December babies

I have a family with a child with a December birthday (just turned three) and they are trying to decide whether to send her to school or not in September. They have asked for my input, but it is so hard to know as the child will change so much between now and then. Does anyone know if there is a readiness checklist for children born late in the year? Any experiences with sending or not sending younger kids to school? It will be full day Junior Kindergarten. I really love this child and would love to keep her, but cannot make any recommendations based on my own needs ;)

My daughter is a september baby (late september) I remember being shocked that she would be 3 starting JK. But, she was toilet trained so I sent her. And she's turned out just fine.

I think there are a lot of advantages to sending children to JK. Socialization... learning... independance...

And... I think it's very possible that if a child is not sent to JK they will be behind in SK.

My youngest is a December baby (Dec 22), he will be one this year. I thought I couldn`t send him to school until he was 4 years old.

I tell the parents to register the child as normal come January and that gives them till summer to decide to send them or not. Over the year look at some of the developmental charts and chart the child's progress to see if there are specific areas that are really weak which is masking other areas. There may be ways to work on those things to get the child ready. On the other hand some with Dec birthdays - especially boys do benefit from waiting the year to start school. Some parents choose to put the child into a kindercare type program at a centre instead which gives them similar benefits to JK but a smaller ratio with built ins like a full naptime.

December 31 is the cut off date for school in Ontario. If child turns 4 by Dec 31 they are entitled to start school in Sept as a 3 year old turning 4. What you have to weigh is that they will be in school with the child that is turning 5 on Jan 1 and for some children that doesn't matter and for some they would be playing catch up their entire lives. My daughter is an end of Nov and most years it didn't matter but there were key years when most of her friends turned 12, 13, 16, 18, 21, during the school year previous to her.

i always offer parents IF they choose to keep their child in care I will def make sure they are prepared for kindergarten, do all the preschool type education with them while in care, and when it really comes down to it, it is their choice of what to chose to do with their child. I would just tell them it is up to them, and you will keep an eye on her developmental skills and give them your input, but make sure they are open with you and request they be, so you can fill the spot if need be ASAP. :)

This is basically what I have said. I don't want to recommend one or the other as it puts me in the position of them saying "well you said it would be best" kind of thing. I have someone interested in the spot already, but I am going to tell them they will be put on a waitlist until I know as technically they don't have to give notice this early and I would hate to lose her if they decide not to send her to school.....she and my daughter have becomes best friends...it's really cute!

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Originally Posted by kidlove

i always offer parents IF they choose to keep their child in care I will def make sure they are prepared for kindergarten, do all the preschool type education with them while in care, and when it really comes down to it, it is their choice of what to chose to do with their child. I would just tell them it is up to them, and you will keep an eye on her developmental skills and give them your input, but make sure they are open with you and request they be, so you can fill the spot if need be ASAP. :)

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My daughter is a December baby and yes she went to school full days when she was 3. I hated it .... She loved it. She was ready (although I don't think any child should be in school full days for jk) she is a social butterfly .... She knew all of her letters upper and lower case she could count to 20, she knew her colors and shapes .... She was ready .... Her school put all the children born at the end of the year in the same class so all the kids were around the same developmental stage..... She is in SK this year and is in french immersion ( halfway French and half English) she is doing great ..... I too am a december baby (Xmas day to be exact) .... I found that I did struggle. So I guess it really depended on the individual child ..... Are they ready ? Emotionally, intellectually? Is she toilet trained ? Can she dress herself ? Can she hold a pencil/crayon properly, does she hold a book upright ( instead of upside down) can she communicate fairly clearly, can she describe basic feelings and emotions, can she follow simple directions, does she play with other children and take turns, those are some things that will tell you if she is ready .... However some kids don't show these skills but learn them at school

Definitely a lot of pros and cons to choosing this ~ I agree that I would not be 'recommended' either way but just providing resources of things to consider in making their choice as well as support that if they choose 'not to' that I will do my best to continue to promote their development!

I know from my experience of my BFF being the 'youngest' in the class SUCKED for her all the way through her school years ~ she still complains about being the December baby ... poor thing cause she hung out with many of our group who were the JANUARY/FEBRUARY kids so they were the oldest in the group by almost a year cause they had to wait to start school a whole extra year .... so IHO everyone was always doing stuff 'before her' not just education wise cause there she caught up just fine but the challenge for her was the SOCIAL aspect of the school experience ... she was basically a year behind us all the way through school so we were all planning those 'milestone' parties the same year the double digits of 10, 13, 16, 18, 21 and so forth ~ she felt excluded ... the older we got the harder those difference became cause if we were all out 'legally' drinking and she did not get in and so forth :(

I empathize cause my stepson is going through the same thing right now ~ he is a late December baby and all his friends are already driving this year and he still has not even been able to take the test and he is feeling bummed about that.

It sucks cause I am not sure the answer cause no matter when they 'cut off' the start date there is always going to be that issue ... my advice is parents should plan their babies to be born in the summer cause than you are right in the middle :laugh:

My dd is a late october baby and started JK this september at 3 yo. I was quite nervous and she is fairly shy. She LOVES it! It has completely opened her up just in the few months she has been going, she has a new love for all learning and she cant wait when it is a school day.