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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Birthday and placement in your class
What is month is your birthday and were you on the older/younger side in your class? What did you like about it, didn't like?
Signed,
A confused mom with a July baby and could either go to Early Fives or Kindergarden. Also a mom that wishes she could turn back time for one more year and wait on these decisions.
Re: Birthday and placement in your class
I'm an August birthday.
My parents started me late, so I began kindergarten right after I turned 6. It was decided that I wasn't "emotionally mature" enough to start a year earlier when I was 5.
Going through school, I was older that most everyone in my class. I remember being asked occassionally by other kids if I had been held back at some point. I always did really well in school, though. I wonder if this is because I was a little older than most of my classmates? I have no idea if that makes a difference at all.
When I got to high school, this became a little weird. I was almost a year older than a lot of my friends, which became interesting when it came time to get a driver's license and whatnot. Not a huge deal, though.
Obviously, I don't have anything to compare it to, but I don't have any regrets that my parents started me late. It was fine.
Good luck with your decision!
My birthday is August 1st, and I was one of the younger ones in my class. I loved it.
So, most likely we will be sending the girls to Charter Schools (hopefully we get selected in the lotto). They have a Young Fives program with 40ish slots. They will have three classes for Kindergarden with 80 some slots. The majority of the young fives will be going to K there, so that means, at least 1/2 (if not more) of the K class will be turning by Dec 1 at the very latest. That for sure would put here at the young end.
It is so different now than when we went to school. If you were five, you went (unless you really weren't ready) Ughh...
Two things that lean me towards Early Fives is Allison is a bit reserved, I wouldn't say shy because she waltzes right into places and starts playing and interacts with other kids, but she is a lot quieter. When we had parent teacher conferences before Christmas, her teachers were shocked at how much she really knew, once they did one-on-one testing with her. Also, her speech is a bit behind. This would give her a year for speech therapy before she started K.
Gah...this is so stressful. I have to worry about what grade to apply for, getting in, making arrangements for before and after school care. Depending which school we decide or get accepted to, we may have to switch daycares and how is Mia going to handle it
Haha. That was me.
Obviously, take my advice with a grain of salt since I'm not a parent, but I would say that you shouldn't feel pressure to start her in kindergarten if you really don't feel that it's the best place for her quite yet. Just because she turns 5 doesn't mean she has to start kindergarten.
I'm sorry that you're feeling so stressed out about this decision. I'm sure she'll do great no matter what decision you make.
I have a late June Bday, and was always one of the youngest. My little brother, is a mid July baby, and they "red shirted" him one year.
All I can tell you is he did much better then me in school, academically and socially. My parents commonly say not starting me late is one of thier bigger regrets.
(Truthfully I don't know how much it dependent on our age or our personality types)
My birthday is in April, and I wasn't really aware of age (maybe that meant I was in the middle?).
The school(s) that you're looking at might have an assessment that could help you decide.
She's a smart kid, and the social skills I've seen make me think she'd do just fine in Kindergarten. But, your concerns are valid too. Good luck with the choice. Unless that law passes, you and I will have to think about this for Mia and Henry, too.
When I was looking online earlier about redshirting, it makes me feel like an uppity, over jealous, white mom redshirting her "boy" so he can me a stronger hockey player or taller basketball player. ha ha.
At least one good thing about these schools is that the early fives program is there and it's five days a week (one school is full-day and the other is 1/2 day), so it's not like I'm completely keeping from school for another year.
::clueless mom butting in here::
What law? And what's the difference between Early Fives and Kindergarten exactly? One class would make Allison one of the 'older' kids, essentially doing Kindergaten twice so to speak; and the other would make her one of the 'younger' kids, but only doing Kindergarten and then moving onto 1st grade? When is the cutoff?
I guess I never got why they started this Developmental Kindergarten or Early Fives, etc. Just have preschool and kindergarten. It's too confusing for me! I'll have to go through this decision too, since we've got an August birthday to deal with.
Growing up I had an October birthday, and was always one of the older kids, so I'm not much help in that area. MH had a June birthday and was one of the 'younger' kids. He did fine.
There is a proposed law that would require children to be age 5 by the time they start school. Currently they have to be five by December 1.
There is some thought that children with a May - December birthday could benefit from doing a pre-K program or early fives program rather than starting K right away.
The Early Fives programs at the Charter schools do have an academic base to them, it is more than just preschool. At the school I looked at today they use Zoophonic in Early 5 and a different program for K. I like that they use Zoophonoics. I have heard good things about that program and was hoping the girls daycare was going to use that, but the one we send them to uses a different program.
In MI, the starting cutoff is currently 5 by Dec (1st, I think). There's a bill cirrculating that would change it to Sept. (1st, I think). Parents will be able to request a waiver for kids who are academically, emotionally, and developmentally ready for Kindergarten (but are born in Sept, Oct, and Nov).
Until the state mandates (and pays for) preschool, DK is a great way to go. Young 5 year olds are ready, in many ways, for school. DK provides a great program to work with their strengths and prepare for K the next year.
This. My birthday is in March and I have/had no idea of who was older/younger.
Early September.
I missed Minnesota's grade cut-off date by 4 days. So I was on the older side, but I was young so it wasn't really a consideration. Then we moved to Michigan and I was the same age - or OLDER - than some of the kids in the grade ahead of me. That was really weird, especially in the middle/high school ages. It bothered me a bit. But I also realized the reality of different state, different rules.
ETA: It was kind of cool to be the first of my friends getting my license, etc.
As a kindergarten teacher, I will tell you that, statistically, the older kids do better. There are some young kids who do great, too. I'm just saying on average, the olders make more growth and are more ready to do all that is required in kindergarten (it's CRAZY what these kids have to know--- that's a different and entirely too political of a discussion for this thread haha). They are also bigger as they get older, which leads to succeeding more in sports (not the focus of school, but very important for some people).
I've also studied the older vs. younger debate in a few of my Master's classes. Basically, whether we want to or not, we expect more out of the olders (could be a reason they do better, eh?). For instance, there's a girl in my class who didn't turn five until the end of October. It's hard to hold her to the same standards as my kids who turned six in May. "Well, she's ONLY four!"
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if the September law went into effect. Honestly. I feel SO BADLY for these kids who come into kindergarten at 4. There is NO harm in waiting, IMO. Unfortunately, the State is pushing that law for the wrong reason (to save money for one year even though there's a huge surplus in the budget that they aren't giving back to K-12 schools).
ZooPhonics: LOVE! That's the program we use and it's amazing what the kids pick up. My class average of letter sound knowledge was 10 when I did my intial fall testing and shot up to an average of 25 known sounds by January!!
I won't express my disdain for Charter Schools
Good luck deciding!
September. I was one of the youngest, but I wasn't 4 for very long (so I wasn't THAT much younger) and was an early reader, which is why I think my parents put me in early. And my 2 best neighborhood friends were starting that year so I also think they wanted to keep me with my friends. One of my best friends had the same birthday as I, but she was one year older. We were both fine and happy - I didn't mind being younger and she didn't mind being older.
Andy's bday is November and he was the youngest in his class - he was 4 for a good portion of K. His personality as a kid (from what I hear) was so laid back and he was bright, so struggling/confidence issues weren't there.
Honestly, I think they'll be fine no matter what you decide. If you think Allison is capable of keeping up in K and has a personality that can handle it - go for it. If you think she'll struggle and be sensitive to struggling (lose confidence, grow frustrated, etc.) then wait a year. I suppose that the safer choice would generally be to have her be older, but listen to your gut - you know your child best and I really think they'll be okay no matter what. :-)