kindergarden registratioin - birthday cut off date

boyohboyohboy wrote: I have a four yr old whose birthday is Oct 31st, he is so ready to go to kindergarden, but according to the school system he isnt going to be 5 by the cut off date of sept 1st. so that means in the eyes of the public school system he has to wait a complete year before he can start.
Is anyone else out there finding this a problem?
Is there a way to get him started in a school program and enter him into the public school at first grade?
I have checked into some kindergarden programs in daycare settings but they are very expensive, also was told that they follow the public school cut off for birthdays also.
what to do?

amynicole21 replied: Yes, we will run into this issue with my dd who was born 9/4 (the cut off here is 9/1). Depending on where you live, you may be able to do private school, but will have to find one that will fudge the cut-off date for you. We are considering this for pre-k this year. It is incredibly frustrating

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Logan's birthday is September 5, so he will miss the Sept 1 cutoff by 4 days. When he is allowed to start kindergarten he'll be nearly 6. However, I don't think this will be a problem. I'd rather he be one of the oldest than the youngest. He's already small for his age. Mentally, I am sure he will be ready at 5, but physically I think it will be better for him at 6. That is just my son, though. Sorry you are having this trouble.

MamaJAM replied: Unfortunately - there really isn't much you can do about it. Unless you can find a Kindergarten program that will take him and he can pass it.....he'll have to wait. Most schools will not accept a home-schooled Kindergarten program -- even if you found a program that he could successfully complete....most schools have specific cut-off dates for age for K and 1st grade (since K is not usually required).

You might see that the cut-off works well for him further down the road. Being one of the oldest kids in the class can be a benefit. My nephew was born Sept 11 -- his school's cut off date is Aug 31....so he had to wait to start K. It's worked out wonderfully for him. His sister was born Sept 29 - she's in Kindergarten this year and doing well....being one of the older kids is working out for her too.

My two older girls both have Oct b-days. The school we had them in for K had a cut off of Jan 31 for DD#1's class and Nov 30 for DD#2's class. They went to K while they were still 4. For DD#1 this has never been a problem -- she's always been mature for her age and she's a very bright young lady. DD#2, on the other hand, has had some problems - she's a bright girl, but also very emotional....occasionally being the youngest has been hard on her -- she can't always keep up with the other kids in her grade (though things are evening out a bit now that she's in 4th grade).

mom21kid2dogs replied: Olivia missed the cut off by 2 weeks last year but we saw it as a blessing not a curse. Kindergarten here is very rigorous (6 hour days 5 hours of academics, 5 days a week, no naps, etc). Although she is way above the curve academically and does fine socially we were fine with having her home another year.
You could investigate homeschool materials for his grade level if you don't feel like he will be getting enough academic stimulation and work with him at home or just set up learning opportunities on a daily basis to enhance his natural abilities. I believe every school district evaluates children for Kindergarten and if he's that far above the curve by next year he'll likely be placed higher.

3_call_me_mama replied: Here our cut off is set by district, not state. So in our town it is Dec 31st. And teh next town over is Sept 1st. In our case we homeschool so it isn't a problam fo rus, but friend of our have an Oct 22 daughter and she is going ot be five this year. he town has the Sept 1 cutoff. We (menaing the towns with teh cut off) have the option to petition the school board if we realy feel our child is ready and should attend. They must pass teh screening and have had previous experience in group setting that would show they are ready. (Such as gymnastics/dance/a preschool, etc) Daycare does not count for this previous experieince. Not sure if something like this is an option in your area. good luck

b&bsmom replied: I ran into this problem and will again. My dd bday is jun 24 our cutoff is aug 15 she was 5 before the cutoff and was ready education wise. however she was a tad on the shy side so a bunch of us moms in the same problem decided to keep our kids out and send them when they were 6.. We sent them to the Y where they attended preschool they have a class for kids who miss the cutoff or aren't ready yet. I am glad I did because this year she is doing wonderful She attends full day every day and is reading at the end of 1st level. she is excelling in most everything and has gained a lot of confidence. I was afraid if I sent her last year she might not have felt as comfortable and had a tougher time. JMO
My ds bday is sept 9 so he misses the cutoff anyway. Feel free to pm me if you want to talk more.
It is a big decision I wanted dd first year of school to be a good one I didn't want to send her too soon and have her hate it. Now she doesn't want to miss at all. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

coasterqueen replied: We have that problem as well. We were going to send her to private at age 4 for Kindergarten and then transfer her to our public district for 1st grade, but we've decided against that. It's not goign to hurt her to wait and why intro her to 2 different school systems just to start one year early.

