What age is too old to start kindergarten?

Question

I am very confused. MY son just turned 5 on January 16. His preschool teachers just told us that they recommend another year of preschool. If he does this, he will turn 7 in kindergarten and graduate when he is 19 1/2. They said he could improve on self confidence, writing, and cutting out objects. He knows his numbers and learning the alphabet, so they are not worried about his learning skill. His motor skills needs improvement. If we hold him back, will it be odd that he could be 2 years older than some of his friends? I was 17 when I graduated. It just seems strange.

Answer 1

If your son is of normal intelligence, and it sounds like he is, you owe it to him not to hold him back from moving forward in life. You were 17 when you graduated, and I was 17 when I graduated, which means we were both 4 when we started kindergarten, and I'm pretty sure we both turned out pretty well and can handle a pair of scissors just fine.

What your son probably needs is not more time with his teachers but rather more time with you. Spend the summer, while he's not in school but with you all day, working one-on-one on the skills his preschool teachers say he is behind on. As a preschool teacher myself, I know that one adult simply cannot spend hours supervising one child's cutting abilities. You, his mother, can.

Again, I was 17 when I left high school, and I think that this is the ideal age to do so. Any older and I would have been bored out of my mind in school (I had a hard enough time not getting bored in advanced classes as it was). I object strongly to 19-year-olds in high school unless they have some mental deficeit that has held them back, because this means that they are in the same building as the 13-year-old freshmen who started kindergarten at 4, and I don't think that this is a healthy situation at all.

If you lay out high standards for your son now, and encourage him to reach those goals, he will develop a habit of high achievement that will serve him the rest of his life. Good luck!

Answer 2

Most states have a minimum age (5 by Aug 1 or Dec 1) but not a maximum, I agree it seems a bit odd your preschool teacher is recommending holding off on kindergarten given his age (I'm guessing by your description of his academic achievements you must be in a private pre-school as a public pre-school would definitely promote him into kindergarten). That being said, there may be other good reasons your teacher is recommending this action. You mention confidence and fine motor skills - two good reasons, and common areas where boys are slower to develop. You may want to look into the book "why gender matters" for some descriptions of when it's a good idea to have a boy hold back a year in the lower elementary years. Having your child as one of the oldest it can help self-image & self-esteme; to be the first to master skills, be the fastest, strongest, etc. Kindergarten today is what first grade was 20 years ago (all day schedules with expectations of solid writing and reading). One thing to consider is that if he is not ready to master the reading & writing he may be held back in 1st grade - which would have a long lasting impact. Good luck.

Answer 3

Everyone develops at different stages in life.
The teachers are gently suggesting that you give your child more time to develop.

Better to keep him back a year now while in preschool then
to integrate him into a school system when he isn't ready.
Kids may make fun of him if he can't keep up socially or academically. He may even get left back somewhere along the line .

Answer 4

Motor skills seem like a pretty poor reason to hold someone back, they aren't really used much in school.

Maybe let him go to kindergarten and get him some extra physical therapy? Can you get him assessed by someone? Talk to his doctor and talk to Public Health/WIC they should know about programs available in your area.

YOU know your son best though, so you should do what you think is best. Ultimately, if he were my son, I would probably let him go to Kindergarten, he can always repeat it, or at worst be pulled out early in the year and go back to preschool.

Answer 5

I wouldn't wait. Go ahead and let him go into kindergarten, but get him some extra help on the side so he can improve. I think his advanced age in the later years in high school, could cause him some teasing. My daughter just graduated at the age of 17 and the assumption is that the older classmates have failed.
They call them super seniors.

Answer 6

No not strange at all. I suggest you have him tested to see if indeed he is ready for kindergarten. Some kids aren't. Some kids are ready at age four some not until they are six.. nowadays kindergarten isn't that nice place you had someone ready you stories, where you ate graham crackers and milk and took naps. Kindergartens have gone to all day cirrculums and they have homework and are required to know and understand much more than when my daughter (now 21) was in kindergarten. So there is a possiblity that your son isn't quite ready yet.

Answer 7

Preschool is 4. Kindergarten you ought to be 5 yet when you're born after Sept. 1st right here then you genuinely ought to attend til precise right here 3 hundred and sixty 5 days. some states/counties have a later cut back off date relies upon on your college.

Answer 8

i think you should start him this coming year kindergarted can help him improve because that's what kindergarten is for that's why it's not called first grade. I never even went to preschool and i graduated a 17. i think your child is fine. some children don't even know their numbers well when they get into kindergarten

Answer 9

He should start school this coming September. If his preschool teacher feels there is any reason to keep him back, you really need to discuss it with the teacher. You can also have your local elementary school do an evaluation to see if he is ready for kindergarten.

Answer 10

try not to hold him back...my nephew repeated kindergarten not because of academics but because he was laidback aka immature then about the third grade he tells me that "it was the worse thing they ever did to me"...then by the sixth grade he was a foot taller than his classmates...and then his mom regretted the decision. Work on his motor skills this summer and send him on.