[pitzinoodles]

Hi,

I'm hoping there are some early childhood teachers, or people in the know on this.

DD is approaching 3.5 and we need to decide whether to start her in preschool next year and school the year after or delay it by 1 year. She is an April birthday, and the cutoff is 30th April so will be either the oldest or youngest in her class depending what we choose.

She is the oldest child, so have nothing to compare with. I think she will be ok academically as she has a long concentration span can hold a pen, has a pretty good go at writing her name, likes cutting, sticking etc. I'm not sure how to judge her socially. I think she is shy/timid. If there is another kid on the play equipment, she just runs away, even if they are younger than her.

Any to tips for knowing when a child is ready for school?

Thanks

[ally0812]

do you go to play group with her

? if so, ask the teacher-lady who runs it they will give you a good idea is she ready or not

[Impatientmummy]

I'm in the same boat with my ds, at this stage we are confident he will handle school, hes a bit shy but not so much with kids more with adults but warms up pretty quick to them. Next year we are putting him in the ready for school room at his current daycare (essentially preschool) & are going to reassess with his teachers if they think he is ready or not half way through the year, if not he will do another year of ready to school rather than having to repeat kindy as he is going private & is a lot more expensive!

[261071v]

Not a teacher- but similar situation a few years ago with an April child with similar personality.

Delayed her entry into 3 + 4 year old kinder as:
1. was not able to ask to play with other children by herself (went and hid behind a tree)
2. would give up during Q &A time when older children talked before her (even in 4 year old kinder we had this problem)
3. didn't like to ask questions.

Our DD attended childcare from when she was 10 months old.

Our local council runs preschool readiness sessions during the year- have a chat with the council, as you may be able to get the written info.

She is now in Prep, and her instance, we know we did the right thing by her.

Our other alternatives would have been trying to get a repeat year of 4 year old kinder or sending her to PrePrep.

ETA: check out the kids in Prep at the school you plan to send her to- that's a good comparison point. Where we live, the children are held back if they are born between Jan-April. We have also held back our March son, who is more socially able, but not quite there emotionally. I'd rather have a leader than a lost child.

This post has been edited by 261071v: 16/08/2012, 04:27 PM

[lsolaBella]

You could do 4yo Kinder and then take the advice of the Kinder teacher whether to repeat 4yo Kinder when the time comes. From my experience they seem to recommend anyone Jan-April birthdates to 'hold back' (NB - 30 April Cutoff)

My Early Aug DS2 is actually the 5th youngest out of his 4yo Kinder class of 25. 15 of those children are Jan-March birthdates who were 'held back'.

I actually anticipate my Dec birthdate DD will be the youngest in her class.

ETA: They are actually recommending my already 5yo DS2 be 'held back' (So theoretically 6.5 when starting school) and they do not see any issues with getting approval or funding for another year of 4yo Kinder. We are not going to do that though.

This post has been edited by lsolaBella: 16/08/2012, 05:26 PM

[Eight.years]

I have the same issue with my daughter (May birthday, but here the cutoff is end of July).

I'm going to put her in preschool next year, just for two days a week, and make the decision about school in 12 months time. She can always do two years of preschool. Realistically, she probably will.

I actually anticipate my Dec birthdate DD will be the youngest in her class.

This seems to vary from year to year and is definitely not the case around here. In my son's FYOS, it was uncommon to have a sixth birthday in the first half of the year. Kids turned five up until June, then started turning six after that. My Feb born child was pretty much smack bang in the middle, age-wise.

This post has been edited by Sevenyears: 16/08/2012, 04:36 PM

[lsolaBella]

In Vic (30 April cutoff)

DS1 Sept is 5th youngest in his class (only 1 'younger birthdate Jan-April - youngest child of 4 boys)

DS2 Early Aug is 5th youngest in his class (only 1 'younger' birthdate Jan-April and they are being held back for school)

So DD will most likely be youngest with a Dec birthday.

[261071v]

I just want to say that only you really know, in your gut, at this stage as to whether she's ready to start.

There is a little boy who is ahead academically in my daughter's class, and he only turned 5 in Feb.

On the otherhand, at our creche, 60% of the kinder room will be repeating next year, with 50% from the year before so we've had to rejig our kinder and preschooler room, otherwise there would be minimal entry available for kinder next year.

[Princess.cranky....]

OP have you looked into if it's possible to hold your child back in your state? In some states such as QLD it's hard to hold your child back. We really don't have much of a choice here, kids have to go to school the year they are eligible.

From my experience they seem to recommend anyone Jan-April birthdates to 'hold back'.

That is not my experience in QLD. There was never any suggestion to hold back my April child. The cut off in QLD is June 31st. Here children are rarely ever held back.

OP I think it's too early to make that decision yet. Start her in preschool and make the decision next year. Bit changes will happen in the next 12 months and you might find she is more than ready by next year. I think you really need to talk to an early years educator and get some advise.

[libbylu]

In Vic (30 April cutoff)

DS1 Sept is 5th youngest in his class (only 1 'younger birthdate Jan-April - youngest child of 4 boys)

DS2 Early Aug is 5th youngest in his class (only 1 'younger' birthdate Jan-April and they are being held back for school)

So DD will most likely be youngest with a Dec birthday.

Really? this is nuts. My DS has a September birthday and I reckon 40% of kids are younger than him.
His year group pretty much runs April to April. I think there was only one kid with a Jan birthday that was already 6 when school started. Their are a couple of kids, both girls, with March and April birthdays who started when they were 4 and are thriving. Then a couple of boys with March April birthdays who started at 5 nearly 6. At this point in the year about 50% have turned 6, but there are plenty of kids turning 6 in Oct, Nov, Dec and next Jan.

OP, with an April birthday you really do have a choice, so the best thing to do is probably send her to kinder to have the option to go early, and do a second year if you need to. It might also be worth enquiring at the particular school you plan to send her to, to see if the trend is for kids starting early or late, as it seems to vary a bit between schools.

This post has been edited by libbylu: 16/08/2012, 05:27 PM