What Age Did You Enroll Your Child in Kindergarten? 5 or 6? - Honolulu,HI

Wait.
Here, the child has to be 5 by December. My son was 5 at the end of August. I started him. I have regretted it ever since. I wish I had waited. Boys are just not ready.
They're only little once. There's no reason to rush him.
Wait.

So as a retired Special Needs teacher, the later the better. Most of my students in the special ed program are younger than there in their grade and usually boys.
If there is no real pressing reason to enroll younger, my advice is to wait.

B.
Family Success Coach

I would think you can enroll him and then if you are not comfortable when September rolls around, withdraw him. DS was born in December, so we have no option, he will be almost 6 when he starts. I really wish we had a Dec 31 cutoff. I have no question that we would have enrolled him it it was an option. Remember - there will always be someone who is the oldest kid in the class and someone who is the youngest. The research on holding them back is mixed - some studies show kids who are held back do a little better in reading and some show they do a little worse in math. Really inconclusive (google - redshirting kindergarten research if you are interested).

In my state, the cutoff is Dec. 1st. My daughters bday is Nov.29th. I struggled with this decision as well... a lot... for a long time... lol! She just turned 5 this past Nov. She is a bright girl... very social and ready for school and could have started Kinder this year. In our district they have a "young 5's" for all of the kids who have birthday's in Sept., Oct and November (since most states have a Sept.1 deadline, and in your case, a Aug 1 deadline).... anyway, we decided to send her to Y5's... next year she will be going to kindergarten (even though she could have started this year AND she would have done fine in Kinder). BUT...she would have been the youngest in her class and holding off a year won't make her the oldest or the youngest. She LOVES school. She was ready to be in school, so I let her do Y5's. If I felt she wasn't quite ready to leave me... I wouldn't have sent her. Maybe you can sign him up for Jr. K in February so he has a spot... and when Aug/Sept rolls around, you can make the choice to send him or not. A lot can happen in the next 8 months, so secure your spot now... decide for sure later!

Since you are already homeschooling him for preschool, any thoughts on homeschooling for Kinder and beyond? There are several options now for homeschooling.

Our public charter school (www.classicalacademy.com) has 3 options. Track A attends full day on Mon and Wed. Track B attends on Tues and Thurs. You homeschool the other 3 days using the curriculum provided or other school approved curriculum...they are pretty flexible with this. Track C you full time homeschool, but you have the option to attend what are called C'lective classes (up to 6 a week) on Wed or Thurs. All students have the option to attend Friday Labs which are for fun/interest only classes on select Fridays throughout the semester. The charter school way might be a good compromise for you and your hubby since your son would get the in school experience and would also get to homeschool with you. As a family you would have more control of your sons education and you could tailor the curriculum to your sons needs.

Some elementary schools offer a homeschool track as well.

You can fully homeschool on your own which gives you the greatest flexibility to tailor your son education to his needs. There are lots of homeschool support groups to help with this. Many of these groups also offer Co-op classes that are both academic and pure interest as well.

I am a new homeschooling Mom. NEVER in a million years thought I would be one, but here I am loving it! My is in Kindergarten and attends the charter school Mon and Wed from 8-230pm. I homeschool him Tues, Thurs and Friday. He loves being in class and all the fun things they get to do there (Computer lab, music class, art, spanish language class, science, plus all the major subjects...don't get these classes in most elementary schools much less on a daily basis like my son gets) just as much as he loves being homeschooled by me 3 days a week so I feel that he gets the benefits of both worlds.

I know my crazy, super smart, easily bored, very active little boy would do "fine" in regular school. But I know for him he needs to be physically and mentally challenged at the same time or he gets bored and restless and starts getting into mischief which would then get him into trouble in a regular school setting. His teacher groups the kids into 3's or 4's by academic level for each subject. She has 3 or 4 stations with "projects" related to the subject being studied. Each group moves to a different station every 15 to 20 minutes. This style of learning works great for my son because he is always moving and learning at the same time. At home, the only two things that are set in stone is that we do schoolwork Tues, Thurs and Fri and that we get started by 930am. Because I can't simulate the work stations since there is only one of him, I change up the location and rotation of subjects to continuously make it fun and challenging for him. We are usually done by 11 or 1130am. So no having to cram in 1-2 hrs of homework (my best friends Kindergartener has to do this) at the end of a long day of public school. Once we are done with schoolwork, we are done. We can move as fast or as slow through the curriculum as HE needs to. By 12pm we are usually having fun at the park, running errands, going to the movies, zoo, museum, etc.

