This is another thing that I am struggling with. Kindergarten. Who would have thought it would be such a debate in my life?
Kindergarten here is all day, 8 am until 3 pm. A long day for a 5 year old. And I must mention that Faith doesn't turn 5 until the end of July. Therefore a very young 5 year old. Trav went to Kindergarten when he turned 5. Again, barely 5. Then it was 1/2 day. He made it through with flying colors, on to 1st grade, then 2nd grade and that's when it blew up in my face. He struggled, we pushed, pulled and drug him the remaining 10 years of school. I realize school is not for everyone but he was/is a smart kid. He got it, he just didn't want to do it. Other than school we never had a problem with him. Maturity was his big issue. Lesson learned.
I held Wes back. Wes went to Kindergarten at the age of 5 and turned 6 a few weeks later. At that time K was all day. I was not going to go through the same thing I did with Trav. All my kids have summer birthdays and them both being boys, well, you know what they say and it is true. Girls mature faster than boys. So far with Wesley, no problem. Honor role, academic team, involved in sports, respects his teachers, does him homework. School isn't the best thing in the world to him but he is mature enough to realize it's his job for now and he has to do his part. He also realizes to be successful in life, he has to do well in school. It is a part of his future.
Faith is DYING to go to K. It's all she talks about. I had talked to her preschool teacher about holding her back. She thought I was nuts. She is BRILLIANT the teacher says. Brilliant??? OK, I know she's smart and I'm not one of THOSE Mom's. You know the ones, they think their kids are perfect in every possible way. Not me, I know my kids. They are great, sweet, bright kids but I know their faults and I am not blind to them.
Back to brilliant. Miss G. thinks it would be a disservice to Faith to hold her back. She would become bored with another year of preschool and she is ready. OK I am open-minded, I will consider this. I talk to my SIL. My SIL (has a PhD in child development) thinks I should send her too and gives me a number of reasons why I should. I take her to the K evaluation to see what she scores and if in the tester's opinion, she is ready. After I signed Faith in, we were told that the test would take however long it took for your child to cooperate but no more than an hour. The tester takes Faith to the testing area and I sit in the waiting room. One mom tells me she has been there for 45 mins. Faith walks out and is done after 20 mins. Apparently she cooperated. She scored 27 (all scores are from a possible of 30) in motor skills, 27 in concepts, 25 in language, 25 in self help and 28 in social.
I guess I surrender. My daughter is ready for Kindergarten. Her Mom however, is not.
2 comments:
sounds like she's ready. And you're not pushing her ahead a year - she'll technically be in the right class, just on the young side. Like Nicholas, who turned 5 at the end of June and then started K in the fall. So far, no problems, but I have no idea of what's coming down the line. Lauren is the opposite. She's the "maturing faster" girl. She STARTS preschool in the fall and will be there for 2 yrs before starting K. She'll easily be ready in a year, if not sooner. At least initially. But I don't want to rush her and would prefer her to be older in her class anyway. So, my kids will just stick with their given classes and we'll hope for the best. I'm sure Faith will be FINE! sounds like a smart cookie!
I have a daughter, also the youngest of three, who has a late summer birthday (August.) I was very concerned about Kindergarten -she attended a full day program. Yes, there were days that I wondered if I had done the right thing but as I see her now ready to finish second grade I am certain it would have been a disservice to hold her back. There is also recent research backing up the fact that it may actually hinder kids to hold them back. Sounds like she really is ready!
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