Early Enrollment To Kindergarten | ADHD Information

My son was 7 days from the cutoff(Sept. 1), and the school had me get him basically an IQ test at my cost to let him into kindergarten. He tested in the superior range, so I entered him. He has had problems ever since, now to find out today they stem from ADHD. I was worried that putting him into school early was what caused the problems. Now I'm glad I did because I found out about this condition sooner.

~Elizabeth

My son was also seven days past the cut off date of sept 1st. I held him back because he just wasn't ready. Plus he was in early intervention and when they were getting the kids ready to go to kindergarten he was not looking forward to it. The next year he didn't fear the unknown of it any more. I think it depends on the maturity of your child.

I come at this as a parent and teacher. My son is a Dec. birthday and he definitely missed the cut off for public school by several months. Many of his friends in preschool got to go on to public kinder. He and a few others had birthdays that fell after the Sept. 1st deadline. I'm so glad that he had another year to grow and mature. I have seen him grow up so much this year. He is in an accredited kinder program through a private school this year. I can't wait to see him in public kinder next year. I know that he will be academically prepared and feel strongly that this year allowed him to develop social skills that he so needed. I'd much rather see my son in this position than to see him struggle socially because I jumped the gun to get him in school.

I look at it like this. I would rather him be the top of his class than bottom of his class. By aquiring the behavioral and social skills he will be able to handle his academic skills much better.

My nephew is almost 20 and his birthday lands in August just days before the cut off. He was of age to start public kinder but his parents opted to give him one more year. He ended up being in the top 5% of his class and he is on full ride for academics and athletic scholarship at a large university. I have to believe that the extra year allowed him the opportunity to mature as well. I've seen way too many kids in my 20 years as a teacher that have been pushed to start school early and then they struggled due to the lack of maturity. Especially boys.

I look forward to watching my son grow in the years to come. On a side note I'm very excited because I get to register him for school next week for the coming year. It is hard to believe that my little boy born on Christmas Day five years ago is going to be starting public school next August. I guess in some ways I wish I could keep him this age forever.

Where I live, the cut-off date is Sept. 30th. I work as a substitute in a local district. I have heard several Kindergarten teacher's say that 90% of their classroom children who are really struggling academically and/or socially are "summer birthday boys". They feel (with very few exceptions) that even the boys who make the cutoff by 1-3 months are just not ready.

Does your child attend preschool? If so, do his preschool teacher's feel he is mature enough and ready to go early? Unless they told me my child was bored to death with preschool and that they have taught him all that they can and he NEEDS to go to Kindergarten now, I personally would not start him early.

Does he have ADHD? If so, school may present enough challenges when he starts at the right age, I wouldn't push him in a year early.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

If I knew more about ADHD when my son was in Kindergarten, I would have held him back an extra year ( His b-day is May). Anyways my son was reading well above the kinder level ( 2nd grade) so I thought it was best...however, now I know about the maturity deficit that follows most ADHDers and...it has been discussed that most children with ADHD are behind their same age peers in terms of social maturity by about 1/3.

That is my thought too. Chase has always been above grade level academically, but maturity.....he maybe could have benefitted from that extra year....

My grand daughter's preschool teacher actually told me and jonna that she had nothing else to teach Jacque....and that she should push to put her in kindergarten....

Thank you all for your input. I have decided to either wait or send to a private kinder so that he will have two options come fall '08. He can either enter public school in K or 1st grade depending on how the private does and comparison of the curriculm, schedule, enviornment etc.. ADHD and very bright, he does his sister's work (who is in K) So many pros and cons... Thanks again.[QUOTE=4myson]

I look at it like this. I would rather him be the top of his class than bottom of his class. By aquiring the behavioral and social skills he will be able to handle his academic skills much better.

