[Twhylite21]

Just curious, when do you plan to put your LO in kindergarten? 2013 or 2014? What's the age/date cutoff for your state (if you know it).

~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily will start a few weeks after turning 5 in 2013. California's cutoff was December 1st, so you could start at age 4 as long as you were 5 by then. But they recently changed it to Sept. 1st, but it's a gradual change, so this year is Nov. 1st, next year Oct. 1st, then following year will be Sept. 1st and that's where it is staying.

[kalis]

Illinois is September 1 so she would be able to start fall 2013. But we plan on homeschooling so the dates don't matter as much to us. Though I do plan on giving her kindergarten curriculum that year right after she turns 5.
Also, Illinois children are not required to attend kindergarten before entering 1st grade at age 6. I wonder if other states are like that. Technically our kids do not have to start school until age 7, which is when I will have to let the school district know that she will homeschooled. I don't have to let them know anything before that.
And, on another note, when we were still considering sending her to private school instead of keeping her home we were leaning towards not starting kindergarten til 2014. Justin was one of the younger ones in his grade with a Sept birthday and he has always said he could understand the benefits of starting later.

[3Sapphires]

West VA is Sept 1st, so Nate will be nearly 6 when he starts.

He goes to Pre-K fall 2013.

[maddy's mommy]

The cut-off is Sept. 1, so I am guessing Maddy will start in 2013, right when she turns 5.

[Twhylite21]

Originally Posted by kalis

Also, Illinois children are not required to attend kindergarten before entering 1st grade at age 6. I wonder if other states are like that. Technically our kids do not have to start school until age 7, which is when I will have to let the school district know that she will homeschooled. I don't have to let them know anything before that.

Kindergarten is not mandatory in California either. It's offered at all the schools though (that I know of at least), but you can opt to just start your child in 1st grade at age 6.

[kalis]

That is how it is here; the schools are required to offer kindergarten, but the children aren't required to go.

[doremi]

Cutoff here is 3rd week in August. Josiah will start in 2014, a few days after his 6th birthday.

[Kristen_at_the_lake]

Leo will start in 2014, right around his birthday.

[caren]

Harlow will start in Sept 2013. The cut off is Dec.

[Toby's-Mommy]

Toby misses the cutoff by 6 days, since it's August 31st in Tacoma. Since schools usually start around his birthday, Sept 6th, he'll probably start kindergarten right when he turns 6 in September, 2014.

We've thought about trying to get him in a year early, but we'll see when the time gets closer...

[doremi]

Originally Posted by Toby's-Mommy

Toby misses the cutoff by 6 days, since it's August 31st in Tacoma. Since schools usually start around his birthday, Sept 6th, he'll probably start kindergarten right when he turns 6 in September, 2014.

We've thought about trying to get him in a year early, but we'll see when the time gets closer...

Unless you are super positive that he is beyond ready for kindergarten, as a teacher, I would advise against trying to get him in early. Boys especially often really need that extra time. Just my two cents We're in the same boat as you, since Josiah's birthday is Sept. 3rd.

[kallie74]

I am 95% sure we will wait until Tommy is 6 to start kindergarten. For a ton of reasons...

But in the mean time he is already in a structured/academic daycare, and then will do a year of preschool prior to starting kindergarten at age 6.

[blondie-lox]

Lincoln is starting this September. He will be in full day, every day junior kindergarten at Phoenix's school. He'll ride the bus with her there and everything. He's so excited.

Our cut offs are Dec 31st, so every student in the same grade are all born in the same year. Phoenix started junior kindergarten when she was only 3 as her birthday isn't until November.

[Toby's-Mommy]

Originally Posted by doremi

Unless you are super positive that he is beyond ready for kindergarten, as a teacher, I would advise against trying to get him in early. Boys especially often really need that extra time. Just my two cents We're in the same boat as you, since Josiah's birthday is Sept. 3rd.

Yeah, I've heard that quite a bit. I know it would probably be better to have him wait the extra year, and that's probably what we'll end up doing. I don't love the idea of him being the oldest, though, and frankly the cutoff dates have never made much sense to me. If he had started school this year, classes started on Sept 1st, a Thursday, and he would have turned 6 on the third full day of school, that next Tuesday after Labor day. But another child could have turned 5 on the previous Wednesday and also been in his class, so they'd literally be a year (minus 5 days) apart and expected to be at the same level. Probably being a year older would be to Toby's advantage, but it just seems an arbitrary way to decide.

On a purely selfish note, it makes me groan to realize that I have to pay another full year of childcare, which averages $750 a month for us
But he'll probably end up doing that, and starting in 2014.

[~*Kixs*~]

Scott will start 2013. The cut off date is Sept 1st for us also.

[~Michele~]

The cut off in NJ is Oct. 1. Max will still be 4 when he starts Kindergarten (Sept. 29th b-day). Obviously, we will double check to make sure he is ready before we send him BUT he is a pretty smart and mature 3 year old. We get comments all the time about how people think he is older than 3. I've addressed my concerns with his teacher this year about whether he will be ready in 2013 and she said he is way above the other kids in his class. He sits, listens and follow directions. If he is failing miserably in Kindergarten, we will do two years of it but I think he will be more than ready.

[LisaB]

We haven't decided yet. I think we'll wait and see how they're doing psychologically and academically before making the choice. They're starting preschool this fall.

[iluvgummies]

As long as he is potty trained by then...grr...Dom will start JrK this Fall and regular kindergarten in 2013, a few weeks after he turns 5. Our cut off is Sept 1. In the past they used to make exceptions, you could have your kid "tested" to see if they could start early. They no longer allow that. We're a bit disappointed b/c Dom's best buddy, who lives across the street from us, was born Sept 2.

[Erin80]

Lexy starts this September. She starts JK here in Canada - full time, 5 days a week. I don't feel good about that and am on the fence about holding her back and just keeping her in preschool a couple full days a week.

[*~*Jenn*~*]

Paxton is in Preschool now. He will be in Prek starting this August (2012), and then do Kindergarten in August 2013. School usually starts around Aug. 18 here, but the cut-off is Sept. 1st.

I'm a teacher too, and I hate it when my co-workers ask if Paxton will wait a year to start Kindergarten, and then give me a look when I say no. Carson will be 5 in March, and he's my one who hates school and struggles with remembering things. But I'm sure once he's in school everyday, all day, he will do better. Paxton picks up on things so quickly, and even socially is doing well. Just because his birthday is in August doesn't mean he will less mature than other kids.

I teach 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, and I can't tell who's the oldest or the youngest. In my 5th grade class one of the youngest students is the most mature, and my oldest student is a pain in my butt! LOL

My dh was an August birthday, and his parents waited to send him, so he was 18 when he was a senior. He HATED that he was still in school, and would call himself in absent, and because he was 18 he could. He does not want the same thing for Paxton.