As you know, our 5 year old boy started 4 year old Kindergarten a few weeks ago. Roman was born less than a week before the September 1st date that Wisconsin uses for school enrollment cutoff. I remember when I was pregnant with Roman and found out that I was due in late August. Even before he was born I can recall thinking about/analyzing whether I would send my baby off to Kindergarten at 5 years or wait until they were 6. Totally crazy!!
I was going to share a post at some point outlining the details as to why we decided to wait to send Roman off to school but this has become a hot topic for us recently because there have been some questions from parties at his school as to why he is not enrolled in 5 year old Kinder.
First of all this is a huge, individual choice for families so no judgment at all!! I have friends who have sent their late summer birthday kids off to school early and they have done awesome. I also have a friend who sent his August birthday child off to 4K last year and is now having his daughter repeat 4K because she simply wasn't ready to move on to Kindergarten. When I talk about our decision to hold Roman with other families, I almost always get an affirmative response about a son/family friend/nephew/etc that they have in their life who waited for Kindergarten and it was the best decision. Or, on the flip side, they share a story about someone they know who should have waited a year to start school.
So here is why we waited to send Roman off to school:
1. We wanted him to be one of the older/more mature kids in the class. Do we think that he could have handled the academics of school as a new 4 year old? Sure. Do we think that he was ready to sit still/listen/keep his hands to himself in a classroom setting last year? Nope. Roman just needed another year to grow and mature before he was ready for 4K and that is okay! Boys usually mature later anyway and we didn’t want him to be the very youngest kiddo in his class.
2. We wanted Roman to enjoy his childhood! I feel like we live in a culture that does not always value unstructured time/free play/pretending. Parents often want and/or feel pressured to have their children in a classroom/academic setting as soon as possible. There is so much to learn by being outdoors, focusing on pretend play, socializing with other kids, etc outside of a classroom. Roman has his whole life to be in an academic/work setting. Plus, if we didn’t hold him back, Dan and I would be moving him into a college dorm as a brand new 18 year old someday. Um, no thanks! Like most boys, he can can probably benefit from an extra year of development when it comes to forethought/judgement.
3. We wanted to set Roman up for success! Would it have been easier financially to save on a year of day care and send him to school early? Absolutely! But, what if he needed speech or vision therapy? We would have paid out of pocket for those things, no questions asked. All parents want to set their children up for success whether than means paying for therapy, getting glasses, or spending more on day care. We felt that, if we sent Roman to 4K too early, that he would hear a whole lot of ‘Sit still’, ‘Keep your hands to yourself’, ‘Be quiet’, etc. (Although I know that teachers would say it in a much better way than I would! Hahahaha!) Dan and I wanted him to enjoy the classroom setting and have a good foundation for his academic career rather than potentially kicking things off with behavioral/discipline issues. That’s not to say that he won’t get into trouble this year!! We are only a few weeks into the school year and we already have had some issues on the school bus. Ai Yi Yi!
Bottom line: Go with your gut!!! No one knows your kid like you do! Just because you are ‘supposed to’ send your child as soon as they meet the date cutoff does Not mean that it is the right choice for your kiddo. It is 100% up to you as a parent -- do what is best for your kid and your family! :)
