hi all,
i think this is a very individualized decision, based on parents views etc but also on the individual child...
i personally believe to be successful- a kid doesn't need just academics but must be happy, a child needs to be able to make/keep friends etc, and they need to be able to navigate the social arena that is life, and if my kid can do that, the added bonus of being "smart" is just an added plus... *i know it isn't quite that simplified.
for those reasons i placed my DS5 who was age eligible to enter 1st but hadn't yet been to kinder, in kindergarten.
unfortunately DS while being same age as others in class, & at right social maturity for kinder, was far too advanced academically, and complained of boredom etc. from the beginning.
i realize too late, i should have put him into 1st which would have been more academically appropriate...
b/c ultimately due to being underchallenged, and therefore unmotivated, he began to just go thru the day on auto pilot and he wasn't happy. he didn't even want to be there for social reasons...
i have rectified the situation for now, but if only i had skipped kinder and went right into 1st... that said, i know that we tried...
anyways, good luck with your decision...
