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.

This is something that has been eating at my brain ever since my daughter was born!! Even though she won't be old enough for a couple more years, I want to make sure I make the right decision! I have read articles and done a lot of research but I still don't know what I will do. I just hope that when the time comes I will know what the right decision is!

I'm a September baby, but early September. My parents never sent me to JK as they felt I was learning more at my preschool/daycare. I don't think I was behind at all once I started kindergarten. Not that I remember kindergarten, but my report cards show that I did well. I was an extremely shy child who didn't speak much in school, so if I did poorly at all in school, it was often because I wouldn't talk, not because I didn't know the answer. lol

With that being said, I think the parents should register the child and make the decision closer to September. Every child is different. My older sister was a November baby and my parents ended up keeping her back one year in school because she was struggling. However, my best friend is a late December baby, and she never had any problems in school.

With the push to a more play based curriculum more of a variety in learning levels can be accomodated too. Another option for them to consider is starting JK but then making sure the child is really ready to leave K for grade 1 before moving on even if it means repeating the SK year. Again happens often with late birthday babies.

Both my kids are Dec. babies. We don't have J/K here in AB, just regular K that they can start at 5. The cut off is the end of Feb so kids can start at 4 if they are turning 5 before Feb. I started both mine at 4. My ds I probably should of held off, he is struggling a bit but he is a super big kid and stands out even as 1 of the youngest in his class so that was why we put him in. He also knew everything he needed going into kindergarten, he was just a little bit less mature than some of the other kids. We didn't want him to stand out even more if we waited another year. My dd is doing great at school though. It really depends on the kid and different situations.

My daughter is a very early January baby. I could have requested that she be included in the previous year class, but my instincts told me to keep her in her part time preschool and for me to enjoy her being home another year. She is the oldest in her group/classes and loves it. She has always been a class leader which fits her outgoing personality. I think you just have to access your child on an individual basis and trust your gut. If you are wrong, you get another year with your little one and they will benefit from having reached their milestones in their own time instead of being placed in an environment they may not be ready for. IMO :)

Mimi makes a good point in that as long as your child has a chance to experience and learn some academic skills and a chance to mature socially that it is better to hold them back than to risk going and failing. Of course you will never know if the holding back was truly needed but if it turns out it was you will have a very frustrated learner down the road if you don't hold back.

Of course there is probably the option to withdraw at Thanksgiving or something I mean school isn't compulsory till a child reaches age 6. In many countries and with the Waldorf method that is when kids actually start school from an academic standpoint.

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Originally Posted by Valerie E. M-C

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.

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It's the year they turn four in.

I grew up in a rural area and we did not have kindergarten, so I started school at 6 (grade one). I never attened preschool or daycare and I don't think my mum did a whole lot of preparing me specifically for school...except for the fact that she read to us a lot and instilled a love of reading in us. I learned to read and write very quickly at school and was always pretty much a straight A student...so I definitely agree that attending kindergarten or JK does not really get kids ahead academically.

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Originally Posted by playfelt

Mimi makes a good point in that as long as your child has a chance to experience and learn some academic skills and a chance to mature socially that it is better to hold them back than to risk going and failing. Of course you will never know if the holding back was truly needed but if it turns out it was you will have a very frustrated learner down the road if you don't hold back.

Of course there is probably the option to withdraw at Thanksgiving or something I mean school isn't compulsory till a child reaches age 6. In many countries and with the Waldorf method that is when kids actually start school from an academic standpoint.

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The curriculum has really changed though. My mom trained as a teacher in the 50's and learned to teach kids in grade 1 their colours, letters, to be able to read some by the end of the year. I trained as a teacher in the 80's and that was the kindergarten curriculum and JK was only beginning to exist in larger school boards. By the time my own kids were in school and I was doing daycare this was the preschool curriculum. And we continue to push more and more onto younger and younger children and in the end they don't grasp everything any faster because someone forgot to allow time for learning how to learn not just learning stuff.

I did go to Kindergarten because we moved to the city so I could. Only one of my kids attended JK as we were in Alberta when the older two were that age. Jennifer did what they called ECS (early childhood services) which was basically Kindergarten. Melissa missed out and by the time we moved to Ontario she went straight into SK.

I'm a December kid. Socially never bothered me at all having a later birthday than my peers. Academically, I was never behind, I was average in the lower grades and by grade 8 was at the top of my class. It all depends on your kid. If they are socially and behaviourally ready, I would send them. My daughter is a November baby and we sent her to JK. She is a little behind, but that wouldn't have made me send her the year later, she is in grade 2 now and only behind in reading, all other aspects she is average. Next year she will be all caught up in every subject.