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This is what worries me a little. Your son is only 2 months older than mine. My son just turned 5 in february...but he is clearly not socially/emotionally/ ready for kindergarten this fall. We just had his Parents As Teachers Meeting last night, and she suggested 1/2 day kindergarten next year and then followed by full day kindergarten the following year. If we do this, he will be 16 his freshman year of high school, and graduate when he is 19. I worry about literally holding him back, but the most important thing to me is I want him to succeed. She is suggesting we go ahead and set up an appt with a pediatric neurologist to get his diagnosis on the way. Although she isn't a dr. and didn't want to say it, I could tell she definitely thinks he's ADHD.

myjeffrey39148.4189236111My son misses the kindergarten by 20 days. Should I push for early enrollment or wait until next year?

ooohhhh... that is a hard one... but, just a thought... do you want to put your son in kindergarten now because you think it might be the right time for him and he is really truly ready for kindergarten or is this mainly for you.

My son is in kindergarten right now... and there are a couple of kids that the parents pushed the kids in too early and were not ready and now distrupt the class becauses they were not ready.

But if you feel you son is and his preschool teacher(s) and upcoming teachers think he is ready... go for it.

My daughter is an Oct baby and she is one of the oldest in her class... I could not in good faith send her in a year early... I could have.. but emotionally she was not ready for kindergarten.

Good luck to you

I know that the private schools here have cut offs of: March 1 for boys and June 1 for girls. I personally think these are probably more realistic than Oct. cut offs for ANY kid. We are holding our ADHD son back one year from Kindergarten and I have heard we will NEVER regret it.... I'd rather him be able to hang with his peers than be "that kid" who is singled out all the time.

Edited to post this awesome article about boys in school that was found in Newsweek: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965522/site/newsweek/

MegMaguire39147.6080555556

My grand daughter started early...she is an October baby as well. But her preschool teacher had been having her do kindergarten readiness work for the last half of the school year, she could already read some sight words and was socially always playing with the older children anyway. The process in our school district is that the child has to take a test and score in the top 5% of the kindergarten age group to be allowed to start early. Jacque scored in the top 4%, and started last year just before she turned 5. She is in the first grade now, and in the top reading group, reading Junie B. Jones books....doing all of the first grade work with no difficulties.

She is the oldest in her family, and a girl, and I think those things make a difference as well. She also has 2 grandmas that are teachers...I taught preschool, and her other grandma teaches a special ed class....

That being said, I sometimes wish I had held Chase back a year before putting him in kindergarten....he is very smart, but with the ADHD, a little immature, and he is small for his age.....hindsight and all that....he is a July baby...the cutoff is August 30 for our district.

The cutoff for our district is aug 1. My son just turned 5 feb 28, and I'm still not really sure he's ready for kindergarten. He's always saying preschool activities are too hard. But, he scored well on his recent k screening...scored like a 6 year old on many things. He's also unfortunately one of the disruptive ones. He gets into trouble at least once a week for either not staying on task, disrupting others, or talking back to the teacher. Public School is all day long. I don't think he can succeed in that yet...without me getting calls every day or week anyway. Many of the private schools here have 1/2 day kindergarten. I think I'm going to send him to one of those. They also have smaller student/teacher ratios. One school mentioned that 1/2 day was good for many of the boys and by january, lots of them were ready for full day so they switched then. If at the end of the year, my son is not ready for first grade, I think then I'll do full day kindergarten.

As an aside, I'm the oldest child of 4 kids. My Mom put me in kindergarten at age 4 (i'm an october baby). She said I was very precocious and reading everything I could get my hands on. I was a smart kid growing up...got great grades and even have rec'd high honors from college. Problem was I always felt like I was struggling to get it all done. I always felt like I had to work twice as hard as everyone else to accomplish the same thing. I never thought about it being that I was younger, but reading this thread made me wonder if that is why I always felt I had to work so hard to accomplish what I did. I know my son is smart, but he's not really mature enough. My sister started her boys (july birthdays) late a year and it did wonders for those boys. I questioned her decision at the time, but now I'm facing the same one with my son.

myjeffrey39147.6463310185

myjeffrey this is a tough one... I know that public school in Texas you have to be 5 by the school year start to even be considered for kinder. As for most kinder programs in public school you will only find full day offered. Matter of fact PK is going to full day in most districts next year.