I just wanted to put the thought of homeschooling for elementary school in your ear. I know our charter school's registration for new students is also in early Feb so I would imagine that charter schools in HI will also register around the same time.

OT: My whole family comes from Hawaii and mostly live on Oahu now. Small world!

FYI: I belong to a really good Christian based homeschool support group called CFS (Christian Family Schools of San Diego).

Here are some links to homeschooling resources in HI

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/Hawaii.htm
http://www.hawaiihomeschoolassociation.org/
http://www.christianhomeschoolersofhawaii.org/
http://www.hcsao.org/pages/schools list of charter schools in HI.

Sorry if I totally went OT from your original question.....getting back to it...

I think that for some students who are born later in the year, especially the more timid/shy/clingy students, they benefit from that extra year in Jr. K or PEPP (as it called here in San Diego). Just gives them a chance to academically and socially mature a little more before having to deal with the higher social and academic pressures of FT kindergarten. She opted to send her two oldes through PEPP. Her daughter is very shy and is born in Oct. Her son is a highly emotional (very easy to cry), small is stature for his age, and slightly behind academically compared to other kids entering Kinder at the same age, and his birthday is mid Sept. Her daughter is now in 1st grade and flourishing academically. Socially she still has problems with kids trying to bully her, but she has grown a lot socially in the last year. Her son is still emotionally a bit immature, and a tad bit behind academically, but doing well in PEPP. But FYI: She is going to try homeschooling them through Classical Academy next year because she is not totally happy with all the academic and social issues that her kids are going through.

If you have any questions about homeschooling, feel free to PM me. Good luck with your decision. Any choice you make will be the right one for your son. And if you try Kinder out at first and it doesn't work after a month or so, you can always move him back to Jr. K. If you try homeschooling and it isn't a good fit for your family, you can always put him back in regular school. And if regular school doesn't work for you, you can always start homeschooling him...at any point in the year...that's how flexible homeschooling can be :).

I was in your same position this time last year...trying to figure out what would be best for my son and my family as a whole. I know a few families who fully homeschool one kid, send one kid to the charter school and one kid goes to regular school. These parents are doing what they feel is best for each child.

Do the enrollment process and see if the school has a readiness test. If they think he is not ready they will tell you and you can keep him home for another year.

My daughter went when she was 4. They have decided to keep her back a year because she is in jr and is far behind her classmates in reading (I don't know what school in Hawaii you will be attending but they wanted my daughter to know all letters and all letter sounds going into kinder.

My daughter is SUPER social and loves being at school. I am planning on homeschooling next year due to the fact that we are military and are moving... again...

Just my own opinion, I think Aug 1st sounds like a very early cut off. Where I live, it's September 30th. When a child is 5, to me, that equals going to kindergarten. It's been that way for decades and in the last 10 years all these parents of boys want them to be 6 or older. Send him. It's free, whereas preschool isn't. And there a plenty of kids that start K without ever stepping foot in a preschool. Of course there is an adjustment period. A hard month maybe, then he will probably love it.

Both my sons started kindergarten at 5.5 years. For my older son, school has always been his passion and he excels. For my younger son, he's always been 6 months behind when it comes to maturity. As he's aged, it's been easier for him to deal with school and now, in the 7th grade, he seems to be ahead in the maturity curve. This is really the first year he hasn't struggled to behave appropriately.

As a teacher, I find that the older kids are more settled and better able to focus and get the job done. Some of our "young" freshmen boys (I teach high school) are soooooooo young, you wonder how they made it to high school!

Go with your gut. If it says wait, I would wait. However, having said that, you may want to investigate ways to have your son get comfortable with separation from you. It would be unfair to your son to have him have to deal with learning all the norms of school in kindergarten, the content of a kindergarten class AND how to live without you for 5-6 hours a day. Is their an in home preschool near you? Perhaps you could trade 2-3 days a week for a service you could provide?

Good luck!

I have 2 sons, one with a Sept and one with a July b-day. They both started as they were turning 5. It would not have been good for either of them to be held back, as they are both above grade level. Neither of them had any maturity/social issues with being young. In fact, one of my son's classmates that was over a year older and very smart, was also very immature (and at age 14 is still immature for his age). In my experience, you can't just go by a birthdate. I think we'd have a lot of problems right now with boredom if I had held them back because of their birthdates. You need to follow your gut, if you don't think he will be ready, have him wait.

