Age for preschool and Kindergarten??

[lightofmylife]

i am in New Jersey and my older will b 4 in dec this year..... we went to admit her in public preschool but got late an admit her in private school... now they told us that she would get admission in kindergarten when she will b 5 in sep 2012. as their session starts in September... but she wont be exact 5 years old next Sep... she would b 5 in Dec 2012.it is 4 month gap...
would she be waiting one more year ??
is she gonna start K in 2013 , when she would b almost 6 ?? im really woried :(

[queen-of-harts]

Each state is different as to how old a child has to be to start pre-k or kindergarden.I am in NY and to start pre-k the child must turn 4 by december 1st and to start K they need to be 5 by december 1st.Im not sure of NJ rules but they are likely the same.

[iyamaryam]

I have the same issue with my second dd. She turns 4 dec 7 but I live in NY too and miss d cutoff by days so we will enrol her in private preschool n unfortunately she'll almost be 6 b4 she gets in k:thumbsdown:

[queen-of-harts]

yeah my son will turn 4 in jan 2012 so he cant go to prek till he is almost 5 and k till he is almost 6 but to be honest it gives the kids a leg up on the other kids and they do much better in school most times.My 2 march babies did way better than my june and october baby they were just younger and less able to conform to the structure that school demands.

[nuthinbutpink]

Well, if she doesn't make the cutoff, she doesn't make it so she would just be one of the older kids in her class which I think is great! We have a September cutoff here and school begins in August so it makes no sense at all.

I did the opposite in that I did not want my eldest to be the youngest in the class and since she had a late Summer birthday, we opted to wait another year and send her to kindergarten when she had turned 6. Some kids here start school at 4 and turn 5 in kindergarten because our cutoff does not have anything to do with the school start date...it is really messed up.

[lindi]

There are studies that older kids in a grade do better socially and academically and have increased confidence if this helps. We are planning on sending my son to kindergarten when he's 5 (he'll be 6 that december) and are glad he'll be one of the oldest!

[lightofmylife]

my dd was also born on dec 7 ..... i didnt think about this cutt off thing otherwise shudnt plan like this....this would happen with my both dds .... dd2 was born on 21st nov............... anyways i think we should held her back for one more year.

[Lilian78]

Here the cut off is August 31 (kids have to be 5 by then for K and 4 by then for pre-k). My son's birthday is August 23 (just makes it), and he is the youngest in his class . . . he can keep up, but I think it might have been nicer if he waited another year. My other 2 are December babies, and I'm thinking it will be nice that they won't be the youngest.

[3boys]

My eldest is Aug 24th and the youngest in the year. He was just four when he started school (reception class) his best mate was 5 three weeks after! He def struggles with his concentration!

[iyamaryam]

my dd was also born on dec 7 ..... i didnt think about this cutt off thing otherwise shudnt plan like this....this would happen with my both dds .... dd2 was born on 21st nov............... anyways i think we should held her back for one more year.With my dd1 she is Nov 15, I like the fact that she could get in because she needed the socialization and benefits of getting into school early. With dd2 she is "brighter" so holding her back for the required year might not be such a bad thing, and she has her "little" teacher n me working on her anyway:LotsofLove:

[lightofmylife]

With my dd1 she is Nov 15, I like the fact that she could get in because she needed the socialization and benefits of getting into school early. With dd2 she is "brighter" so holding her back for the required year might not be such a bad thing, and she has her "little" teacher n me working on her anyway:LotsofLove:
ohh cut off in new york is dec 1st ... so could it b possible i register my dd2(21st nov) in new york and then transfer in new jersey after 2 months ??? what do you think ?? i dont wanna waste her whole year just like urs my dd1 is way brighter than dd2.

[lightofmylife]

My eldest is Aug 24th and the youngest in the year. He was just four when he started school (reception class) his best mate was 5 three weeks after! He def struggles with his concentration!
yea 4 is much younger but my dd would b almost 5 , if she would get admitted, but after one year she would b almost 6, way too older than other kids :(

[queen-of-harts]

I would not matter if you register her in ny and then transfer to NJ they would see her birthdate and she would not qualify by state law.

