Fox has been enrolled in a summer school class called Strong Beginnings and I am utterly amazed at the progress he has made in these short two months with his teacher. He has learned how to write his name, sing songs, appreciate and enjoy making art, speak a few German phrases (Guten Appetite!), made new friends, solve simple problems, his tantrums have lessened, etc. The other day he came home, sat down with a box of crayons, and drew these:
I had no idea he could even draw people and then he came home and made these out of the blue! I am so proud of my little budding artist and so thankful for Miss Dodsen. I wish she could be his teacher forever.
Which leads me into another part of this post - age cutoffs. Fox is our first child, I've never had kids in real school before and don't know how this works! The age cutoff to be in the Strong Beginnings class for the school year is September 1st. Fox's birthday is October 14th. Therefore, because he's 45 days past the cutoff, he'll be in one more year of preschool, then one year of Strong Beginnings, and THEN he'll start kindergarten when he's like 18! But really, he'll be almost 6. Is there anyway to get around the date cutoff? Can he take some tests or something? #firstchildproblems
Will he be going to school on base or a German school? Here in the states, I know our town wasn't really keen on letting kids test into school. But I think that varies from state to state and between school districts. My youngest's birthday is in December. So he had an extra year home, which was fine with me. He is going into 2nd grade this year and does well in school.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback Michelle! It's a school on base. I'd like to look into German school options though!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how it is there -- but in AZ. they don't let kids test in "early" anymore. Brookie's birthday is Oct. 4th, so she has the same issue as Fox. Since we couldn't test her in early, she had two years of Pre-School. So she started Kindergarten (we start here in August) two months before her 6th birthday. It actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise!! :) With two years of Pre-School under her belt, she already knew how to read before Kindergarten, knew how to count to 1,000 and do simple math!! :) So really, it's not the end of the world if they are in Pre-School more than the 'normal' child :) She just started 2nd grade this month, and she already knows a lot more than the kids that started Kindergarten "at the right age." ... she does multiplication, complex math problems and started reading "chapter" books (VS. simple picture books) last year. :) It's all up to the parent in the end. We could have pushed for her to start Kindergarten earlier, but like I said, this turned out to be a blessing :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot of different answers to this one, but I think the parents who've waited to have their "older" child start school have been happier with the results. If he gets into kindergarten and he's just too smart for the rest of the class, maybe they'll advance him to the next grade level. That'd be better than having him repeat a year because he wasn't ready.
ReplyDeleteAs a preschool teacher that watches young boys go to kindergarten and sees and hears about them not doing well. I always recommend keeping boys back if they are close to the cut off. The cut off is truly there for a reason! Fox will do awesome in kindergarten as an older boy! He will thank you when he is the first one of his friends that is the cool kid with a license :)
ReplyDeleteBoth my older brothers have late August birthdays. My mom held one back and the other early. They both seemed to work well with those. A lot of it came down to what she saw personally for them, emotionally and mentally. So I say when it gets closer too you'll know what to do!
ReplyDeletehi Paige, I live in Germany and my daughter just turned 6 on August 4th and is starting school next week. if you send him this year to German kindergarten he will be able to start school next year, just before he turns 7.
ReplyDeleteMy son has an October 19th birthday. He was 5 when he started kinder on August 1st and turned 6 2.5 months later. He also went to an excellent preschool program for two years prior and really had been in "school" since he was 3 months old as I am a teacher myself and our school district offers free childcare as a benefit to its teachers. Gabriel still struggled through kinder and half of first grade before everything clicked for him. He finally popped to the top of the class in 2nd grade.
ReplyDeleteObviously, Fox is a different child and may be highly successful, however, the vast majority of kinder teachers I know suggest holding back rather than starting early, especially for boys who mature a little later than girls.
I would also mention that here in the states kinder isn't the relaxed learning environment that it used to be. With educational reforms that happened about ten years ago, the 1st grade curriculum was basically dropped into kinder. Students with no preschool at all really struggle to catch up. Kinders these days are expected to know over 100 sight words by the end of the year.
I think they only tend to let you appeal if your birthday is within a few days of the cutoff. My in-laws put my husband into kindergarten early (his birthday is in December), and they ended up having him repeat kindergarten. He was ready academically, but it really helped a lot socially to have him the year later.
ReplyDeleteKindergarden teacher and long time parent here. Fall birthdays are fantastic, especially for boys. Give him the "gift" of a year. Fox will be older than others, but probably more mature. You may not see it now, but wait. 2 of my 3 children were fall babies. I kept them home and extra year. Never sorry. They are leaders and we had so much less drama in our home because they were a little older and "got it". One just graduated from college, and my baby in middle school. They are all doing great. Now, the problem was with church classes (LDS). The kids their "age" were in another grade, so that was a little hiccup. They had friends older and younger than themselves, which I feel is find. But as a teacher with tons of years under my elastic belt, Fox will be great to wait!
ReplyDeleteHe is doing great! Reese used to hate drawing and coloring but has really gotten into it lately. And this is one of the reasons I'm glad we homeschool, so I don't have to figure out all of the crazy school stuff! HA!
ReplyDeleteIn the UK Fox would start school in the August just before his 5th birthday. My first child started school at 4 years 10 months old :) x
ReplyDeleteFox is a genius, we can make it up at the other end when he graduates from high school early like his Dad
ReplyDeleteaw, I love seeing kid drawings. They are the best!
ReplyDeleteThere's no way around the age cutoffs here in California and I have to say as the mom of 2 boys (the first born in December and the second in mid-August) go with the dates. My summer baby started kindergarten right after he turned 5 (he's now 20) and I definitely regret not holding him back even though he did make the cutoff. With what they now require in kindergarten (I have younger kids too) it's so much better for them to be older. I know here in So Cal they want them to write their name, count and write numbers to 100 and be reading before the end of kindergarten (at least in our public schools). Good luck and enjoy your little ones!
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