My basis for early K is: those early years are so critical for social skills, I am worried about total, complete boredom, thus behavioral issues. Also, this could help reduce chances of grade skipping. Some of my teacher friends just say, "Let him enter K at 5.5 because you are not going to get him in early and then they will skip him to first." I just feel like, can't this kid get one good year of social fun before the insanity of begging for differientation and talking about grade skipping begin?
Social skills - you don't need to be in school to get those. And a bad fit among "peers" is just as big of a problem as bad academic fit.
This we found out with DS - when he was in with a peer group that he was out of sync with, he really struggled. He is now with a group that is so much more like him, and he is so much happier.
One thing I am noticing too - it is not just being a good fit at the start of the year, but whether the class will move *fast* enough to suit your child. If the other kids are not able to learn as quickly or teachers are not able to support a rapid pace of learning - as ashley stated, how will he tolerate that? Those were the two issues we found with DS even at the age of 3 in daycare - that combination of slow-moving pace of the classroom and age peers not being at same level was making him miserable, and we had to move him into a environment with more like-minded peers and where the pace is noticeably faster despite his young age - and he is thriving there.
