Kindergarten how do you know she is ready?

Question

Hi my daughther is 3 1/2 yrs old I know you need to be 5 to start Kinder. So that would mean she would start in 2009 but my thing is her b-day is in decemeber and most cut off dates are in september or october, what do I do? I don't want her to wait a whole school year to go just because her b-day is 3 months later. I am trying to work with her at home and teach her things so that maybe they can test her and see if she could start in that same year of her b-day. She already knows all her abc, reconizes them and knows all of the sounds they make. She can count up to 20 but mixes up like two numbers, and can reconizes numbers 1-11 she know how to spell her name, and how to write it and its clear. She also knows how to spell cat, pony, mom and papi- which means dad in spanish. She dresses herself and knows how to button and snap. So does any one know the requirements for the state of MD? because that is where will we be moving to. So is there anything else she needs to know?

Answer 1

Here's a link to the Maryland Dept of Education

In general, kids are ready when they do some of the things you've described, but also when they're ready to be left by their mother and able to function in the classroom setting (sitting down, following instructions, etc.)

It looks to me as if Maryland has a pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds, though, so that may be good.

Answer 2

she has to wait.  its part of the rules.  relax.  don't push your child.  let her be a kid.

Answer 3

You have to be 5 to start. They can't be giving short cuts to everyone or the age rule wouldn't matter. You can always put her in pre-school. That is what it is for. My son's birthday is in October so he will be almost 6 by the time he enters school. He will go to pre-school though. I missed the cutoff by a few days. I was like the youngest every year. (Birthday is August 23, of course that is when we started school before labor day like we do here now) Keep in mind there are other kids as smart as yours that also have to wait. There are a lot of December birthdays.

Answer 4

.Her birthday is in December.  But that should not stop  you from enrolling her as she will turn 5 before school starts again. The best way  is to go to the school and make enquiries as I am sure they cant refuse you frm enrolling your Daughter.

Answer 5

why the hurry to start her in school...you've taught her a buncha of school stuff but you didn't say aything about her socialization skills which are more important. Is she shy or does she readily make friends with other kids, has she gone to pre-school or any other groups where she spends time away from you...you're going to be dumping her where she'll be on her own for a relatively long period...will she survive? My kids were born in Nov and I purposely started them when they were 6...they were mentally ready and big enough not to get picked on. Things went better for them being on the older end of their class...in high school they were amongst the first to get their drivers lic, instead of the last...I think being the youngest in class has its disadvantages...give it a thought...

Answer 6

I have a December child as well.  We waited and were glad we did.

There are distinct disadvantages to being the youngest child in class.  Even if she can do the academic work, behaviorally and physically she will have trouble.   My child had a friend who started Kindergarten at age four and simply did not have the gross motor skills to play the same games as the older children - nor the fine motor skills to do the same art work and writing.  

In addition, look down the line - do you want a very young high school freshman?  Do you want her leaving home early?

In many areas there are "young-fives" classes for children who miss the cut off date.  Check them out.

All the best.

Answer 7

Ask the state what the rules are. My district won't allow it at all and so my very tall daughter will miss the cut off by 9 days, and my son will miss it by 7 days. You want to make sure they are "PIES" Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social.

Tell left hand from right, walk a straight line, stand on one foot for 5-10 seconds, pay attention to a short story and answer simple questions about it. Can they use a knife to spread butter, take care of toilet needs alone, Be away for 2-3 hours without being upset. Can they Repeat a series of 4 numbers without practice, remember simple instructions and carry out 2-3 errands, count 4 objects (that doesn't mean count 1-whatever it means objects). Can they put together simple puzzles, know what eyes and ears are used for, know what a key is used for. Do they pretend to read

Answer 8

you must be proud to have such a smart kid.  i think you can talk to the school-board regarding their acceptance for her by the time she have to go to school.

in my case, i was 4 months behind the school-year but they still accepted me.

Answer 9

It is always better to start the next year after turning 5, being the youngest in the class can be hard especially if she is just barely 5.  Some states have where you appeal to the board of education to have your child tested if they turn 5 after the cutoff date but with your daughters birthday being in December she would miss almost half the school year starting that late.  She can't start until she is 5.  My son is also 3 and his birthday is December 29th.  I will be waiting until the following year making him 5 1/2 when he starts school because i don't think starting half way through the year is a good idea.  If you want to know all the requirements of your local school that she will be attending you need to call your local board of education as they would know best.  Going to kindergarten really is more than just knowing the education stuff, they need to be emotionally and physically ready.  Cutoff here is July 31st.

