Cutting the Umbilical Cord

[Still BLUTANG]

my b-day was always during the 1st week of school (in august) but i was never the youngest kid in class. i think we had people with b-days as late as mid-january... so maybe back in the day the cutoff was feb 1? or maybe more people "skipped" grades back then?

[alum]

If the parents have the right to hold their kids back for a year even if the birthdate is before the cutoff, parents should also have the right to have their slightly too-young kids tested for kindergarten readiness.

[nikki1920]

They do have that right.

I started school overseas (military brat). The cutoff stateside was September 1. For DoD schools it was December 31. I made it by 2 days. Parents can ask that their child be tested if they want to start them early. I was a smart kid. I lost most of that smartness when I got to college though, lol..

[alum]

Originally Posted by nikki1920

They do have that right.

I started school overseas (military brat). The cutoff stateside was September 1. For DoD schools it was December 31. I made it by 2 days. Parents can ask that their child be tested if they want to start them early. I was a smart kid. I lost most of that smartness when I got to college though, lol..

Parents do not have the right to request early entrance in all school systems. It depends on the policies of the system.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by alum

Parents do not have the right to request early entrance in all school systems. It depends on the policies of the system.

so much for parents knowing their children best. I would have no problem with all kids going through a kindergarten readiness evaluation. If they pass, they are in. If not, then a pre-K readiness program.

[33girl]

I don't think parents always do know their children best. Some parents think their kids are Einstein, Ghandi and Fred Astaire rolled into one when they can barely put their pants on.

FR, your son MADE the cutoff. He'll have other kids in his class that will be his same birth month. It would be different if he wasn't turning 5 until February or March of 2008 and you wanted him to start kindergarten this fall.

[alum]

Again, when one makes the assumption that all 4 1/2 yo children are not ready for a structured kindergarten, one is assigning an arbitrary maturity level to certain age groups. There are kids (not mine) who are born in the early spring of the following year that are ready for kindergarten at 4 years, 6 months. Having a kindergarten readiness test available for these kids will determine if the kid is truly gifted/precocious as opposed to what the parents think.