Last year both my husband and I couldn’t have been more proud to walk our little man to “big boy school” in the morning. The first few days went great – no crying at the door, no pleading for mom and dad to come back every 10 minutes…he did just as we hoped he would. Turned out though that 2 hours/3 days a week was too much for our newly turned 3 year old to handle and the signs started to show very quickly.
Some kids do great at 3, others are simply not mature enough so starting preschool at age 4 or 5 is better suited for them. While Aidan is incredibly mature verbally and physically, emotionally he just wasn’t there. Within a couple weeks of beginning school his behavior went completely south, he started having accidents again after being potty trained since 16 months, and he wasn’t getting restful sleeps at night. All signs that there was something stressful going on his life – the only change was pre-school. It only took one discussion between my husband and I and the teachers – we all agreed he just wasn’t ready.
The last thing we wanted was Aidan getting in trouble and feeling sad and embarrassed everyday for reasons that he couldn’t understand. It’s not fair to him, his classmates or his teachers. You can’t force maturity.
He still needed to be at home with his mama doing stuff like this. And this. And this.
Fast forward to this year, 9 months later, and Aidan is 3 years old turning 4 in two months. He goes to preschool for 2 hours, 2 days a week and is perfectly comfortable with his new environment. Next year he will attend a second year of preschool specifically for 4 and 5 year olds that will be 3 hours a day, 3 days a week. Then, a few months before his 6th birthday he’ll be starting kindergarten.
There’s many teachers that say October, November and December birthdays are just too young for kindergarten. A matter of a few months {or more} makes a HUGE difference in their ability to cope with their new environment and their ability to learn and LOVE going to school.
I posted an article on my facebook {click here to read if you’re not a fan already} that discussed how you might be hurting your child academically by delaying him/her from kindergarten also known as “redshirting”. Lots of interesting points and a worthwhile read. And to give you some more food for thought, here’s the flip side to the story – why kindergarten isn’t necessarily the place for a 4 year old.
When did you/will you send your child to preschool and kindergarten?
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