So last week I posted a question on Facebook to all my friends concerning weather or not you start your summer born baby in Kindergarten when they are five, or if you wait and start them when they are six. When Ethan was first born I was excited that it was in July because I thought we had avoided the whole "start them/don't start them" issue. But not so! Here the parents I talk to really think that May is the cut off and that if you have a summer baby that you should wait until they are six to start them in Kindergarten.
I feel like after reading the 31 comments left by other moms I have a better picture of why parents keep their five year olds home, but I still struggle because I don't want my kids to bored in school. I know some moms are saying, "Bridgette, you have plenty of time to think about this." Really if I want Ethan to have a full year of preschool before he goes to Kindergarten I will need to have made at least a preliminary decision by this Spring when registration for preschools usually begins.
After reading all of the comments and talking to other experienced moms here is what (I think) we will do. This year I will continue to home school him through our current preschool curriculum which teaches letters, some phonics, numbers, and bible literacy. Then next year (when he is four) I think we will send him to a preschool for at least 2-3 days a week. The year that he turns five I think we will send him to a K5 program that follows the Kindergarten curriculum, but isn't a public school. I think a co-op school would be a really good fit at this step. At the end of that year I feel like we will be better educated about the skills needed in Kindergarten and able to make the decision if he is ready for Kindergarten at the public school level, or if he excelled we can start him in a public school in first grade.
With all that being said, I really am glad that we aren't locked into anything yet and we can wait awhile before making our final decisions.
Thanks to everyone for their input!
3 comments:
It's never too early to be thinking about your child's education. I've been praying a lot lately about what direction would should go with our kids when the time comes.
You know what's funny? Right after I posted this I started having second thoughts....I guess I gotta pray more!
Yes! Pray and keep evaluating where your child is (and where your family is). E is doing first grade math in her head, knows all her letters and letter sounds, etc., but she's definitely not ready for kindergarten on other levels. She barely misses the cutoff and I've had folks encourage me to get her in early. But once you start, then you're in school for YEARS. There's more than academics for sure (as I'm sure those facebook comments pointed out). Your family's needs will play into it, too. God knows each situation our kids are born into and that is His plan for them, even if means a different path in school than their peers.
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