when they start prep and 3 or 4 who will have already turned 6.

Did your kindy teacher give you feedback on what they thought would happen? We had parent/teacher interviews a couple of months ago where this was the main topic of discussion (which seems crazy in some ways, but school enrolments needed to be in by July). In our particular interview the issue of pens and pencils and not wanting to make pictures was raised - so we have been working on that, and it looks like he'll be OK. You should be able to make an appointment for a detailed discussion with the teacher to look at whether he is ready (and if not whether you need to consider repeating or whether you need to work on some issues instead).

[myturn]

I'm not trying to undermine the kindr teachers at all, they are great... But in all the different schools I work across we get advice from kinder teachers about kids who should have repeated and some that did, and it's often not necessary or required. Very rarely have the kinder teachers spoken with the school the child is going to to check what is expected and the level that child imneeds to be at. They do know the individual child well, but they rarely know the school and what is expected in prep. that's just my experience of working in schools across two networks in melbournes east for the past 8 years.

Prep cut off is the end of April and the seems to be a big push for those kids whose birthday is between January and April to be held back, without any research being done. I've looked for peer reviewed research articles on the issue, and have not see anything conclusive yet - apart from kidskin general ate better if starting school later - however thats considering when ALL kids start later. And I see some concerns with applying that research to the situation that's becoming a trend in Victorian schools.

If you guys have found some journal articles about research on this topic I would be very interested in reading it, because all my research has been very mixed - some suggesting it's beneficial, and others suggesting it doesn't change any outcomes. I haven't yet found anything conclusive to suggest it helps the child's development. But if you have I'd be really keen to read it.

[Kmn]

I know that at our kinder there have been a couple of visits from primary school people to try and gauge the readiness or otherwise of particular kids - could you arrange that sort of visit from someone from your school?

I wasn't suggesting that the "trend" was anything other than what is happening.

[myturn]

Km I didn't even see your post, it took me so long to write mine in my phone

[nickle730]

My DD1 is an April baby. When deciding whether she was ready to start Prep the year she turned 5, I spoke at great length with the co ordinator of her ELC (kinder), her teacher, the prep teacher and the head of the junior school. My kids attend kinder at the same school that they attend for P-12 - no doubt about what the school expects of children beginning Prep. To make a long story short, it was explained to me that school readiness is based on emotional maturity, social skills, verbal and communication skills and resilience. Whether my DD could write her name and count to a hundred (which she could) was completely irrelevant to whether she was ready for school.

Ultimately, we chose to start her at the correct time. She is now in Grade 4 and doing very well. The only downfall of starting her early has been (for us) that if she seems to struggle with anything new, I instantly wonder whether I did the right thing!

[Kmn]

That's cool - I'd just hate to be considered an authority on this - I'm just a Mum of a 4-and-a-half year old too.

[Indadhanu]

Maybe it's because I work for a fairly reputable Qld preschooling association? A lot of kindy teachers have quite a strong connection with the schools. We have many kindys co-located on school grounds or close to, and make many connections with those and some other local schools. Must be different in Qld than Victoria. We also get a lot of government funding for running a kindergarten program, so maybe the 'unwritten' expectations are that we maintain 'connections' with government services schools etc?

[Three Graces]

It's really hard to decide, isn't it? We've got a March boy who's 4.5 now. We decided last year to get him to do 2 years of 3yr old kinder and he'll be doing 4 yr old kinder next year. We moved from Melb to the country and he'll be attending a school with about 48 children (2 composite classes prep-3 and 4-6), so I was hesitant to send him when he'll be mixing with much older kids. I think one year they only had 4 preppies start, so I'd rather him be that bit more mature socially before sending him. We just had a girl this year who was due on the Vic cut off (April 30) and she kicked into early May, so at least I don't have to make that decision!
I guess there's pro's and con's for both. I just know that my sister does reading recovery in a primary school and it's more often than not, the ones who start younger that need the most help to get up to speed etc. However, she also can see straight away the kids who have been read to at home and the ones who haven't and the latter group also end up on her program. As with what everybody else has said, just see what the kinder teachers and school think about starting next year. Good luck

[*Efjay*]

One thing I took into consideration is the developmental leap when they transition to high school. I have four boys and three have their birthday after the cut off anyway so they were five turning six the year they started. My youngest is an April bub. I will most likely send him the year he turns six. But will also see how he is in himself when the time comes. But for me, its the early high school years that I think are the ones to look at. There is a big developmental gap between that twelve months when. You get to that teenage bracket. I would much prefer my boys be older, then younger.

[Lenny]

I also have a March 2008 boy. He is going to 4yo kinder next year. Interestingly where i live it is the absolute norm. Any child born basically Jan 2008 onwards is starting school in 2014. So much so that younger children, but ones who legitimately should/could attend 4yo kinder next year are simply unable to, because all the spots are taken by the older group. This means more children doing 3 yo kinder and as such, my 3yo cannot get into 3 yo kinder due to the massive numbers.

My DS can write his name and all that, but that's not the issue for me. It's the emotional and social skills for school that i think he will improve on during next year. And i think he will be exhausted doing school hours. I know kids adapt, but i feel like he is not as ready as he could be. He'll be doing 15 hours next year anyway.

It's a hard choice, and it took me a lot of soul searching to decide. In the end, i know it was right for us, and as it turns out it seems to be the choice that most parents are swaying towards. (In my local area of melbourne).

[Caz1971]

I also have a March 2008 boy. He is going to 4yo kinder next year. Interestingly where i live it is the absolute norm. Any child born basically Jan 2008 onwards is starting school in 2014. So much so that younger children, but ones who legitimately should/could attend 4yo kinder next year are simply unable to, because all the spots are taken by the older group. This means more children doing 3 yo kinder and as such, my 3yo cannot get into 3 yo kinder due to the massive numbers.

My DS can write his name and all that, but that's not the issue for me. It's the emotional and social skills for school that i think he will improve on during next year. And i think he will be exhausted doing school hours. I know kids adapt, but i feel like he is not as ready as he could be. He'll be doing 15 hours next year anyway.

OK so he going to 4 yr old kindy next year. DS is in 4 yr old kindy this year. He only goes 3 days a week to kindy so yeah the 5 day would prolly be getting used too. Still not 100pct sure yet.

It's a hard choice, and it took me a lot of soul searching to decide. In the end, i know it was right for us, and as it turns out it seems to be the choice that most parents are swaying towards. (In my local area of melbourne).

[Caz1971]

In Melbourne the cut off is the end of April. There is a trend at the moment to hold boys back a year if their birthdays are between January and April.
as an example, in my DSs kindy class, there are 2 boys who will be not-quite-5 when they start prep and 3 or 4 who will have already turned 6.

Did your kindy teacher give you feedback on what they thought would happen? We had parent/teacher interviews a couple of months ago where this was the main topic of discussion (which seems crazy in some ways, but school enrolments needed to be in by July). In our particular interview the issue of pens and pencils and not wanting to make pictures was raised - so we have been working on that, and it looks like he'll be OK. You should be able to make an appointment for a detailed discussion with the teacher to look at whether he is ready (and if not whether you need to consider repeating or whether you need to work on some issues instead).

Yep we have an interview in October. From reading all your helpful posts Id think he wud benefit starting a year later