Young for Kindergarten - Going Twice?

Just send her and see how she does. Do not even bring up doing K twice
to her!! If she is truly ready she should be fine. Do not look for problems
that do not exist.

If she is ready and does K now then next year she would be repeating it and be bored. I would suggest the Young K program as an option or since she makes the cut-off why not let her go as normal/as scheduled?

Updated

If she is ready and does K now then next year she would be repeating it and be bored. I would suggest the Young K program as an option or since she makes the cut-off why not let her go as normal/as scheduled?

If your daughter is ready, send her to kindergarten. I don't think she should repeat K until she is really lagging in some respects. Think about it as all her friends will move up and she will be left behind. I think that can really affect her depending on how sensitive she is. I know mine would be heartbroken in such a case. Being youngest is not always bad. If she is ready emotionally and academically, go for it. If you can afford you can even send her to some private school where there are mix age students in K. I have one such school near me and they have mixed age students in K-3. It is a bit expensive though. You know what is best for your child, so follow your guts.

I think repeating kindergarten would be more hurtful then being the youngest. If she is ready then let her start. There will be so many other things that come up in life as she gets older so being the youngest won't be a big deal.
My daughter started K at 4 and turned 5 a few days after school started. I told her teacher and principle that if they thought she was doing poorly I would take her out. Well we are at the end of the year and she has excelled way past what any of us thought. I am glad she started when she did and so is she.

We ran into this with our youngest. She turned 4 in June and went to Pre-K the following September. Long story short, she's a very bright girl and had already taught herself addition, subtraction, and had made us teach her to read! So she was WAY over-prepared for Pre-K. The teacher moved her to Kindergarten almost immediately (in the first week of school) since that was a better fit for her academically and socially. Our plan was to have her repeat Kindergarten - but by the end of Kindergarten, it was clear that she was ready for 1st Grade. Then we thought, well, that's okay, she can repeat 1st Grade! Guess what? She was raring to go for 2nd Grade. She's now finishing 2nd Grade, will turn 7 next month, and her teacher says she is more than ready for 3rd Grade. At this point, the plan is to let her go as fast and far as she can. She's handling it just fine.

My husband and I both have mid-October birthdays and started K at 4 years old. In the grand scheme of things, does it REALLY matter that friends had a drivers' license a few months before you did? It was hardly a blip on my radar then, and it certainly isn't now. I went to college at 17, almost 18... did fine. I knew people who had been moved ahead a year and went to college at 16. They did fine, too.

I think we place way too much emphasis on age sometimes. It's just a number. If she's ready, then she's ready. Don't worry about what other parents are doing with their children. Just do what's right for YOUR little girl! Don't ever hold her back or think she can't do something simply because the average child might not be able to. Meet her where she is, and take it day by day, year by year. My grandmother used to say, "Don't look down the road and worry about the 10 troubles coming toward you. Chances are, 9 of them will fall into potholes before they get to you!"

I think the principal's solution sounds like a good one. I think she'll be absolutely fine.

3 kids in my son's preschool are not advancing to K, they are repeating for the same reasons that you have, their bday's are even earlier than your daughter's (Sept.). Their parent's feel that they'll be more confident and ready by staying back a year.

I think it really depends on the child. I'd go with your instincts on whether or not you think she's ready.

Go with your instincts. You know your daughter best of all. Don't second guess yourself. Since each child is different, they learn at their own pace. Once you make the decision, stick with it. Have a great week!

We held one of ours back and sent her to an early enrichment program. While we were in CA the cutoff was also Dec 1. My daughter has a late Oct bday. She loved the EEK, all the kids enrolled were her age, just turning 5 after Sept 30.
She is now 14 going into her freshman year.

My oldest skipped a grade. She turned 17 three weeks ago and graduates next week. Both my daugters are doing, have done quite well.

Doing two years of kindergarten will give her a stigma, kids will remember. Even if you have her move teachers. She will always be the one who was held back.
There will be others in her class that are born in Oct and Nov. So she wont' be alone and girls mature much faster than boys anyway.
She might surprise you and do really well throughout her years in school.

I wouldn't hld er back because of your pet peeves and unfortunately yes they do hold on to it my daughter isn't even do something in kindergarten it was a different child with her same first me n she gets teased about still to the day n she's ending sixth going to seventh kids are very cruel. Don't do that to her have her start when she's suppose to make sure she can excell not hld her back because of ur situations god makes us all different we all lean act live an talk different jus becaus that happened to. Doesn't mean it will to her and who knows she might be smart enough to actually go up a grade!

Starting kindergarten at 4???? When did that happen?

