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considering placement for an august birthday (turning 6 this coming summer)
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Hello all! I was just looking for some insight/experience based opinions about plans for next year for my dd currently (almost) 5.5 but turning 6 in August. we have done a light K year so far (with her sister (4) tagging along for almost everything), taking lots of time for field trips/outside play time (we live in a large metro area with awesome museums and activities for kids!) in our state, we dont have to delcare anything until age 6. she is not reading, though we have started some basic phonics, but she is very very excited about and into doing school. ( i considered this year more of habit training for me to take time in the morning specifically for “school” and getting an idea of what i need to do for keep good records for next year–we spend maybe 1 hr to 1.5 hrs if there is a big art/craft activity involved 4 days a week) Anyway, i am looking at the modules especially and just considering whether to do another “K” year with her or go ahead and start a first grade year…..I know this is a personal choice, but i am mostly wondering what others have found with your children of similar ages to have retained from the modules/or othrer more “first grade” work? I had been looking at ambleside online, and if i was planning to do year 1 with her (which is still an option, but i am leaning toward scm more, i would most certainly wait until she turns 7 to start (that is september in two years). but i seem to feel a general trend that on scm, more people are starting their 6 yo in grade 1 work. (maybe that is not so, but that is what i have observed!)
So what i am really asking, is for those of you who have decided to do the modules with your grade 1 students, at what ages did you start and how have they done? or if you decided to wait until older to start more formal school, why, and have you found it beneficial?
i am leaning toward waiting another year to start grade 1 work, especially since her younger sister is only 15 months younger, but a november bday, so i would certainly wait with her to do grade 1 until she is close to 6 3/4. so that would put them only 1 school year apart as opposed to 2. and little brother is 2 years behind her….. (another consideration in this is that, so far, younger sister is in many ways much quicker at picking up concepts than older sister) …so this puts several other youngers in the picture, and the more time we spend on “formal” schooling, the less outside time it will be overall…..since all still need supervision where we live.
Anyway, any insight others may have is greatly appreciated! i have been so blessed by those in this forum!
I’m going to say go with your gut and wait another year!
In our state too, (NY) we need to report at 6yo. My oldest I started in 1st grade when he was almost 6 (He turned 6 in September – and he did fine with this. I followed suit with my daughter, and I really should have held her back one more year, like you are planning on doing. For my 3rd, he’s turning 6 in a few weeks, and he’ll start 1st grade this July, so he’ll be 61/2 when I start reporting him. If he’s ready for more challenging work, go ahead and give it to him, but you don’t need to report him yet. My oldest son is ahead in most of his work, but I still report him as a 6th grader. So if your Kindy is working on 1st grade work, it’s fine – it’s still Kindy. 🙂I’d wait too:) My kids are both July bdays and I’m so glad we waited until 6 to officially do kindergarten. We started a bit of bookwork at 5 and just kept moving along with math and language skills. It really takes some pressure off without holding them back. The only issues I’ve had is that sometimes they’ve become friends with kids just a few months older who are a grade ahead and thus in different Sunday School classes, but not a big enough deal to us for the benefits:) I’ve even let them jump to a different Sunday School class if a best/close friend was in a different grade.
I think that would work well for future combining of some subjects, too. Just my .02:)
I would also wait. I started dd in first grade right when she turned 6 (July). I wish I had waited an extra year as she would just be more ready and able to do the work.
I’m in a similar situation. I have two older children, so my two youngest do sit in on family readings, but right now they are 5 and 4 (15 months apart, my older daughter will be 6 in May). We are doing light K work this year for both of them, but I am not rushing it in part because my 5YO isn’t quite ready for more and also because I’d like to keep her and her sister at similar levels.
They are both sounding out words, practicing handwriting, and doing quite a bit of nature study. Otherwise, though, learning has been very informal through board games and day-to-day life.
When I register my DC, I place them where they would be in the public school systems, but I consider their birthdays when I planning their currciulum for the year. If they have a summer birthday, I might place them behind a level. Two of my DC do well with school and have fall birthdays…I sometimes have them ahead a level. I think the most important thing is to put them where they fit best. If we had to do more with the state, I’d consider placing them a year behind, but we just have to register them and keep track of hours.
If your 6yo is your oldset, I’d probably hold off on formal history for now. We did unit studies when my oldest ones were younger. At ages 4-6, my main priority is getting them to read and I felt like too much history took away from that. We did some history and science, but it was much more laid back than it is now. I added in some more formal history when they were in grades 1 & 3.
My oldest turned 6 this past fall (late fall) so we decided that this would be his K year. I just have to say that I am SO antsy to start first grade, don’t know if I can wait for the next school year to begin in Aug/Sept! Not sure how helpful that is :). Sometimes I wish that we had just started 1st grade this year, since he did make the cutoff (very late here), and just plan to slow it down at anytime if needed (obviously would not change the grade reported, which was K this year). That is what I sometimes wish I had done.
Thank you everyone for the insights and ideas! if anyone else has experiences to add i sure would appreciate it. i know i have some time to decide but i like to have an idea of where i am headed and what to plan for next year:)
My son has a late June birthday (25th) and we waited until he was 6 to start K. I’m happy we waited. He’s the youngest and for him I think that was the best choice based on his personality too. That was our first year homeschooling as well, we had planned to send him to public school, which is why we waited originally, but I’m still happy with our choice for him and think it was best to wait until he was 6 to start K. I am pretty sick of the worldly ways of starting kids earlier and earlier, I’m a big fan of letting kids be kids and that there isn’t a huge rush to adulthood because that comes soon enough and last the rest of their lives.
I’m sure you’ll make the best decision you can for your family, so don’t fret!
I just want to add that we did actually start some 1st grade things this past fall and quickly shelved them because it just didn’t seem right. I decided to wait even though my son was nearly 6 (5.75yrs to be exact). He is very smart and able, just disinterested in “school”. Imagine that?! 😉 Not sure why I am feeling so antsy to start 1st grade. Just looking forward to next school year I guess! My kids do need a little more structure but maybe more “school” wouldn’t solve that. We are just kind of bored with our K year, probably not because of waiting on 1st grade though. I too am sick of the worldly ways of starting kids earlier and earlier. I don’t understand that at all. I don’t think you would regret waiting. That extra year before K is a gift they can’t really get at any other time. Or you could start and know you have the freedom to go real slow… or faster if your child wants!
In our state too, (NY) we need to report at 6yo. My oldest I started in 1st grade when he was almost 6 (He turned 6 in September – and he did fine with this. I followed suit with my daughter, and I really should have held her back one more year, like you are planning on doing. For my 3rd, he’s turning 6 in a few weeks, and he’ll start 1st grade this July, so he’ll be 61/2 when I start reporting him. If he’s ready for more challenging work, go ahead and give it to him, but you don’t need to report him yet. My oldest son is ahead in most of his work, but I still report him as a 6th grader. So if your Kindy is working on 1st grade work, it’s fine – it’s still Kindy. 🙂
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