Kaitlin'smom replied: To be honest I am not sure our cut off date for public school. She is so late in Dec I am guessing it will 08 before she could start kindergarden there. However her pre-school has a kindergarden program she might attend, they are on the year round schedule so she might attend that then go to public school for 1st. Not sure yet

MyLuvBugs replied: huh? Interesting! I knew that birthdates were considered (Lorelei is screwed with a December b-day), but I thought they tested the kids anyway to see if they could handle kindergarten? I had kids in my class that were 4 when they started school and some kids that were 6 when they started. I'd go in and demand that they test him to see if he's ready for kindergarten, and then discuss your options after that. KWIM?

jcc64 replied: The cutoff here is in Dec, so although Corey and Sophia share the same b-day, Corey will be eligible to start Kindergarten in Sept of next year.

Momof3inMe replied: Here in Maine the cut off date is Oct. 15 and DD was born Oct 14. I don't know if I will send her or not at the age of 4. I was 4 when I started and I had a hard time at frist b/c I was young so it's really up in the air.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: In our district the cut off is September 15th and Katy's b-day is Oct. 11th
She will be going into preschool next year through our local elementary school and then we are currently planning on petitioning the district to get her into Kindergarden the next year.
If we would have stayed in CA where she was born it wouldn't have been an issue because they had a December cut off. My biggest thing is wanting the kids farther apart in school than one grade, and if we end up back where we used to live i don't want her to be "behind"

msoulz replied: Our current cutoff is Dec 1. My son's birthday is Oct 24. We sent him at 4 because according to the preschool teacher, she wouldn't be able to challenge him academically. But she also told us he was immature, so we had a tough decision. Long story short, he did start at 4 but repeated kindergarden because of the immaturity. He is now finishing first grade and is doing so very well. He still has issues following directions and sitting still, but many of the kids in the class do also. Academically he is in the top of the class, which is great for his self esteem. I would hate to have him struggle.

Next is my baby, birthday Nov 12. We will likely have the same decision to make next time, although I hear rumblings that the state is going to change the date to September 1, which would take our decision away. Unless she is very advanced, we will likely hold her until she is 5 (almost 6) to start her.

I don't worry about them being "behind" as much as struggling academically (of course, the behind thing could lead to social issues later). I understand girls are different, I guess we shall see. No matter how you slice it, it's tough to call for the late birthdays.

Kaitlin'smom replied: Wow I never realised some kids start Kindergarden at 4 years old. I thought they had to be 5 or older. See learn something new.

coasterqueen replied:
Dh and I both started when we were 4. I was a few weeks from turning 5 and he was several months away. The cut-off when we were little was December 31. People say that starting at age 4 is not good, but Ryan and I NEVER had a problem being younger.

moped replied: I am pretty sure that here in Canada, you can put them in at 4 or 5, any other canadians can correct me on this, but I am sure that it is the parents decision to make.

Kaitlin'smom replied:
may I ask how old you were then when you graduated from HS? I was part of the older kids in my class, I grad when I was 18 and 1/2.

moped replied: Come to think of it I must have started at 4 because my birthday is November and I graduated at 17. 18 in November

coasterqueen replied:
graduated at 17 in May. I turned 18 in August 31. DH was 17 too when he graduated and didn't turn 18 til mid October. The only noticeable 'annoyance' about starting early was we had to wait all summer before we got our drivers license, no real biggie IMO.

Kaitlin'smom replied: makes sence then. thanks Karen