What is with kindergarten now?

Question

When I was a kid they sent you to school if you hit the cut off date. my husband was 4 and turned 5 in oct. the year he started school. Now they are trying to say that if you are 4 you are to young that you should wait to start? What has the world come to that we are going to baby our children now. SO many EXTREEMLY smart kids that graduated with me were younger than the others cause they started at 4. NOW NO GOD FORBID you start your 4 year old in kindergarten cause the other kids are almost 6 and yours is to immature compared to them. Plus when we went to kindergarten the majority of our time was learning to color in the lines and our ABC's and Numbers. Now they are already teaching them how to read on the 3rd week. I didn't learn to read till 1st or 2nd grade. Does anyone else think this is sad the way we baby our children now days? And the way we expect so much out of them in kindergarten that they can't start at 5 because they won't learn that stuff so young they need to be 6?

PLUS.. if they are "to young" to start at 4 then why does Michigan have a cut off date for Kindergarten of December 1st? Why not cut them off in July, August or September?

How are they making it better when we turned out just fine? Why mess with something when it was obviously working?

Maybe some of you need to go to school to relearn math. IF my husband started school at 4 he would've been reading by 6. BUT since they are screwing up the system by holding kids back till they are 6 they are at the apropriate age to start reading. BUT since the cut off date is December 1st If i sent my kid to school i would get treated like i was a horrible person for sending him to school when the state says it's ok. JUST like when we were kids if we were old enough we went PERIOD no waiting.

STOP ASSUMING... My son is 4 he will be 5 oct. 8th the cut off in my state is Dec. 1st. He is smart, can sit still for HOURS literatly at a time and participates wonderfuly. Just because i'm anoyed with the fact that our world has been so screwed up doesn't mean that it has anything to do with my kid. Has anyone ever heard the song by bucky covington? that's how i feel. It's a whole different world now than it was when we were kids and it anoys the hell out of me.

Answer 1

I completely agree... my son turns 3 on the 30th of this month but unfortuantely I have to wait two years just to put him in Pre-K becasue the cut off date is the 1st of september! I believe it is ridiculous, my son can keep up with most of the pre-k work now but when I was talking to the superintendent at the local school they said that would skip him grades if he is ready once he is allowed to start! What am I supposed to do for the next two years??? And unfortunately I am a stay home mom with no income myself so I can't put him in one of those daycares that are pre schools too! I think it is the school system and all these new regulations tryign to make sure that no child fails but I am afraid my son will fail out of sheer boredem!

Answer 2

I started preschool / nursery school at 4, kindergarten at 5, and 1st grade at age 6. Cutoff dates vary among cities and states, but I am 20 years old now (and only in my junior year of college, I didn't take any time off after high school) and remember that most people in my kindergarten class were 5 - 6 years old at the time. My parents taught me basic reading skills at age 4, and I could read chapter books by age 6. Kindergarten changed its style over 15 years ago, and as standards continue to rise at all educational levels, standards rise in kindergarten, as well. Personally, 4 years is too young for kindergarten. I am sure exceptions are made for truly brilliant kids -- and keep in mind that some children will be held back for a year in kindergarten, either due to behavioral problems, socialization issues, or any number of other reasons, so some students will be 7 before they enter 1st grade. 4 year olds and 7 year olds are at entirely different physiological reasoning levels, which is, far from babying children nowadays, actually the reason that people are typically required to be 5 or 6 before they can attend kindergarten.

Answer 3

I have a three and a four year old. There is no way that the three year old would even be close to being ready for pre-k this year with my 4 year old. At this early an age, how could a 4 year old be ready for a class with 5 year olds...sure if their birthday is close enough you can request them to let you in, but if the child is a boy that extra year will help with maturity later on anyways. Lets also consider that there are other things taken into consideration when placing kids in kindergarten, such as levels of development. Many 4 year olds simply aren't ready for a full day's seperation from a parent. Good luck learning how to deal with not always getting things your way. Life is sometimes full of disappointment...you should try a day in my world, your's won't seem so bad!

Answer 4

The cutoff date in Texas is September 1.

Who is the "they" that are saying four is too young (if the child will turn five before the cutoff date)? If it is the school, then they can't do that unless the child is clearly unable to handle it OR the cutoff date changes. If it is other people, ignore them...you are the best person to judge the abilities and readiness of your child.

I went to kinder at 4 and to 1st grade at 5 (December birthday in December 31 cutoff state). Several kids in my class had been kept at home the extra year and were a full year (or more) older than I was. The way I recall it, parents had the option to let their child wait or start...the school system let parents be the judge about whether the child was ready (though they did reserve the right to recommend withdrawing a child that wasn't able to adapt during the first six weeks).

