We have head start here too. I teach Head Start. We also have Pre-K counts. It's free and offered through the school. The income limit is higher for them than it is for Head Start.

• Seaexplore Said:

***should read: never regretted sending him early***







I started Alvin in Pre-K (thru the school system in MD) at age 3yr 9mo, K at 4yr 9mo, and 1st grade 5yr 9mo. He NEVER struggled with his grades despite being the youngest in his class. At graduation this June, he was the youngest senior in his class of 300. He will start College at 17yr 8mo. I never regretted holding him back.

As of now Micayla will be 17y 3m when she graduates high school. That's if nothing else changes and it might because our school offers Juniors and Seniors the chance to go to the local community college to do college courses and they count towards their high school classes too. You have to have fantastic grades though to do this. We had 2 people do it our Senior year in high school. We saw them the first day and the day we graduated that was it.

She started Preschool at 3 and did 2 years. Kindergarten at 5 and then turned 6 in First.

She is the youngest in her class and she does well with it.

Tiff, I vote with your mom. Really young kids often struggle in some area of school when they go that young. Our kindergarten teachers think it is too young.

• foltzy Said:

Girls often fare better than boys with this.

Kyle is an October baby.

You have to be 5 by September 1st to start Kindergarten here, so he was one of the oldest in his class. He needed that extra year! Not academically, but socially.

Age wise he really should only be a year behind DD.

Tiff - I'm sure when Ally reaches that age you'll know what's best for her based on her maturity/abilities/etc.

If she were starting in the district I teach in, she would have just turned 5. I teach in a traditional schedule school. She'll be in a modified trafitional schedule school.

I'm not going to make decisions right now but it is something I keep tossing around in my head.

Oh, and my mom has been a kinder aide for 20 years so when we get closer, I think I'll have her see what she thinks. That's almost 4 years away.

And by then the structure of the schools will probably have changed anyway.

I wanted to say that we're the only school in the area who does a full day Kindergarten program. The others do a half day program. Except the biggest school they actually do a half day program and a full day program. Which the kid gets into depends on if they need extra help or not.

When I started kindergarten, there was no junior K.

You had to be 5 but they accepted 4 year olds who were going to be 5 by the end of January. School started in Sept.

So I was always a little younger but no issue. Parents did not allow them to skip a grade though (I think because of age and the social aspect).

I graduated at 17 but we had an extra year if we wanted to and it was like a pre-university year so by the time I went there, I was 18.

We have head start here too. Ky went to regular pre school / daycare but started Kindergarden a year late b/c she has an october bday. So she's a year ahead.

I agree that lots of kids start too early (age 4) and it can be a hinderance.

But kindergarden really is important.

Random question - I ordered something on ebay. It was packaged HORRIBLY and I just knew it was broken. Opened it very carefully...yep, broke in half. Emailed seller today asking about a return/refund. Offered to send a photo of broken item. A few hours later he emailed me, apologized (he thought he packed it good enough ), and promptly gave a refund. I still want to give neutral feedback because the packaging was terrible and the item was broken (discontinued Pampered Chef item), but he handled it quickly and without crabbing about it. He's one of those power sellers with a bazillion feedbacks. Neutral with explanation - fair?

I'd say very fair. Just state why it's neutral and that he fixed the situation to your satisfaction. Stuff gets broke sometimes.

• Seaexplore Said:

I wrote: "Lid broken in half on arrival - seller got back to me very quickly with refund" and left a neutral. I said nothing about how horribly it was packaged. I just got a message from them complaining that I left neutral feedback.

The lid is fragile - I broke mine, that's why I was shopping for a new one. The platter/lid was crammed diagonally in a box, then another box placed over that, with the boxes taped together and a few peanuts thrown in. Was NOT stable - and platter/lid wasn't wrapped at all.

Thank goodness for air-conditioning. I am having a hard time doing much of anything today. Love me some summer.

Ashlee started school @ 4 years 11 months since we were year round school, she did very well but alot of her peers did 1-2 years or preschool and weren't prepared. I found that some of the kids had gone to the same preschool and it was more playtime then learning. In 2002 LA went to year round kinder at certain schools and while most loved it a good percentage of parents hated it. I loved it when I was an aide in classes with students who came from all day kinder versus half day I saw such a noticeable difference.

We used to keep track of all of the kiddos that did half and full day (had both). By third grade the half day kids were completely caught up to their peers. We also had to read a study about it and it showed the same results. I think the thing that has biggest impact is a mommy/daddy that is very involved with their kids. I have seen kids jump two grade levels or more when they move to a new school and lived with the other parent/step parent. Most kids are truly capable of learning way more than we expect.

Our elementary schools here are K-5, but K is not required. I've only met two parents who opted out of K. One put her kids in a very pricey "K-alternative" school, and the other homeschooled her kids. Many parents here find that if they don't enroll their child in K at their local elementary, then their child will not have a spot in 1st grade.

Tiff, that really stinks! My friend worked for Head Start for years. From the stories she told, I don't think you would want Ally enrolled there (at least any in my area).

All 3 of my kids completely benefited from the social aspect of K. We socialized the kids ourselves, but to have to be social in a structured, learning situation was something that they needed. We just didn't have a lot of kids to hang out with until they started making friends in K.

• scraprabbit Said:

Would they have rathered have negative feedback? Dang!