[ceeshell]

My son has a March b'day and he started school at 4. It would have been wrong to hold him back a year. He is doing brilliantly academically, has great social skills and, most important of all, his school room behaviour is impeccable.

My Mum was a FYOS teacher for many years. Parents would ask her how to make sure their child was ready for school and her reply was always that parents should make sure their child did as they were told! If your child has good social skills and can follow instructions then they are probably ready for school.

I have two friends who are kindergarten teachers. Their advice was not to worry about the academic stuff. They said that if DD could go to the toilet without assistance, do as she was told, interact with other children and had the motor skills to retrieve her lunch box from her school bag, open it, eat the contents, close it and then put it back in her bag, she'd be fine for FYOS.

We sent DD (May baby) this year at the age of 4 despite a slight speech issue and a hearing problem (which has since been resolved). She is thriving. I walked past the preschool she attended last year and all the children there looked so tiny and young, I just can't imagine her still being there now.

No regrets here. I truly believe I would have regretted holding her back.

[cheekymonkey]

We 'held back' DS#1 (late April birthday) as he just wasn't ready emotionally, mentally, behaviourally. Academically he'd have been fine. Six months later, he'd have been fine to start in all ways so he was well and truely ready once he reached the start of the following school year. Majority of his friends, in his year of school (NSW year 3) still, also turn 9 this year.

DS#2 (early March birthday) was only held back as we were overseas for the first 6 weeks of the school year. As so much of the learning school routines, making friends groups, teacher learning about new students, etc happens in this time, we felt it would be very unfair to send him after missing this time in his FYOS. He, also, has made friends in his year group (year 1) who turn 7 this year, albeit 5-9 months later than him. He was ahead academically from the start and is now in an enrichment class where all the kids are working 1-2 years ahead in many different areas, as well as at year level in others. Don't know how the teacher copes TBH as it's a year 1/2 composite so she's having to cover years 1 to 4 in various subjects.

DS#3 started school this year, aged 5 and 3 weeks. He's coping beautifully. Top of the class academically, made many friends, loved by teachers as he's one of the best behaved, etc. Apart from his size (he's one of the 4 shortest by about a head), you would never know he's one of the youngest. In fact, there are other kids in the class 9-10 months older who you'd swear were younger.

Unless something drastic changes with DD, she too will be starting just after turning 5.