I suggest to go ahead and register him in February. That's still 6 months before school starts. If, in August he doesn't seem ready, don't send him. At least you would have the option at that time to send him if he seems ready. Maybe this summer put him in a camp or 2 (maybe like Vacation Bible School, or an age appropriate academic type like a science or art camp), to see how he does transitioning away from you. I know it's not exactly the same as school, but at least you can see how he does away from you.

What's the hurry? My 3 oldest kids had late summer birthdays, and I held them all until they were 6 to begin Kindergarten. They attended a pre K at 5, then went to Kindergarten. They all were ready, I didn't have to guess and wonder. The Kindergarten of the "olden days" does not exist anymore. Children begin reading and doing what used to be considered first grade work in K. My kids loved being one of the first to turn a year older, to get into "double digits", etc. Think of it long term....I found it much easier to send an almost 19-year old off to college than I would have a 17 year old. Dads seem to have a problem with waiting until 6, I don't know why that is! To me, all the uncertainty and risk lay in sending them at 5. I never regretted waiting until 6....they're little such a short time anyway!

I've homeschooled all my children and started all of them at age four in kindergarten curriculum (including my two boys). I have two January birthdays and my youngest is March birthday. All are a year ahead of their peers. What if you homeschool your son for kindergarten this year and then see if he's ready for first grade next year? This will give you the option of either grade one or kindergarten if you feel he's not ready. This also gives him the year with mommy and to see if he feels ready for public school. Good luck!

My son is about to turn 5 next month and he is in preschool now. He really needed the preschool experience and the first year was rough behavior wise. That was last year and he is doing much better this year. We are luck that my in laws who are both former teachers are helping with the preschool costs.
Many years ago I was started in Kindergarten at 4.5. I was born 3 days from the cutoff date and was the youngest and smallest kid in the class. On top of that my younger sister was born the same week I started school. I had no preschool either. It was a very rough year! I went through K and 1st grade and them changed schools and the new school made me redo !st grade. Being the oldest made a huge difference and generally did well after that. In spite of that experience I would still start him and hold him back if you have to in K. Alternately I would try and put him in preschool. I think kids need some time to adjust to classroom behavior before they are ready to focus on learning.

Hi-I can't tell you how much I struggled with the same decision. Our cutoff is August 31st and my son has an August 22nd birthday. Every educator I spoke with encouraged us to wait the extra year. I felt pressured to send him to KG, so registered him and had that nagging 'feeling' all along. I ended up pulling his registration and enrolling him in Pre-k five days a week. He was like your son and was never excited about going to KG. This year he is coming out of his shell socially, emotionally and academically. He is excited to go to school and I KNOW he will be that much more prepared when he starts next fall. I've always heard, "If you want a leader...wait. A follower start early". I say go with your Mama gut and WAIT. Kindergarten is much more academic than it used to be and isn't a good fit for young boy's.

Best of luck deciding!

S.

you can always sign him up, and not send him.

I dont have any summer bday kids. i held my october bday back. there is a kid in his class a yr younger-and you can tell. he is a smart kid, but, maturity wise, he doesn't stand a chance.

Here cut off is I think the end of Sept. For my oldest she has a Dec birthday and had to wait year, my middle's birthday is July so she started on time and my youngest has a Feb birthday and had to wait a year.

All of my kids loved it and had no problems so I can't offer advice on if a child might not be ready.

Also it isn't mandatory for kids to go to Kindergarten.

Personally, I always think it's better to be one of the older ones in a grade as opposed to one of the younger ones. Also, he sounds like he is telling you he is not ready. I would keep him home one more year and spend the year getting him ready in terms of positive separation from you. Maybe you have some friends you can leave him with for a few hours each week so he gets used to being away from you. Or maybe you can arrange for one day of preschool a week.

Also, for boys, it's better to be bigger in your grade, size-wise, than smaller.

Hi. My oldest daughter's bday is in late Sept. She made the cut-off by I think it was 2 or days. This made her (and still, for the most part) the youngest in her class(es). We were concerned as well if she would be able to adjust and learn at the same speed as her classmates. She did remarkably well. She was fine with the separation for two weeks, then suddenly she didn't want me to leave her... this lasted about 2 weeks. She then did just fine.

I think 5 is a fine age. As for the separation anxiety, he'll probably be okay... Lots of kids have this problem, and once he makes friends and knows his teachers, he'll more than likely love school. Just don't let him feel your anxiety.. kids pick up on these things. :)

Good luck!

