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    #108045 07/29/11 07:36 AM
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    Has anyone skipped K for their DC? How did it go?


    I have a fall birthday DC, who missed the K cut-off by 6 weeks. He was accepted to a gifted school for early K, but it was all day, M-F, and I just felt it was too much for him this year.


    That being said, he will be well past any K curriculum next year, (probably even the gifted curriculum, but I'll definitely talk to them more about it to be sure.)

    I went back and forth about sending him because I know he is mentally ready, but I also know he is not physically ready for that long day.


    Maybe we should just start in K and then skip later if need be?



    I can spell, I just can't type on my iPad.
    Amber #108047 07/29/11 07:44 AM
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    I have a spring birthday boy who skipped first grade. I think that there is something to be said about starting in K - it is mainly about learning the social/group aspect of school and the activities will not be challenging perhaps but still fun.

    It also gives you time to see where he is at academically towards the end of the year and then start brainstorming/planning.

    That being said...most kindergartners in full day programs come home whipped until later in the year as they get used to it. And most full day programs have a rest and less academic activities in the afternoon so maybe he would be okay all day.


    Amber #108058 07/29/11 08:51 AM
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    My DS7 skipped K and it has worked out well. In our case, he did two years of 3-day-a-week morning preschool first. We knew he was ready for K early, but didn't think the SD would ever go for it since he has a Thanksgiving birthday, so we just enrolled him in the second year of preschool. However, as we neared K, we realized (partly after speaking with K teachers we knew) that K was no longer right for him. So, after ability and achievement testing and meeting with 1st grade teachers, he skipped K.

    Honestly, he had very little difficulty assimilating. He already knew the basics of school from preschool, and was a little familiar with the elementary school because he has older siblings. He did have a bit of difficulty sitting still during circle time and actually sitting at his desk all day (he liked to stand, but not move around), which the teacher attributed to his young age and I attributed to his boredome with the academics.

    We gave him several months to adjust to the school day before we brought up the academic mismatch, but the adjustment -- according to us and his teacher -- really only took a few weeks. It was much like it would be for any student new to a school for any reason.

    Of course, the academics eventually had to be addressed, and once they were, he was better able to sit still during those better-fit activities.

    Anyway, our take on it was that our DS didn't have the same expectations for school that we had, so he just went along with the 1st grade routine without comparing it to what he would have gotten in K. He already knew about standing in lines, sharing, putting on his shoes and coats, etc. from preschool, and those same social skills that he would have gotten in K he was able to use in 1st. Of course, DS is a confident, social kid who never had any problems with separation anxiety or it may have made us a little more wary. I would guess that K teachers might be more accommodating to these kinds of issues than 1st grade teachers, who may be less patient with these insecurities.

    Edited to add: DS had good handwriting and liked writing. This is not always the case, particularly with boys. 1st grade did assume he could write decently, so, if he could not, K would likely have been a good choice. Lots to consider! smile

    Last edited by mnmom23; 07/29/11 09:11 AM.

    She thought she could, so she did.
    Amber #108060 07/29/11 08:54 AM
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    My DS has a January birthday, and was academically beyond K when he started at age 5 with agemates. He went to an all-day K, having had experience with 2 hours of preschool 3 days a week. He came home exhausted for a few months. Since 1st grade in our district is a "learn-to-read" and learn basic math year, we decided to do kindy with differentiation and then skip first. Our son also refused to learn to write before K, so it was a good place for him to learn something that everyone else was learning too.

    Looking back (just a bit, as DS7 is a rising 3rd grader), I still feel that it was the right decision for us to send DS to K and skip 1st. For our kid, it was best to learn "how to do school" with other kids experiencing that for the first time too, rather than being dropped in with 1st graders who already knew what was going on. When he got to second, he was still underchallenged, but that's another story.

    Amber #108073 07/29/11 10:38 AM
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    I should also mention that he will not be in school at all this year. We will be doing "home school light," and he will start next year. So having a whole year off, I'm sure he will need to adjust to being back in a classroom.


    Thanks for the replies and BTDT's. (I just made that "word" up.)


    I can spell, I just can't type on my iPad.
    Amber #108084 07/29/11 12:40 PM
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    Well in that case, I change my answer to "it is too soon to tell" what to do next year. GT kids can change quickly during this time, and if you are homeschooling this year, you might find that even 1st grade will not really be enough next year. I would not recommend putting a GT kid in kindy next year if he's going to be a year older than all the other kids. But of course, each situation is different. You will probably have to revisit your plan for next year in the spring.

