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

It happened to our son, but he needed to be in pre-school 1 more year both because he is autistic and because he was not ready maturity-wise for kindergarten.

When we look at children who are ready for kindergarten, we look not only at the academics, but at the cognitive and socialization...all are important to see if a child is really ready.

If your child is ready, I would push for it. If not...allow your child 1 more year to grow and to mature. You'll be glad you did!

Good luck!

Answer 2

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 3

If this is important to you and your child, you're going to have to keep calling them, I mean once a week. Start tomorrow. My son just met the cut-off, but they were trying to give me the run around in my area. My son is 10 now, I'm just warning you, the kids in his class are much more "mature" than he when it comes to boy /girl relationships, I don't know if it's because of the age difference but something to think about.

Answer 4

I would just talk with the Principal in the school that she would be attending. They can test her to see if she would be ready. I personally wouldn't rush to get my child in at such a young age. Are you doing this for financial reasons? Or just because you feel she is ready for school.

Answer 5

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

Answer 6

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 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

If you have a situation like that here it is basically tough luck.  It is possible to take a grade placement test later (say 1st or 2nd grade), but not to begin kindergarten.

Answer 9

Is she emotionally ready?  Does she have the fine-motor skills?  You are talking about her being younger than her classmates her entire scholastic career, you know.  

If she is not accepted (and I know of someone who missed it by 2 days, and she wasn't, either), teach her to read at home, and some simple addition and subtraction--that will give her more to do at daycare.  If she's ready, she'll catch on pretty fast, and it will be a joy to teach her and watch her discover books.

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

Don't be in a hurry to send her off to school.  I had 2 kids with July birthdays and waited til they were 6.  They are both extremely smart, did very well in school, and thanked me for not sending them when they were 5.  They are now well-adjusted adults who graduated very high in their classes, finished college degrees, and are working and holding their own in this world.  I believe that allowing them an extra year to mature is at least partly responsible for their success.

Answer 12

They will sometimes, usually they give her a kind of "entrance exam" to be sure you aren't full of it. Often times though the problem is the shear number of children who are of age coming to enroll in Kindergarten will decrease your daughters chances of getting a spot.

Answer 13

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 14

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 15

SAME HAPPEN TO MY DAUGHTER SHE MISS THE DEADLY AND THERE IS NOTHING I COULD GET DONE EVEN THOUGH SHE KNOWS MORE THAN ALOT OF KINDERGARDEN KIDS, THEY TOLD ME THAT THE RULE THEY NEED TO FOLLOW THAT IS WHY THERE IS A DEADLY LINE.

Answer 16

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 17

push the school board for your child to take the exam to get in and she does. my son made the deadline by 2 weeks and he wasnt ready according to his teacher. its not fair but its how the school board runs it. get lippy for your child fight for her right.

Answer 18

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 19

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.