[GCS]

Our DS is going to do 2 years of Kindergarten. We knew this up front and set it up this way. He came home from Russia at 3 and went into a 3 year old preschool at 4 (September 1st birthday). They moved him into the 4 year old group half way through the program. This year he went into the Kindergarten class with the others from his 4 year old group. Technically he has to be 5 before September 1st, so next year he moves into a different school for real Kindergarten - the one we planned to send him to, not the one he is in now which is at a preschool/daycare facility.

He already knows almost everything off the list of things he needs to know at the end of the Kindergarten year so next year will be a bit of a review for him, but it gave him an extra year socially and he is moving into the school with the rest of the kids who he will spend the next 9 years of grammer school with (K-8 program).

My vote would be to give him 2 years of Kindergarten. I am very glad we did this!

Christina

[momraine]

My oldest son had a May birthday, I thought about holding him back, but when he started K he was reading at a second grade level. My next son started K then we moved and they said he could not go to K because they had a different cut off. He took a year off, because he was bored in preschool and misbehaving. Both boys have done fine. My daughter is the youngest in her class, and for a short time had some academic problems, but is now doing very well, she is socially advanced. My youngest son, I moved back to K. I figured he needed a year to learn English and catch up. He is has just figured it out. There are three girls at church who are in first grade and he figured out he is older than them, and he is in K. He is very, very upset about it. I still think it was the right thing, but he is having a hard time with it right now. He also caught up and learned English way faster than I thought he would and is reading already. So Maybe it wans't the best choice, but it's done.

[calikismet]

Oh, my, this conversation is relevant to our household now..

Our son will turn 5 in late July. He was in the 3-year-old preschool class, then jumped over the 4-year-old preschool class to get into pre-K this (current) school year, as a 4-year-old. If he stays on schedule, he'll 'graduate' from pre-K this June, and start K in the fall.

I just turned in his registration papers for K yesterday. However, I kept having this nagging feeling that he was not ready. Academically, he is at K level. His pre-K class works on advanced work, and does lots of K skills. He knows all of this letters and sounds, colors/shapes/numbers, etc., can write his name, and can write words that are dictated to him letter-by-letter.

BUT, emotionally, he is all about being 4. He is one of the youngest in his pre-K class (only 1 younger than him), and it shows. He gets frustrated easily, has a hard time focusing for long periods of time (wants to go out and play, or build with blocks or something), and still needs some help with zippers, etc. Even tho he is registered for K, I can withdraw that at any time, and send him for another year in pre-K (they will move him to a different pre-K class so that he feels like he is moving to a different class).

The decision has not really been made yet. I keep going back and forth. and while DH was initially VERY against keeping him in pre-K another year, he has since softened significantly, and is beginning to think that having him go one additional year in pre-K, plus a summer camp program where he has a chance to spend a week at a time at different day activities, would be beneficial.

I don't know at this time what to do. I get so many conflicting views from everyone -- one camp says that he'll step up the plate and mature quickly, and that that is good for him; the other camp says wait..

UGH!