    ETA: May I ask why you aren't sending him to early K this upcoming year?

    Last edited by st pauli girl; 07/29/11 12:41 PM.
    Amber #108096 07/29/11 02:06 PM
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    Well, there are a lot of small reasons that added up to "not a great fit right now."

    - he would have been an early k, so he won't be a year older than the other kindies next year, he will be same age or 6 months older. There were a few parents of fall bdays a full year older than him this year that I spoke with, and I admit, it did scare me a little.

    - we live 40-60 minutes away from the school, depending on weather and traffic. so on top of a full day of kindy, he would have the commute time.

    - large class size, 24 kids, one teacher, no aides. This isn't a huge deal, but definitely added to the "cons."

    - most importantly, he has multiple food allergies, and is contact sensitive to dairy. The school has a few rules in place, like hand washing, no food sharing, etc, but there is a chance he would need to sit alone at lunch, which I hate the thought of, and we don't feel comfortable having him be 45 minutes away if something were to happen.


    Maybe we are a smidge over protective. smile


    I can spell, I just can't type on my iPad.
    Amber #108098 07/29/11 02:17 PM
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    Wait a sec, did I write that post? My DS also has multiple food allergies. Sorry, I misunderstood the age difference. I completely understand your decision to keep kiddo home another year. I still stand by my "too early to tell for next year" comment. I'm sending you a PM (flashing envelope).

    Amber #108247 07/31/11 08:21 PM
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    We are skipping K for DS5 and sending him to 1st this fall. So, obviously no experience with it yet, but I can keep you posted as we go through the year if you'd like. DS has a Feb bday which puts him generally in the middle of his current class age-wise, so he'll likely only be about 6 months younger than the youngest students.

    We're not worried too much about the school "transition" because he was in a preK+Spanish immersion program at the same school that was a full day. He's familiar with the school and how it works, and their K is more similar to the preK (they actually swapped rooms with the K class after lunch, so it was all the same materials for both classes) than to 1st, so it would be a transition anyway. He did very well with the full day as a 4-year-old, but this is a kid who hasn't had a nap since about 18 mo. and for whom energy is not a problem.

    Amber #108254 07/31/11 10:41 PM
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    My DD6 skipped K and started 1st a month before her 5th birthday. She would have been one of the youngest in K and the kids in her class were from 10 months to 2.5 years older. She fit in well and the classroom experience was just right for her, but the academics were too easy. She did have a few minor behavior things (playing outside after school instead of going to the daycare room, seeing what it was like to be sent to the principal, roughhousing with the boys) that the school was quick to put down to immaturity, but we felt were do to boredom, her try-things-to-see-what-happens attitude, and tomboy nature.

    The school is also 50 minutes away, and she was in carpool with kids ranging in age from 6 - 14, leaving at 7:15 and getting home at 4:00. she was (and is!) a complete rock star with it all. We did, however, did have many days of left lunch boxes, coats, and sweaters, lost water bottles, and homework folder not turned in.

    Last year she was in a 2nd-3rd multi-age classroom where she was grouped with the 3rd graders. Still not challenging, but better by a long shot than 1st grade where she would have been chronologically (or K where she would have been in 30 other states!). She got much better at remembering her things to and from home, began advocating for herself, and enjoyed the overnight field trip her class took. She wanted to be friends with the 3rd grade girls, but wanted them to like the things she was into - fairies, forming nature clubs, running around outside - when they were more interested in just sitting and talking. It was a lonely year in that respect and we ended up doing lots of play dates with age-mates from around our home.

    Next year she goes to the all 3rd grade, back with the group of kids she was in 1st with. That's great socially, she's looking forward to the 2 weeks of "pioneer days" where they all dress up and some other extras, but we are very worried about what the academics will be like with her repeating 3rd grade. We are hoping the school will change their mind and allow her to continue her subject acceleration by going to 4th (or 5th!) for math, reading, and spelling.

    Really, school has been mostly for being social and the extras. The real learning is at home.

    All that is a long way of saying, yes, my child skipped K, we are happy that she did, and still fighting for appropriate academic placement.

    We had to fight for 6 months to get her school to grudgingly admit her to 1st and I would have loved to have a gifted school offering us early admission.

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