Answer 10

Schools and school districts vary a great deal in their level of flexibility. OUr cutoff is in September. My twins have an October 8 birthday, and the district will test them if I want (I'll have to pay for it). But the district a mile away makes no exceptions.  Plus there are many disadvantages to being the youngest child. I'm considering testing my twins only because i'm very concerned how bored my son will be if he starts kindy right before he turns 6. He is already way ahead of where his brother was when he started Kindy last August, (and his brother is doing so well he has already been tested for the gifted program). If he missed the cutoff by months instead of 8 days i probably wouldn't try to get him in. That is just so much younger than the other kids.

Answer 11

I highly recomend waiting for your daughter to be 5 before you start her in kidergarten.  If you want, you can put her in Pre-K or "Discovery Camps" the year before, but I think it would be unwise to push her into kindergarten early.  

I'm not saying your daughter wouldn't do just fine in kindergarten.  Kindergarten is easy for most kids, and girls espescially can often seem to do just fine in K-2 only to start experiencing trouble later in their school careers.  I was an "accelerated child" and have done alot of research into gifted and accelerated education.  Very VERY rarely is it a good idea to have a child start kindergarten early.  Just because your daughter is advanced now does NOT mean that the children a year older than her are actually her peers.  In fact, a December birthday is smack in the middle of the birthdays most of the kids will experience.  Many parents hold back their spring and summer children (espescially late summer children) so that they begin Kindergarten at 6.  

On thing to remember is that for years and years, school started with 1st grade (6-year-olds).  We began Kindergarten as merely a social exercize and "school readiness" program.  Now most Kindergartens have requirements that would have stunned the first grade teachers of 30 years ago.  There is little evidence that pushing reading, writing, and advanced math skills onto children under 7 is doing any good whatsoever.  Most psychologists argue against it, since a childs brain is not really ready to grasp the full portent of such concepts until they are 7 or 8.  I'm not saying schools for 4-6 year olds are bad thing...  I think they're a wonderful social exercize, but I think the curriculum has begun to get WAY out of hand.  

Now some children, and it sounds as if your daughter is among them, are ready to start reading much earlier than 6 or 7.  That's fine, it's GREAT in fact.  However, readiness in certain intellectual skills does not imply a readiness for the stress and academic rigor of an age advanced classroom.  In simpler terms, schools put so much pressure on learning that for many children it ceases to be fun and becomes a chore.  No matter how smart a child is, it is usually a bad idea to put a child under the pressures meant for a child of an older age.  This becomes more and more apparent as time goes on.  While your child may be strong enough to bare up well in the younger grades, when she gets closer to puberty the stress will be much more pronounced.  

In addition, there is the social aspect.  There isn't really as much difference between a 4 year old and a 6 year old as there is between and 11 year old and a 13 year old.  Do you REALLY want to put your daughter in the position of being one of the last girls to get her period, develop b*****s, wear a bra, get her drivers license, etc...  among her friend?  Maybe you think these are silly concerns, but they are NOT!  Injuries to self esteem during adolecence can have consequences that last for the rest of life!  Many, many case studies have been done of gifted pupils who were advanced beyond their age group.  It seldom works out well.  The truth is, a bright child is not the peer of an adult (or older child) and they're also not REALLY the peers of children their own age.  Actually, the only way to really raise a "profoundly gifted" child with his/her peers in a truly emotionally healthy way is to group them together.  Luckily (in a way), most gifted children are not "profound" enough to suffer much by being left with their own age groups.  On the other hand, those gifted children who are advanced out of their age groups tend to have a significantly more troubled adolecence that often results in emotional disturbances or severe underachievement (i.e. burn out).  

If you are set on wanting to enroll your child early in kindergarten, then I suggest doing it in a private school.  That way, if you later decide her classmates are outstripping her in "other ways" you can have her start the grade over the next year at a public school without making it seem to her as if she "failed" the grade.  Good luck!