L.

My son is in Kindergarten now and we waiting until he was 6 to put him in. My husband and I already feel it to be one of the best parenting decisions we've made so far!
My son's birthday is Aug 16th and he did attend pre-school but at 5 we took him out (couldnt afford it anymore) and I did some homeschooling with him. He was academically beyond ready when he was 5 but he was painfully shy. (took him 4 months to speak to his pre-school teacher) I spoke to every teacher I know, many other teachers I did not know, school officials and principals and asked each one their advice on starting at 5 vs 6 and ALL of them said to wait until 6 regardless. What made the final decision for us was one teacher telling us we will NEVER regret holding until 6 but we may regret starting him at 5.
Being 6 in Kindergarten has been wonderful! He WANTS to go. Never clingy or crying. He is also at the top of his class and that is such a confidence booster for him. My thoughts are that I'd rather he be at the top of the class instead of one of the struggling kids. (not so much for Kinder but definitely for the harder years, like 3rd, 7th, 9th, etc.). Also, if he is too advanced for his current grade then I'd rather him be bumped up a grade than held back a grade.
I work in his classroom every week and WOW I see such a difference in the older 5/6 kids to the 4/young 5 kids.
Yes, I agree with a previous post about Kindergarten not being what it used to be for us. A lot more is expected of them and it is more like 1st grade. The older kids in the class definitely have an advantage.
I can tell you so much more and would love to talk to you about it. Please send me a personal message.
Good luck!

Hello..
for us, it was the best thing for my son to start school. He use to be so shy and dependant on me... he had 3 bad days when he first started, and now... he cries to go to school on the weekends, lol.... Good luck!

here where we live i believe the cutoff date is the end of sept. my son made the cutoff by 6 days. so he would have started when he was 4 and i knew for sure he was not ready to sit still and pay attention. so we worked at home for a year. when the next fall rolled around we both enjoyed the homeschooling and the group we were involved in that we decided to continue homeschooling. and we both love it. i am so glad i started him later. i was one of the oldest in my class throughout school and really enjoyed driving first, voting:) etc. do what you feel is right for your son and don't let other people's opinions change how you feel. good luck to you both:)

well my oldest was born in jan. he was 5 1/2 yrs when he started kindergarten. my middle is born in march. he was 5 1/2 yr when he started kindergarten. my last child will be 5yr 4 mo when she starts kindergarten in sept. our cut off is late oct or early nov.

i think it depends on the childs maturity. most people i know wait if so their child wont be the youngest.

Well if he lived here, he could start this year.. Our daughter is a late July Bday and was always one of the youngest in her grade.. By 3rd grade it all flattens out.. You pretty much know who is going to do well in school on their own and who is going to have to work with a lot of parental oversight and guidance..

This is not good or bad, it just gives you a bit of heads up..

Our daughter is now in college and I was very active in all o fher schools. The one truth.. each child is different.. They each have strengths and weaknesses..

Just because you have a boy and he has an August bday it is only 1 thing to keep in mind.. Also consider, first born, only child, physical development and social skills.. His communication skills and his self control.. All of this is what will help determine his readiness..

There are lots of online tests that can help you make this decision.. The other thing is to speak with the actual school he will be attending for their suggestions and input...

Here is an example.
http://www.greatschools.org/students/academic-skills/kind...

Here is one link..

I have a brother 12 years younger than me. My sister and I are more like his Moms! Anyway, he has an Aug 4 birthday and we enrolled him in Kindergarten at age 5. He has done exceedingly well and is graduating college this June.

I asked him the other day if he liked being the "younger" kid or if he would have preferred to have been held back and entered Kindergarten at age 6. To my surprise he said he would have rather gone in at 6. He really didn't like being the last one of his friends to do everything.

I am in the same situation as you. My son is a July birthday and I can't make up my mind at what age to enroll him. I suppose I will just wait and talk with his pre-school teachers and decide from there.

I read an article that gave a few good reasons for enrolling at age 5: 1) there is a higher drop-out rate for older kids because they turn 18 in high school and can do so without parental approval, 2) any educational benefit gained from that extra year of life is gone by the time the kid enters junior high school, 3) essentially the kid "loses" a year of their adult life (my brother's friends are all graduating at 22, not 21).

It's definitely a tough choice and I don't envy your decision. Please let us know how it works out! Good luck!

I think Jr.K would be perfect for him. You need to have a positive attitude
about school. If you project to him that you are not sure about sending him,
he will pick up on your feelings.

