Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Young 5's or Summer Birthdays

My son's birthday is in June, he will be 5. Our plan is to enroll him in kindergarten in the fall. The age cut off is September 1st. We know academically he is really at a first grade level, but socially he is very much behind kindergarten. In Texas, you have the option of holding back summer babies and enrolling them next year, 2016.
My concern is he would be into a second grade level academically upon entering kinder, though socially on check. Would it be better to enroll now, and work on is social problems? Or, wait another year and deal with the academic issues?

Is it all-day kindergarten? Half-day would be ideal because you could work on social part-time.

I would NOT suggest waiting. Having them in young when they are bright is like getting a "free skip." I have two DYS that are naturally young for grade and I did not realize at the time just how lucky we were. DYS DS6 is having a very tough time in 1st grade because everything is so easy. If we had held back, it would be even worse.

My son has an early June birthday - he started in the fall. Thankfully he didn't mind "easy" work, and had always been happy to go with the flow - but if he had been held back a year, it would have driven even him crazy. We chose not to skip - partly because of his age, but also because he was (and still is) the smallest kid in his grade. The school were great - accelerated him a year in math from 1st grade and up. He is now 11, in 6th grade, Middle School, on the Honor roll in the full time gifted program. I just cannot imagine him still being in 5th grade at this stage. If you held him back, could yu put him straight into 1st grade the following year, if you thought he was ready ?

It's pretty commonly reported around here that a poor academic fit tends to make social problems worse. An engaged and busy kid is in a much better position to interact positively with their class than a bored and frustrated one who is looking for something to do!

Thanks everyone.
Yes, the kindergarten is all day. We talked to the counselor. They won't do 1/2 day, pull out program, or in class acceleration. Great huh? 1/2 day would be ideal, yes. I would love it.

There is a loop hole where we could say he is being home schooled for kinder and then enroll him into 1st grade. Yes, that is an option. I also agree that he would be incredibly bored if we held him back. Right now, the classes he is in, he is already the class clown and gets in trouble. Because he is bored. He also has lots of trouble with impulse control, but he is 4. He spaces out because he is thinking about other things, thus is biggest problem is focusing.

Are there any private schools that do half-day nearby that would give you that half-day option? Then you could enroll full-day in 1st?

I wouldn't hold him back unless you had some very specific social concerns, because among the gifted cohort, what often appears as social issues ends up being identified as a mismatch where the gifted child is more socially advanced than his age peers. Holding him back and making him the oldest child in the room would make this problem worse.

This is coming from a Dude who may have been registered early for kinder (by one day!) and comes from a long line of late-developing males (I was often the shortest boy in class until a big growth spurt beginning at 15). I often had friends 2-5 years older, and almost none younger.

Also: working on social skills is supposed to be the main point of kindergarten.

It sounds like his current situation is not good either? I don't see that signing him up for the same boredom and adding in even more restrictive/punitive bahavioural expectations is a great idea. But single year accelerationis pretty simple compared to 2+ years. If he was only 12 months ahead in third grade that could be dealt with just by choosing a school carefully.

Either way, he'll be bored, but with a year extra age maybe he'll have better self control and be able to cope with afterschooling. Either way, it sounds like they won't be teachinghim anything, whether he goes this year or next?

In general, I favour play based preschool (because everyone can have fun then, and they can work on social skills), kindergarten entry on time (not early, because they're not going to teach them anything anyway), and skipping 1st rather than K (because K has more play, more socials skills work, and less time at desks).

But the school will hate you if you redshirt him and then skip 1st.

Dude, I see that claim that kids with high IQ are super mature made all over the place, but have seen slim evidence of it IRL. They're kids who like fart jokes and wriggle and hit their friends just like any other, even if they have conversations about esoteric subjects (which display a very age-appropriate lack of wisdom).

That's my DD but there again having a ribald and lively sense of humor is a personality trait not a sign of maturity or lack thereof, right?