Early Kindergarten or not?

Also the half day kindergarten is
not available at this school. If it was, I'd go with kindergarten
next year in a heartbeat.

My reasons for not putting her into kindergarten are that I don't
think she is ready to sit still for a full day yet. Also it will
completely screw up her mom's after-care arrangements which she has
got nicely worked out now.

That's a tough one. The school sounds very interested in accommodating her,
though. Would they be open to having her come to just the morning session? Or
would that work out badly financially (like paying double for the afternoon
care)?

--Helen

toto wrote in message . ..
On 25 Mar 2004 16:50:27 -0800, (valerie) wrote:

snip

I don't see a Northeast bias in my data.

Table 1 Date by Which Child Must Turn Five Years to
Enter Kindergarten
Date Number of States
June 1 1
July 1 1
August 1 1
August 15 1
August 31/September 1 22
September 10-15 4
September 30/October 1 6
December 1-2 4
December 31/January 1 5
LEA Option 5

The three states where the December 1 cutoff remains are
New York, California, Michigan and Montana. The 5 states
where the December 31st date is used are Connecticut,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, some districts in Lousiana, some
districts in Massachusetts.


Well I can tell you already here in NY there is *no* statewide cutoff
date for kindergarten. It is decided on by the individual school
districts. NYC it is all in the calendar year, and in other districts
it is December 1, 15th, Nov. 30th. I also seen to recall Hamden in CT
had a December cut off.

Also note that Kindergarten is not mandatory in several states
States where Kindergarten is not mandatory currently
(as of 2002)

Alabama
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida (sort of)
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
New York
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming

Here in NY you must provide your child with an education from the ages
of 6 and 16. If your child is 6, and is entering the school system,
they may or may not place him/her in grade 1 or in grade K.

Rosalie B. wrote

My dd has a dd who was 4 in October, but she is a very capable, bright
and I think advanced 4 yo. She is quite big for her age, and very
well coordinated.

So I think she's too young to be in a full day program, and I also
think she's going to be bored in school regardless of when she starts.

What would be the best?

grandma Rosalie

My kids went to kindergarten before they were 5, very much as is
proposed for yr grandchild. (They're in their late teens now.) It
didn't do them any harm, and may have been good. I like the outcome,
but then I can't claim an unbiased opinion! They would not have wanted
it any other way.

It's difficult to assess the path not taken.

There's a real risk, with your grand kid, that she'll find pre-school
much more interesting than kindergarten, and will be bored not just
for one year, but for two.

You have to bear in mind, though, it's not just kindergarten and
reading. Kids who move ahead start doing *everything* a year before
they would have othrwise done -- including dating. Experimenting with
substances. Rebelling. Leaving for college. Their peer-group tends to
be older than them, which may or may not make a difference.


Rupa

In article , Rupa Bose says...

Rosalie B. wrote

My dd has a dd who was 4 in October, but she is a very capable, bright
and I think advanced 4 yo. She is quite big for her age, and very
well coordinated.

So I think she's too young to be in a full day program, and I also
think she's going to be bored in school regardless of when she starts.

What would be the best?

grandma Rosalie

My kids went to kindergarten before they were 5, very much as is
proposed for yr grandchild. (They're in their late teens now.) It
didn't do them any harm, and may have been good. I like the outcome,
but then I can't claim an unbiased opinion! They would not have wanted
it any other way.

It's difficult to assess the path not taken.

There's a real risk, with your grand kid, that she'll find pre-school
much more interesting than kindergarten, and will be bored not just
for one year, but for two.

You have to bear in mind, though, it's not just kindergarten and
reading. Kids who move ahead start doing *everything* a year before
they would have othrwise done -- including dating. Experimenting with
substances. Rebelling. Leaving for college. Their peer-group tends to
be older than them, which may or may not make a difference.


Rupa


Rupa! Good to 'see' you.