My daughter did not go to preschool and adjusted fine. Good luck.

My oldest son turned 5 in June and went to K that September and is now 8yrs old in 3rd grade and doing wonderfully. My youngest son turned 5 the end of September and he will start school a few weeks before turning 6 this next September.

Send him to preschool/Jr K. My 5yr old son is in school readiness/Jr K this year and loves it. He will start K next Fall. Your son will be just fine in Jr K and then in K the next year.

I don't have much to offer, my kids are 3 and under. But...I started K when I was only 4, graduated HS at 17, Freshman in College before I was even 18. It was so HARD. For his sake wait, I really struggled, and my Mom felt guilty for years and years about pushing me into school too soon. My son has an early January Birthday so he will be nearly 6 when he starts which I think is a good age.

Our son started K at 4.5 years old and was totally ready. In fact, we did a dual immersion class for him. He was reading, writing, and speaking Spanish by the time he finished K. BUT, he also hated school, so we pulled him out and started homeschooling him. HE was the one who wanted to go to school at age 2.5. We put him in private pre-school AND private Jr. K before K at a public school.

Our 2nd son is 4.5 and wants NOTHING to do with school and his personality doesn't lend for a good experience there at this time, so he's spelling and learning to read, etc.

We ask both of them if they want to go to school periodically and neither one of them does. I guess our homeschooling is so fun that they don't want school! Our daughter who is almost 3 would be fine with school, but she could probably take over the White House alone as well. She's a tough one who knows what she wants and does not mince words.

Listen to him and give him a little more time to mature and check back in with him. Preschool is not for everyone and where else can you learn bad habits from other kids (AKA "socialization") and get sick every week? Don't hurry that!!!

didn't read all the answers but had the same dilemma. you will never regret holding back! kinder is so much different now and the pressures academically and socially are different too. even if you don't see it right away, i think you see it later. google "redshirting kindergarten". there are some interesting articles from the new york times and other

With our oldest...6. We gave him the extra year of preschool. He needed to catch up in a number of ways, among them, he is easily frustrated.

We had assumed we'd do the same thing with son #2 because he's also a "summer baby" but now, we aren't so sure. We'll decide when we need to (he only 2.5 right now), but based upon where he is now, socially and academically, he'll probably be ready at 5.

It's really kid dependent.

I started my son at five, but should have waited. It did not end up going well for us. Conversely, my cousin waited to start her son and he is excelling. If waiting is an option, talk with your husband about the benefits to *your son*. Leave the "I'm his mommy and want to be with him" part out. Men tend towards logical over emotional, so make a logical argument.

Best wishes,

S. :+)

First off, so sorry that this year has had its problems thus far. My daughter is a very late June birthday and entered K at 5 years 2 months (so she will graduate at 17). She went to preschool the year before on Tues/Thurs mornings because she really wanted to go to school with a friend (so it really wasn't a big school experience at all). Typically, she was either with me or my step mother who "retired" from teaching when she married my dad before she was born. My daughter could read and was very ready to start K. My sister-in-law on the other hand has all boys with fall birthdays and they started K when they were turning 6 due to their maturity level although they are super smart. I'm sure your gut feeling is right on. Best of luck.

My nephew started kindergarten without any preschool. He is struggling. My niece did pre-school and she is doing well. I do not know the co-relation and do not want to scare you further. I think pre-school prepares them socially and gives the added benefit of learning. In kinder they are going to be expected to have known all this even though it's not required per se. My son is late born and will be starting kinder at 6yrs, so if your gut doesn't feel he is ready and his birthday was late august, you might feel the need to start him next year. If you think he will adjust let him go. To ease your fears, just talk with the teachers and get a feel for what they will be doing and so forth.

None of our 3 girls had preschool. All 3 have Jan. birthdays. All 3 were enrolled at age 5. The twins are currently in kdg and just celebrated their 6th birthday last week. They've adjusted very well to school and a schedule. They enjoy the structure. They're even starting to read as well. I do believe your son will enjoy kdg., but if you feel he's needing another year to mature, then there's no harm in keeping him home.

Wow, this could have been written by me a year ago! Actually I did ask a similar question about preschool. My son is a very late October birthday but the cut off here in California is December 1st so he was age appropriate just like your son. I had heard the same thing you did about boys developing later than girls so it was an easy decision for me: I waited another year for him so that he would be the oldest in his class instead of the youngest. A teacher friend once told me that no one ever regrets starting them later, but only starting them younger.

