UPDATE: closer to a decision

[smom1976]

Quote:
You mentioned that she is already 6 ... there are not too many 6 year olds in K.. most of them are 5 or just turned 5 she must have just missed the age cut off and started her a year later.. in this situation maybe she should move forward.. but on the flip side you can always move her up next year or the year after???

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
doing the right thing for our children no matter how we feel about it is really what a good parent would do

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

We were faced with that as well.
We choose to put her into KG and will let her stay there.
She is now a few weeks into school and LOVES the friend part of school more than anything.
She still mentions that she "knows what they are teaching" and that she is bored now and then. But it is more than ABCs and 123s
IMHO It is about peer interaction. Also the reason I am not going to take her out to home school her. She would truly miss her friends more than anything else.

We have begun looking into the local Sylvan Learning Center. We know that she is going to be faced with actually being "held back" by the other kids. The classes are so BIG here. Individual attention isnt going to happen. And we do not have a special class for the advanced kids. Heck they barely have SPED.
Which will lead to more boredom as she goes through the grades. So to keep her brain happy we are planning on sending her for "extra" classes, that are more her speed.

I say let her stay in KG and be a kid. Hang with her peers. If she is really bored look into a learning center.
BTW- my best friend is going through this also right now. The kid has been reading books like Tale of Two Cities(sp) for 2 years. She is going to be 6 the second week of Nov

 

[warcard]

Quote:
Now THAT would actually make me consider moving her.

I totally agree. I started kindergarten in Germany (military parents) when I was four, if I'd been in the states I would have been forced to wait a year. I still ended up in gifted classes even though I started early.

She sounds like she wants to advance, I would definitely let her try it. You won't lose any time with her, you already sound like a very involved parent and I doubt that will change just because she 'skipped' a grade.

Skipping a early grade is much easier than a later grade, she is just now forming school friendships that most people expect to last forever. If she ends up too far advanced later and needing to skip it will be more socially akward (peer pressure issues) for her to make new friends at the higher grade while keeping the lower grade friends. (My opininon here)

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I agree with those saying let her stay in kindergarten. She has a chance to get some pretty nice scholarships with the great grades she will have

They will offer advanced classes for her and she will feel really good about herself.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

Quote:
Now THAT would actually make me consider moving her.

Also happened with our dd. And we were offered to enter her into KG when she turned 5. We choose not to.
She didnt attend pre K or any preschool. I was home with her and "worked" with her on her numbers etc.
She gets along well with kids older and younger than her. But I want her to be a "kid" as long as she can.

 

[warcard]

Quote:
It is still quite possible that she will have fantastic grades, be considered gifted and offered advanced classes even after moving up. I was (started early, not moved up, but still almost always youngest in my class, I had to get a ride from friends for the first half of my Junior year going to my AP class which started an hour before regular school).

Again, I say let her try it. It will be easier the get into friend groups now rather than later.

 

[menageriemama]

One of my closest friends is a teacher, she has her masters and is planning on going back to school yet again. She has a passion for brain development, and is a great resource when I have questions about my kids, their development and education. Interestingly, I have had this sort of conversation with her in the last couple of months because I am trying to decide if I should send my dd to kindergarden next fall or hold her back a year. She has an August birthday. The jist of what Niki (my friend) says is that if you can, wait. It is better for a child to be older in their class than younger. In your situation, it may be better for her in the short term to move up, but worse as she grows older from a social development standpoint. Now, I have to add that she teaches 6th grade (

), so she witnesses that brunt of the hormonal/behavioral changes that occur with puberty. Thats all I can really say because I am still undecided about Genna...

Not an easy situation...

PS congrats on having such a smart cookie!

 

[Stumpy]

I skipped 4th grade -- I was only weeks away from being in it anyway age-wise -- and I don't regret it. I'm not a parent, but I just wanted to give another example.

 

[kinnip]

I think you should let her decide. It's her life and she's smart. I started 1st grade at age 6 and it still wasn't as advanced as I'd have liked.