Originally Posted by KellyA
Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Even if you're right and readiness is there, the sooner you introduce formal instruction, the sooner the gap widens to the point that you begin to be pressured to find an alternative when your child outstrips the rate/content faster than peers (even those older).

I agree completely! We're running into that now!

With Montessori, you might be OK with this, but we are struggling right now because my daughter's Pre-K program put her in a year early (we came up with another plan to keep her on par with her age group, but her school couldn't keep up & accelerated her). Now, we need to figure out next year... she graduates her pre-K this year (with pretty much no asynchrony -- she's even the size of the other kids!) with pretty much no option for next year.

Public has a strict no early entry policy (even in charters), so we've had to go the private route, which still involves evaluations and paperwork, etc. So, if you can avoid acceleration until they are at least old enough to be in the "public system" you might be in a better place.

Personally, we have our little girl mostly play oriented with a single instructional class (she takes Ballet) at this age (3.9) and she is thriving. Best of luck on your decision making process!

Agreed. This is pretty close to our experience too. DS just turned 4 on Wednesday. He's graduating from his PreK this spring and we've run into strict age cut off policies in the public systems here. He screened this week for a private kindergarten and will be enrolling for September. My understanding is the school will be filing with the state monthly on his progress for ongoing demonstration of appropriate placement. Before prek, the preschool was required to do the same thing for a few months (2.2-2.7) when they moved him in from the daycare. I'm not sure what the following year will look like. It's likely that to transition him to public, K will be required again. We'll figure that out later I guess. At this point we just have to move forward with what's best for him. So depending on the state regulations and private placement opportunities in your area, it's possible to follow an accelerated track (though I don't know how far). Some days I feel like the whole thing is such a mess; it's been challenging. With DS though there were no other options. DS has made it very clear through his words and behavior each time he's needed to move up. I feel lucky that so far he's been fairly well received.
Good luck with your decisions! Does the Montessori accept students on a rolling basis? I wonder if you decide the programming and environment is right for her there, if they would consider a mid year start after her birthday?