Anyway, my own experience is that I started in January. But sometime after that the school system decided to do away with January grads starting with my class, the class of 1972. So I went to Kindergarten 1.5 years. Same teacher too. And I swear I have absolutely no recollection of some interminable length of doing it. At that age, you're learning routine, being part of a structured, classroom environment. You're learning kids' names, etc.
I really don't think your daughter will be aware of it. I would think the only issues would be making friends that suddenly aren't there anymore in a potential second year of K.
But I really don't see a problem with turning 5 at the end of November. Or just having one year of Kindergarten. If she's academically ready, mature enough, etc go with one year. So her birthday comes later than other kids'. Not a big deal. My oldest did young 5s. I will never know if that was a good decision. He enjoyed it. Made plenty of friends that followed right along up to 12th grade.

:) Check out my question last week for more responses regarding the issue. Not sure about the idea of intentionally knowing kindergarten would be done twice but it is interesting. We still don't know what we are going to do...the developmental kindergarten is no longer available around here :(. Good luck with your decision...so many choices out there making things difficult but overall I guess we are lucky to have the options...try not to let the judgements of others effect your choice too much...just their support, wisdom, and experience :)

My son is in Kindergarten.
He entered Kinder at 4 years old. Then turned 5 after.
My daughter entered Kinder at 4 years old, then turned 5 after that.
Both my kids are late born.
They did fine both socially/emotionally/academically.
I myself am late born. I entered Kinder at 4 then turned 5 after.
I graduated High School at 17 years old.
I was fine.

My son is currently in Kindergarten. He is 5 now.
Many of his classmates are also late born.
And they are fine.

I have seen some kids, repeat Kindergarten. And I know a couple of those parents. Their child was fine. They repeated Kinder due to behavioral or social immaturity, and some lag in academics. And it was also under the recommendation of the Teacher. These were not necessarily, late born kids. Their parents simply explained to their child that they need to go to Kinder again, to get more practice etc. and they never made it like something was "wrong" with their child. NONE of the other classmates, made fun of those kids who repeated. And the child who repeated, had no problems with it either. It was not traumatic for the child. At all.
If a child repeats a grade, it is better when done when young. When older... that is when kids get more hung up on it and other kids may tease. Because they are more socially aware at that point, when older.

You seem to be concerned about the age factor. NOT about the maturity or ability of your child. So you seem to be thinking of entering your child into Kinder at turning 6 years old. Or want to.
Or there is the solution the Principal offered you.
Which some parents do, do.

Then, do you know for a fact, that MOST of her classmates will be older than her? And that she is the youngest?
With both my son and daughter, (who are late born), they are NOT the only late born kids, and they are NOT the youngest in the class. Some kids were younger than my kids and later born than they are.

Being late born and the youngest, does not automatically mean, that that child will suffer or lag or do worse than early born kids.
Again, my son is late born and is 5 now and in Kindergarten. But, some of the kids who are "older" than him and earlier born... are more immature or behaviorally lacking socially, than my son. Same for my late born daughter when she was in Kindergarten.

I honestly don't think I would ever consider deliberately repeating a year. If it occurs naturally, yes. But to plan on two years in KG....nope.

Kids are hurtful & will make comments. & I would not choose to repeat the curriculum, because even with a different teacher....it will be a repeat on the content material - even down to the field trips & projects.

I was very fortunate to be able to enroll my son in our school district's Bridges program for preK. Separate builiding from the KG, different playground....more interactive activities, & a focus on teaching the kids to settle into a classroom seamlessly!

My son's BD was 4 days before the cutoff. He aced the screening, both socially & academically....but took twice as long to complete it due to his need to talk! I knew he wasn't ready to sit in a real classroom..... He will be 16 this summer & is greatly anticipating returning to school as an independent driver. He loves being in the upper tier! & his best friend hates being the youngest....

Our cut off is Sept. 30. My daughter's birthday is end of Oct. So she missed the cut off for this year. My sister's birthday is early Nov. My parents got her tested in so she was 4y when she started K.

The first few years she did well socially, but by 3rd grade there was a noted difference between her and the other kids.

In your case I would hold her out. Send her to pre-school. Yes she can repeat K if she needed to next year, but she is going to make friends that would move on without her. That could cause hurt feelings down the line.

I think your experiences could be a great help to her. I do think kids should be 5 before starting kindergarten BUT in the case where she would be with kids her own age she should go. Her social age group and her future peers. I would think she could go and stay with them through out the rest of her years in school. Don't bite off more than needed.

What if she is at the top of her class and is the higest scoring and intelligent kid in her class. Still hold her back???

Cross that bridge later, if she flunks kindergarten. For now allow her to be with her own age group of kids and see how she does. The kids in this classroom will be her age, not 5 or 8 or 10, they will be 4 and 5. She will do fine.

In my opinion you should start her now, but don't have her repeat kindergarten twice. Kindergarten is very basic, if she is already mature and knowledgeable she will end up bored during that 2nd year(and maybe even the first if she is advanced) and acquire lazy school habits during that year that may be hard to get rid of.
If it really is too soon, chances are there may be a grade during elementary when it shows, and she could repeat a grade then.