Banty

x-no-archive:yes (Rupa Bose) wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote

My dd has a dd who was 4 in October, but she is a very capable, bright
and I think advanced 4 yo. She is quite big for her age, and very
well coordinated.

So I think she's too young to be in a full day program, and I also
think she's going to be bored in school regardless of when she starts.

What would be the best?

grandma Rosalie

My kids went to kindergarten before they were 5, very much as is
proposed for yr grandchild. (They're in their late teens now.) It
didn't do them any harm, and may have been good. I like the outcome,
but then I can't claim an unbiased opinion! They would not have wanted
it any other way.

That's good to hear. Although I myself started kindergarten when I
was 4, as the cutoff in those days was 5 by November 10th or some such
date. (I was born November 4th).

It's difficult to assess the path not taken.

There's a real risk, with your grand kid, that she'll find pre-school
much more interesting than kindergarten, and will be bored not just
for one year, but for two.

I don't understand bored for 2 years. If she goes to kindergarten
next year, she will not be repeating kindergarten - she'd go into
first grade the following year.

You have to bear in mind, though, it's not just kindergarten and
reading. Kids who move ahead start doing *everything* a year before
they would have othrwise done -- including dating. Experimenting with
substances. Rebelling. Leaving for college. Their peer-group tends to
be older than them, which may or may not make a difference.

My sister skipped a grade making her two years behind me and I was 2.5
years older. I was very young in my class, so she was also very
young. I was 17.5 when I graduated from hs, and she was not quite 17.
It wasn't too much of a problem afaik.

However, my college roommate was a Ford scholar and she entered
college at 15, and this did make things a big difficult she said
because when everyone was sitting around 'finding themselves', she
wasn't ready to do that yet and thought they were a bit silly.

grandma Rosalie

Banty wrote


Rupa! Good to 'see' you.

Banty



Hi Banty!

Nice to see you're still here.

I feel a bit of an imposter, though; my youngsters would object to
being called "kids" these days.

Rupa

In article , Rupa Bose says...

Banty wrote


Rupa! Good to 'see' you.

Banty



Hi Banty!

Nice to see you're still here.

I feel a bit of an imposter, though; my youngsters would object to
being called "kids" these days.

Rupa

Stick around! We need the experience and perspective!

So how are your 'youngsters'?

Banty

Banty wrote in message ...
In article , Rupa Bose says...

Banty wrote


Rupa! Good to 'see' you.

Banty



Hi Banty!

Nice to see you're still here.

I feel a bit of an imposter, though; my youngsters would object to
being called "kids" these days.

Rupa

Stick around! We need the experience and perspective!

So how are your 'youngsters'?

Banty

Both good: One's in college and an adult; and the other on the verge
of both (this fall!)

How's your son?

Rupa

On 30 Mar 2004 11:56:02 -0800, (Rupa Bose)
wrote:

So how are your 'youngsters'?

Banty

Both good: One's in college and an adult; and the other on the verge
of both (this fall!)

Howdy, Rupa. Good to see you still around.

Don't know if you were here for *my* news. I have a granddaughter
who is 20 months old now and a grandson on the way (due any day
now - my dil will be induced Thursday, if nothing has happened by
then).

Also do you know about the test group misc.kids.family-life that
is being hosted on news.gweep.ca? If you are interested, you
would be a welcome addition to that board as well.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

In article , Rupa Bose says...

Banty wrote in message
...
In article , Rupa Bose says...

Banty wrote


Rupa! Good to 'see' you.

Banty



Hi Banty!

Nice to see you're still here.

I feel a bit of an imposter, though; my youngsters would object to
being called "kids" these days.

Rupa

Stick around! We need the experience and perspective!

So how are your 'youngsters'?

Banty

Both good: One's in college and an adult; and the other on the verge
of both (this fall!)

Good to know your daughters are doing well.


How's your son?

He's eleven (ohmygosh) and in junior high. He would build airplane and ship
models all day if I let him. Hey, beats video games I guess...

Banty