[nuthinbutpink]

I had a brother with a summer birthday and the cutoff here is end of August/September and my parents sent him to school right after turning 5. He was little all the way through school and did not grow until his Senior year of HS. My mom totally regretted not holding him back another year and waiting until he was 6 to start school. I have held my DD with an August birthday back and waited until she was 6 to start kindergarten and I will do the same with DS who is also a summer birthday. My sister teaches second grade here and she says the younger kids are very obvious by then and it has nothing at all to do with academics- it is social maturity. I love the fact that my DD is one of the oldest in her class. She has tons of self confidence not being the little kid/young kid and I love that. I totally recommend waiting and giving the young ones that extra year! I also did not want her to be the last one to get her drivers license and be in the car with another teenage driver! I'd rather take my chances with her driving someone else around because she got her license first. Also, going to college at 19 is great to me instead of just turning 18. There were lots of factors that went into our decision to wait that extra year.

[iluvmyman]

I homeschool and I'm not starting DS1 until he is 6. I believe in a late start. Let em be kids for as long as possible. I've heard of parents holding their boys back as late as possible to improve their sports. They'll be bigger and have an advantage. Interesting thought and one of those things I had no idea people did.

[nuthinbutpink]

I homeschool and I'm not starting DS1 until he is 6. I believe in a late start. Let em be kids for as long as possible. I've heard of parents holding their boys back as late as possible to improve their sports. They'll be bigger and have an advantage. Interesting thought and one of those things I had no idea people did.

I agree with let them be a kid! Regarding the sports thing, it is not just trying to make them some huge athlete but it is their self-confindence that the extra year, I think, can help with. I mean, how many people do you know that still dwell on what happened in HS??? Too many and if something simple like the extra year can help with that, I am all for it! But, here, little boys are definitely held back more so than girls and I am sure sports factor into the decision.

[iluvmyman]

I agree with let them be a kid! Regarding the sports thing, it is not just trying to make them some huge athlete but it is their self-confindence that the extra year, I think, can help with. I mean, how many people do you know that still dwell on what happened in HS??? Too many and if something simple like the extra year can help with that, I am all for it! But, here, little boys are definitely held back more so than girls and I am sure sports factor into the decision.

That's a great point and very true. I agree that especially most boys could really use that extra time to mature. I would've given DD2 another year but she needed speech therapy and we couldn't afford to do it on our own. We homeschooled w/ the district her K year.

[purplepoet20]

I wanted to homeschool my kids but I have decided to send them to a Waldorf school but they will not started until the fall after they turn 6 (Feb and Mar), so they will be 6 1/2 when they start. We are going to skip pre-k and kindergarten because the Waldorf education view is that kids don't need school before 1st grade and should be allowed to play and mature before school.

[Flava]

DD1 missed the cutoff by 1 day! I don't know why is this a big worry for you?Research confirms later school start better for learning and safety. A lot better to start later then earlier. She is fine in 7th grade now and really we never even think about that she started school later.It's just don't matter at all ,for us or in school , her friends, really to nobody.

[NYFamilyOfFiveRoses]

My 1st daughter is the oldest in her class and she was born in January. My 2nd daughter is the youngest in her class and born in December. December is the cut off here in NY. I can definately see the difference. In Kindergarten for my older daughter being my 2nd one was still a baby, I had another lady put her on and off the yellow school bus. But my middle daughter starts Kindergarten in September and I would not even trust another person to put her on the bus. I am still afraid she can even try to run away. I will just have somebody come here to watch the baby instead of somebody taking both my girls to the bus. She in my eyes is still my baby. I do not feel I can do the things I did with my older one with my younger one. She is not at the same maturity level.

Now my older one adjusted to Kindergarten so well. I do not know about my middle one starting September who will be the youngest in her class? The preschool she goes to now is so laid back also.