I was 18 1/2 when I graduated as I had a September birthdate. I faired well and never seemed to have any problems with my social skills or academics. Matter of fact I felt more prepared both socially and academically going off to college my first year.

My nephew was 19 going off to college this year and he is doing quite well. He feels like it was the best thing for him as well.

There are many kids that are given that golden opportunity to blossom. I think it is all in the way we handle it as a parent.

I think if there are major concerns for your child then you might want to consider the teacher's recommendations.

I guess that is why I went out searching for help with my son at an earlier age than most. I wanted him to have a chance for success and happiness in school. I see too many children that struggle because parents put off finding help for their child. Early intervention in my opinion is the best thing for all situations.

A couple of parents and I were discussing our children the other day. Two of us with diagnosed ADHD children and one with one that should be looked at. He is extremely immature and struggles daily with attending to class discussions etc. His mother admitted she needed to do something but thought that he was too young for testing. Her husband has ad/hd. She is looking into getting help for her son now as she has observed the difference in our children over the last year. By the way we didn't bring up the conversation with this parent. She approached us because she had heard us talking about our children on another occasion.

Goodluck in whatever you decide. It is never an easy decision for any of us. Remember all children are different and all learn and grow at different rates.

Thanks for your comments 4myson! The sad part is my son is very very smart and probably more than ready for kindergarten in that capacity. He did kind screening and tested like a 6 year old in the majority of categories. Its his behavior that is holding him back. There are days when he acts up, disrupts, complains he doesn't want to do the work at preschool or its too hard (when he really can do it), sometimes to the point of refusing or talking back to the preschool teacher. And he's only in a 1/2 day program right now!!! I'd hate to see what he'd be like in a full day next year.

We have been to a psychologist who only diagnosed adjustment disorder...she wanted to give it more time. We had lots of changes this year...we moved, new house, new baby (4 months old), and new preschool. So, that may be the delay in diagnosis. She pretty much never gave us any advice only telling us we used all the techniques she teaches (we read alot on internet and books from library so we had many of the tips about choices/positive feedback/reward systems etc...already in place) She was even impressed with our "time in" system. Timeout for unacceptable behavior, but TIME INS (10-15 minute one on one activity w/parent) for good behavior like showing patience, following directions, etc... We have our ped 5 year old visit next week for kindergarten shots so we'll see what she says.

All our public schools have only full day kindergarten as well. However, many of the private church based schools have 1/2 day. I was thinking about doing that next year, and then the following year either go public with full day or my daughter's Catholic School. That way he won't be with the same kids he was with the 1/2 day and hopefully won't have the feeling of leaving his friends behind. Right now my daughter is in a private Catholic school in 1st grade. She has a boy in her class that turned 8 in January. My dd turns 7 in may. Clearly his parents held him behind, but I don't know if its adhd or what. I plan to talk to her principal about my son if/when he is diagnosed to see how the school handles it as the catholic preschool clearly couldn't deal with him. (That is whole other story, but is listed in the introduce yourself post). He's at the methodist one right now and is doing great (most of the time). For us, its the difference in teachers. Some teachers seem to just want everyone to be perfect little copycats. Others truly seem to want to help all the kids...our current one even shed some tears after he got a whole week's worth of O's (outstanding) because she was so proud of him. I wish we could keep her forever.

myjeffrey39149.4337268519

IMHO, if an ADHD child is academically on target, he is good to go. Holding him back for behavior guarantees nothing. Time does not cure ADHD. If he tested like a 6 yo, then move forward. The worst thing would be to have a child who is bored with the academics AND has ADHD behavior issues. Those behavior issues would be exacerbated by the boredom.