My son went to a private kinder (and preschool) and he was learning reading skills at three and they were teaching reading at four...kinder involved a BUNCH of math (addition, subtraction, my son even picked up a bit of multiplication).

I think it is GREAT that we expect so much out of them in kindergarten. I firmly believe that children can learn far more than we give them credit for...heck, I think you can teach calculus to 10 year olds and most of them would get it if you taught it properly! ...and I think that quite a few four year olds are ready for kinder...and that at least as many aren't ready until five. I don't think it should be a standard rule...some kids aren't ready for first grade until seven (I know several)...others are ready at five.

I was bored to tears in 1st grade back in that "different world"...I don't like seeing that happen to any child...by the same token, other kids I knew weren't ready for first grade at 6 and they spent the rest of their school career believing they were "dumb" because they couldn't catch up...that's just as sad as the gifted child that grows up with an "underachiever" lable because he/she is too bored to bother. I just wish more parents (and the school system) would stop worrying so much about the age of a child and start focusing on what each child needs to succeed.

Answer 5

Where I live; in Ontario Canada, we have junior and senior kindergarten. Junior K starts in the year you turn 4; so if the child turns 4 in September-December, they are actually 3 when they start school.

Personally, while I see your point, I think everything that is taught/learned in kindergarten, could be taught at home or in a playgroup/preschool (for the social aspect).

There's no reason you can't teach your 4 year old the kindergarten curriculum of letters and their sounds as well as how to write them, counting by 1's 2's 5's and 10's, early reading skills, printing their name ect. Your 4 year old doesn't have to lack education just because he/she is not allowed in public school yet.

Answer 6

Schools are cramming more education, less playtime into kindergarten and 1st grade in an attempt to increase their 'test' scores. It's a bandaid on the system that is already failing so many children. That's why kindergarten is nothing like you remember it.

I put my son in Kindergarten when he was 4, almost 5 and he needed an extra year....luckily our school offered an extra year of school between Kindergarten and 1st grade. Why are you in such a rush to push your child into school? Why is keeping them home considered babying them? Why not use the time to teach them some things yourself? They are only young once, cherish the extra year you'll get with your child, look for the positive in the situation.

Answer 7

In NJ the cut off date if Oct. 1st. Our kindergarten did start teaching them how to read but not until 3/4 of the way through the year. I thought they were pushing the kids at first but really they weren't. My daughter did great and she is a June birthday. They really aren't expecting to much. The way they teach is so fun and interesting to the children they seem to pick things up quicker.

Answer 8

My daughter started kindergarten when she was 4, she turned 5 September 27th. She is now in a 1st/2nd grade combo class and is still 5.
We live in San Diego and the cutoff here is December 2nd. You have to be 5 by December 2nd. If your cutoff date is December 1st. Then your son CAN start school when he's 4, since his birthday is in October.

Answer 9

Each school district sets it's own cut-off date for kindergarten. They did it the same way 'back then', too.

You just seem all mad about everything & your point is not very clear because of it.

At one point, you are complaining that kindergarten is babying children, by having them start a bit older than they did at your school when you were in kindergarten. Then, at another point, you say they are pushing the kids too hard (kind of the opposite of 'babying' them, right?), by teaching them some early reading skills.

Maybe homeschooling would work better for you & your family.

Answer 10

My son is just started Kindergarten, he is 5 and will be 6 in October. Personally I'm glad he had to wait, he is more mature and ready for Kindergarten.

His kindergarten teacher says he will be reading by the end of the year. I think it's fantastic, if they are ready. Kindergarten is not all play anymore, of course there is time for play, but they are at school to learn . Their brains are like sponges during these years....so why not teach them to read?! Of course not all kids are the same...some are ready at 4, others at 5. Either way they are beginning their education, why not embrace it !!

Answer 11

Even though a child may be 'smart', the younger age precludes them from being ready regarding social skills, which are just as important to develop in K as the beginning academic skills.
I know of NO kindergarten which mandates children having to read. That happens in Grade One.
My son read at 3 1/2, but in no way was he ready for K at that age, in a plethora of other ways. It was our job as parents to encourage his learning at home and provide him with enrichment. Once he began school and they did further testing, he was involved in an advanced academic and enrichment program.
Myself, I read in K, and ended up doing grades one and two in one year. This was not good, because socially being with kids in a class a year older just was not optimal.