My son had never attended preschool either but we did Mommy and Me classes together for 4 years. Once it was time to enroll him in kinder I had another decision to make: I didn't want him in all day kinder and that's all there was in my area (private and public). So I am homeschooling him for kinder and we are both loving it. Last year was an amazing growth for him. He started reading in the summer before kinder by using starfall.com and is doing great now in all subjects!

You can look at it this way... if you start him later and it turns out he should be in the higher grade then they will advance him (in the higher grades) rather than starting early and being held back.

Good luck to you!

J.

It's a blessing that your son wants to stay home with you. If you are at all interested, homeschooling is the best thing you can ever do for your kids academically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.
I have 3 kids....one is a baby, but the other two have been in private, public, and homeschooled at different points, and I can honestly say, that if your circumstances allow, go the homeschooling route.
But that's not really answering your question. However, if you have any more questions about homeschooling, I'm happy to answer. (I have a teenager in public school, an elementary aged that is homeschooled, and the baby of course.)

Regarding holding back or starting, homeschooling will solve that issue, because you do work at their learning level, you don't have to worry about what grade they are in until they are 6. Then you choose whether you want to designate them as K or 1st grade. Because until they are 6, they are not required to be in a school.

My middle child has a June birthday. He did two years of preschool at our church where he went for 2 days a week for 3 hours. He wasn't ready physically to start full day kindergarten when he was 5. He still needed a nap a couple afternoons a week. I just couldn't see putting him in our local full day public school, so I homeschooled him for "pre-K", while I was homeschooling the older one as well. It went great. But the next year, I was pregnant with child #3, and too sick to homeschool him (I get deathly ill for months when I am prego), so I put him in our local public school kindergarten. He did great, but then in the middle of the school year, he just had a major cognitive blossoming and suddenly school was WAY too easy for him. And it was the same way in 1st grade, and then this year for 2nd grade. Public school was way too easy for him, and he has been super bored, and I didn't want him to skip a grade, so I just pulled him out and started homeschooling again. I am SO happy we did that. It's going awesome. He's super happy because he really likes being at home with me, he's always been a lot less adventurous than my other two kids. He likes the comfort of learning at home and not having to deal with a bunch of misbehaving kids and classroom disruptions.
There are a LOT of benefits to homeschooling him. Our only "con" is that he misses recess. So we try to meet up at the park after school with friends.
So that's our story...hope it helps...

What is Jr K- is that like an extra year of preschool where they would just go to kindergarten the next year? My daughter was almost 6 because she missed the deadline. She had 4 yrs of preschool and was very shy so it was okay to be a bit later. My son will be starting just turning age 5. He has always wanted to go to school because he saw her going and socially is fine, who knows how it will go with attention and academically, but he has some speech problems and will benefit from the school system intervention. If he hasn't separated from you well and is shy, I would go for the Jr K this year. I would NOT skip kindergarten altogether and head straight to first grade next year though. That would be a disaster. My mom did that for me, and it took me years and years to catch up. You get so much from that kindergarten year. When you go to registration, they will probably test him, ask them what their opinions are.

Where we are my son had to be 5 on or before end of Sept to start kindergarten. With his birthday at the end of Oct, he ended up being 5 for about 2 months before he turned 6. There are a few kids with birthdays earlier in Oct who are older than him. He's usually the tallest in his class, he's in 6th grade now, gifted, has straight A's all the way so far and it's worked very well for us.

Kids are supposed to be 5 and turn 6 during their year in Kindergarten. That way they are with kids their own ages. I think it would really stink for a kid to be in school with one group of kids and at church and in sports be with a totally different group and see their friends all on other teams.

They are supposed to start this way so that when they are a senior in high school they will be 17 at the beginning of the year and turn 18 during it with everyone else.

My G-daughter I am raising is a very early Fall birthday and her best friend is a very, very late Summer birthday. They are only a couple of months apart. Because of the months they are in totally different everything. They are the same level of maturity and stuff but the one with the earlier birthday is on a different age level in soccer and softball, even dance class. She is also in a different class at church. It is hard on the m because the older one starts thinking she is smarter or better and her mom gets right on top of that and reminds her that K is only a few weeks/months younger than her and it's only the school starting date that made the difference.

My state the cut off is Sept 1st... my daughter's birthday is Sept 3rd. There is no way I would have been willing to wait a whole year for my child to go. I searched around for a private school that would accept her age and offer a scholarship.