Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Kindergarten at 4?

Wondering if folks have any thoughts on the skills etc. that a precocious 4 year old would need to be successful in a private kindergarten (the oldest cohort at his preschool). DS is 3 now and will be 4 in the fall. The school will consider him for kindergarten when he turns 4. What does a kid need to be able to do to have a good time in kindergarten?

Depends on the particular kindergarten curriculum, focus, environment, philosophy, etc. I don't see how anyone can answer this question.

Can 4 year olds complete the K curriculum? Sure. Will they have fun doing it in that particular school? No way to tell.

My DS9 entered a small, private kindergarten at 4 1/2 and did great, but he's always been very comfortable in the world and in his own skin, which made things easy. I've always been able to drop him into new situations, like a summer camp he's never been to with kids and teachers he doesn't know, and not only is he eager to go, but by the end of the week, he's made new friends. As someone who suffered from crippling social anxiety as a kid, I am constantly amazed by this.

I would suggest having your son visit the kindergarten for a day or two and see how he reacts. My son visited for an entire day when he was 3 1/2 and came home super excited.

For us, starting kindergarten early also meant fewer skips and less disruption later on. DS did later move up from 4th to 5th, which drew some attention, but few people knew or realized then that that was actually his second "skip," since the first one was built in up front.

He visits now and likes it (the pre-k and k room have the same playground time and also share pickup and drop off time). He prefers to hang w/ the kindergarteners when he has a chance. His pre-k room is being invaded by building smashers/trashers from the 3s room who keep wrecking the stuff he makes (when I picked up yesterday he said he was making a model of the Petronas Towers out of bristle blocks - but this was his 3rd attempt as a recent arrival had been playing "smash the building"). A lot of his pre-k buddies are moving the K room in the fall.

Am concerned about nap time - but maybe a busier day will mean he goes to bed before 10 more easily. Also concerned about fine motor issues - don't want him to get frustrated.

cmguy, my dd, who will turn 5 this fall, will be skipping k and going into first grade. She was in a mixed age class last year and her pre-k teacher had her work on k stuff for the latter part of the year. It was not too exerting- dd spent some time everyday working on spelling and doing math worksheets. But most of her day and the other kindergarteners' day was story time, playtime, art, drama, PE, music and outdoor expeditions. Re: sleep, DD is till not a good sleeper but she enjoys being at school and does not mind getting up on time to go.

never mind

The main reasons to accelerate would be to have more time with older peers and more challenging material. The main reasons not to accelerate would be fine motor issues and nap issues (the kindergarten group does not have a real nap time).

Right now I am leaning against - mainly for the nap reasons. DS still needs to nap. Heck - most days I would not mind taking a nap.

He will be participating part time in a gifted pre-k program (4hr/day x 3 days/week) so I am hoping this is enough of a safety valve to make the kindergarten acceleration unnecessary.

From the perspective that here most children start school at 4: the skills most often mentioned as those that make the difference between success and not seem to be:

- ability to get self dressed and undressed (ideally alone, maybe with some help with top button, tie etc if those are compulsory - if you don't have school uniform to deal with, this is partly a question of choosing clothes wisely

- ability to go to the toilet without help, and willingness to ask when needs to go

- ability to sit quietly (perfectly still is not expected!) when asked to, e.g. to be read to in a group

- ability to listen and follow instructions.

The only academic skill that seems to be expected here at school start is ability to recognise own name.

Of course, if most children are starting much older, there may be higher expectations than those, but they are a start!

PS Naps seems to be something many parents worry about, but that is hardly ever an issue in practice, fwiw.