I have a 4 year old...?

Question

I have a 4 year old who will be 5 in September. She misses the deadline in my state to enter kindergarden, but she has been sitting through a pre-school class all year in her daycare center. I know she is ready for Kingergarden. Has anybody had this happen and were you able to get your child tested to enter kindergarden. I have called the school board here, I spoke to somebody and they said they would get back to me. Who knows when that will be, and I am curious if my child has a chance.

Answer 1

call back and push for testing--as long as you think she is ready. you know what your child can do. if she passes the testing, put her in school--if not, don't beat yourself up--an extra year of preschool never hurts.

(my second grader barely made the cut off, hooray for summer birthdays.)

Answer 2

Call the School District Office and ask them about it or call the school which your child would be attending and ask to speak to the Principal. See if they will allow her to be tested and see how she places according to their initial assessment. Here the deadline for turning 5 is December 5 or something like that which i think is too late since many of the kids come in @ 4yrs old and are not ready at all for school.

I know a girl who was too young to start school but who was ready to. She was tested and they said that she could start as soon as she turned 5 which was the end of December or first part of January. She tested so high that she went in in January still knowing more than the ones who had been there the entire first half of the year. She was later moved up a grade and ended up being a year and a half younger than all of her other classmates.

Answer 3

With three that young I can imagine you are feeling overwhelmed, Try and see if you can get some help around the house. Also do not fixate on trying to getting everything done all the time. With that many little ones trying to keep everything neat and tidy all the time will just wear you out. Its just a matter of finding balance and I am hoping that your spouse is helping as well and your not just trying to do everything yourself. I kind of know what your going through in that my kids, though they are 19 and 17 now, are very close togther in age. Wife and I were run ragged when they were in diapers it wasnt until they starte kindergarten things kind of settled down. So there is light at the end of the tunnel once they are all in school (age) it will be a little easier until they hit teens then a whole new type of stress haha.

Answer 4

I am going to be facing this same situation with my daughter. I am in Missouri, and the school district I am in does not do any testing in to Kindergarten. The only option I have found is a bit of a work around. The state requires the recognition of homeschooled grades. If I homeschool her for Kindergarten then she will go in to 1st grade. Granted this doesn't get her in to a public Kindergarten class, but it does prevent her from being held back to some degree because her birthday is a few weeks off.

Answer 5

don't push her! ask yourself this: "do you want your child to be the baby in class, or the older mature student?" yes, your child may be ready academically, but socially and physically just is not ready. in my district, the cutoff is 5 by July 31st. The district has found that the majority of August and September b-day kids that start into the Kindergarten at such young age are actually at the bottom half of the class down in Fourth Grade. When they have to wait another year, these late summer b-day kids wind up at the top academically. send her to another year of a quality preK, and watch her bloom ;)

Answer 6

Yes I had this happen to my daugther at the same age (shes now 30) it's like they really don't care about the bigger childern much less the smaller ones;your not even trying to asure that they grad.....your just trying to get them started at this point!But what you have to do is keep your ears&eyes open for testing(not at the school board)at schools themself find out what school you want your daugther to go to,find out from them or any other school which one is doing the entry testing for the school you want her to attend.They will give you a date and time to show up be there make sure you have every thing you need s.s # birth cer....and so on they will take care of you from there I also had to help with my grand's so I'm sure much hasn't changed they are 6,7 now I hope I've been of some help!

Answer 7

My daughter's bday is in October so she had to wait for kindergarden also. I didnt push the issue even though im sure she would have been ready. I know in Wisconsin the cut off is in September but im not sure what day. But im pretty sure that they dont make exceptions. You could keep doing what your doing and try to get her in but if they dont let you, keep her in preschool. Do they offer 4-k (4 year old kindergarden) in your community. They do here and it was a good start for her so she atleast kept learning and didnt fall behind.

Answer 8

I was in this same situation~I missed the birthday deadline by a week, and ended up sitting bored through another year of pre-school. PLEASE, if your child is ready for kindergarten, get her tested/talk to the superintendant. I was about 9 months older than all my classmates and bored throughout much of school because of it.

Answer 9

While working with pre-school children(3-4 year olds) in a multi-cultural, mult-lingual school in Switzerland, there was a child who was extremely gifted, but intellectually unchallenged in our section. The teachers labelled him a trouble-maker because they did not want to face the fact that he was bored. Little by little I began giving him responsibility. I asked him to help me prepare the lunch tables while the other children were outside in the play area. He placed all plates, knives, forks and spoons correctly. He even poured the milk and water in corresponding containers. I also encouraged him with his creative ability(he loved to paint and composed wonderful stories). I recommended that he make the transition to kindergarten, but because of the age limit, the teachers and director decided he should remain another year in pre-school. I was shocked and the Mother was totally dismayed. She would ask me often if she needed to remove him from our school. Finally(two months later), they allowed him to enter kindergarten. He is so proud!
My advice to you. Persist until you get a positive response.

Answer 10

This will depend on the individual school. Perhaps the school has a test that can determine your daughter's readiness. In any case, most children who miss the deadline are obliged to wait until the next school year.

Answer 11

keep after them i had a friend who's son was ready and she too missed the dead line, you need to make them test her and show them she is ready i dont feel they should go by the cut off i feel each child is different and some even at 5 are not ready so keep on them about testing her and she should get in! good luck