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We're considering applying for early entrance to kindergarten next fall for our DS who would turn 5 in December after he started. The normal cutoff is in September, although around here there's a significant trend to delay kindergarten.

Any resources for kindergarten readiness?

How did you decide if your child - especially an active boy - was ready for kindergarten?

If you went ahead with early entrance, how did it work out?

I have a feeling I'll be asking the same questions in a couple of years...my dd2 is an April birthday however so this is probably a pretty long shot to get her into k at 4y4mos, but I guess we'll see where she is at that point.

I noticed in another thread you mentioned buttoning shirts and tying shoes - don't worry about shoes definitely until 1st or second. Velcro is the way to go and shirts without buttons should do the trick.
This thread seems like a good place to start for general info, since it talks mainly about skills other than academic - and it sounds like you already know your ds is ready academically.
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=701

Good luck, please post as to how things go if you decide to go for it..

My daughter has an end of September birthday, though NYC has a 12/31 cut-off. Private schools are 9/1, so in the playground she will be one of the younger ones in her grade cohort.

One thing, she prefers older kids to play with and rarely plays with a younger child. To me, that is a big indicator she is ready to be younger in kindergarten.

Although she is slightly smaller for her age cohort, she is very active and takes ballet and gymnastics. I think being very physical and strong in the body helps them with older kids, because they will imitate in the playground and you want your child to be safe and to participate.

Ren

Our DD was granted early entrance to K when she was 4 yrs 9 months. Our district requires 5 years by first day of school. We also have a nephew who was 4 years 10 months whose parents got early entrance to a magnet school. He is an active boy, who the teacher rates as "average" in his class, but he sits quietly and listens. He does not read as an entering 1st grader more than 3 letter words, but is doing fine.

For DD, the attributes that made her a successful student were:
-she was used to school atmosphere and could sit still
-academically ahead of the class (reading, math etc)
-fine motor skills were normal for the age group
-outgoing personality
-wanted to start Kindergarten

The person who tested DD for Kindergarten listed all these as the reasons why she thought DD would be ready. She felt that the younger the child, the more advanced they should be in case the skills would "level off" at some point. With GT kids that isn't true, but they want the early entrance to be a positive experience for all kids.

Jen

DS was early entranced mid-year to a private K at 4 yrs 2 mos. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the K teacher was against the idea. She actively excluded DS from being part of the class.

DS started public K at 4 yrs. 9 mos. This was not an official early entrance since he made the cutoff by 2 weeks. Still, he was the youngest K student out of 120 at the school. He did very well, we never had any behavior issues.

I think having been to the private K helped him and also DS seems to have a lot of self-control for his age. He is also a teacher pleaser. He hasn't needed a nap since he was 2, so tiredness wasn't an issue for him. We had no separation issues in the public K. There were some in the private K, but I think that was due to the unwelcoming situation.

Wow, that just sounds horrible for a child to go through, your ds must be a real trooper!
It is nice to see that a very young 4 years would not be utterly out of the question (at least going private).

you know your child better than anyone, so if you think they can handle it than definitely give it a try. If he is a bit on the immature side for his age, waiting is definitely something a lot of people choose to do - especially with boys. Also, as they grow up, being a little older is more beneficial in a social sense than younger.

Not to discourage anyone, but sometimes I think it can be better to send the kid to K at the usual time and skip 1st grade, especially if K is a half-day, non-academic program and 1st grade is the "learn to read" year. I think Dr. Ruf recommends this, FWIW.

I think it definitely depends on the child, though, so take this as just one more possibility.

It seems like it is often easier to get the grade skip and to make the transition seamlessly if you take the K skip. But 1st grade was really hard on many of the kids discussed here (including mine!), so sometimes that will be the year you want to skip.

I have also heard that 2nd grade is sometimes a slow one for HG+ kids, so that's another one to consider. It seems like by 3rd grade, things have picked up a bit? Maybe? At least I personally haven't heard a lot of calls to skip then. Or maybe the problem has just usually been dealt with by then?

Anyway, I realize parents don't always have a choice about when they can get a skip, and if you think a skip is necessary, then a bird in the hand is usually worth accepting! They can be hard to come by. But if you have some flexibility about when to take a skip, it might be worth thinking through the timing.

Feel free to ignore!

Here is the link to the Ruf article that Kriston mentioned.

http://www.educationaloptions.com/news_Apr_08.htm#one

I agree, a half day K is a better choice than full day 1st assuming you can postpone the grade skip by one year.

Where I live it's impossible to get an early entry to PS K. It's quite easy to get an early entry to private K though. It pretty much comes to the fact that the private schools are happy to get extra money I personally know about 3 kids whose parents opted for early entry private K. I saw work of 2 of those and neither one of them hit me as gt child but admittedly my gt criteria are shifted thanks to DS6. I cannot talk about the 3rd child, I don't know her well enough to judge, but my impression was that getting your child accepted into a private K is not that difficult around here as long as you are willing to pay for it.