I was in your shoes. All of the schools here are part time. I searched to find the one full time class, and enrolled him in that. It was FABULOUS. I observed the part time class. It was desk work. Everyone was quiet. Drill work, moving from desk activity to desk activity. That's it. The full day class had a garden, a long lunch, lots of art projects, took naps, went on field trips monthly, and music. They had all day to do the same amount of work as the kids in the part time class were doing. That's where I wanted my son! I have no regrets. He would have bombed out in that part time desk work class. The problems began with first grade. I highly recommend an all day K for an ADHD child.

NoTellin39150.4491898148

You are absolutely right. Unfortunately some teachers just don't have the patience to work with children that have special needs. This is an embarassement to my profession I must confess.

Food for thought:

I have found that sometimes children fair better in a longer day than they do 1/2 day because it isn't as rushed and the teachers have more time to work in small groups with the children. Their are also behavior plans that can be put in place for children if they need the extra attention. Generally children that are bright need the academics to keep them on task. I have a little one in one of my teachers classrooms right now that has severe ad/hd issues and he is doing very well with a behavior plan that monitors his day by the subject. He is getting to see a visual aide of how he is performing and his learning time is becoming more productive.

Whatever you decide I know you will be doing what is best for your child.

Goodluck!

I am new to the boards and I have been lurking for about a month now. I felt I had to add my input in on this subject. I have a 9 year old daughter, not ADHD, that missed the cutoff for Kindergarten by 28 days so I tested her into a charter school. She is now in 4th grade in a public school and we are finally not having any social behavior issues. Her teachers would always tell me that they could tell by her behavior that she was younger than all the other kids because she was doing things that mirror the prior grade. My son is 5, has been diagnosed ADHD, and missed the cutoff to start Kindergarten by 1 day. I did not test him in and I feel it is the best decision that I could have made, he was so far behind behavior wise than my daughter was at this age. Even though my daughter is bright it has been a struggle to deal with all the negativity because of the behavior. She was always getting notes home from her teachers about her behavior. My son will be starting Kindergarten in August and he will be 6 two weeks after school starts and I think that will really help him.

Our cutoff was 9-30 DS birthday is 7-6. Academically, DS was very ready for Kindergarten. We did not have the diagnosis of the ADHD until he was nearly kicked out of Kindergarten. He does attend a private school.

Socially, DS is about 1 to 1 1/2 years behind many of his peers. I think that I our Preschool was more challenging for him, we would have waited until the following year.

Look at the whole picture. If he needs more challenge, supplement at home with workbooks and the like. If he seems to be socially in tune with his peers, then Kindergarten is the next logical leap. Only you know your child. Do not be afraid that if you do hold him back, that he will be disadvantaged. I wish that we had because now he is progressing with his friends and if he were to be held back now in 1ST or 2ND grade, it would be devastating to him!

Good luck! It is a difficult dilemma!!!

punkin' s mom39150.8339583333 I have three kids with fall birthdays who are now 21, 18 and 15.
The first two had a December cutoff while the third was September 1st.
The decision for each was very different. And I supplemented academically at home for each (exteacher mom...poor kids!lol)

The first born daughter started Kdg just before she turned 5 so was always one of the youngest in class. She was and still is of very short stature but a big personality, exceptionally bright. Pre-school didn't think she was ready socially/emotionally, but I observed her in other social settings and did not see the same behavior they saw. I decided the behavior just occurred at that particular preschool environment which turned out to be right. In elementary school she generally made friends with kids closer to her in age. I still think we made the right decision.

Middle son adhd was undiagnosed in preschool and was not ready for Kdg until sometime in the spring. When he started he was very ready and still a live wire that "marched to a different beat" said Kdg teacher. He is also very bright and while he could not sit still to learn when he was young, later he caught up and found his own academic level at or above grade level. The schools met his academic needs in middle and high school. Now as a high school senior, I found it interesting that his Physics teacher commented that he was "very mature" on his progress report. Holding him back one year was the right decision for him.

Youngest son's birthday is 10 days after the Sept 1st cut off. For him the decision was not too hard. Having two older sibs, with one adhd, has shaped him in part to become more mature than his peers. But being the youngest in the family, I thought it would be good for him to be in a social group where he was not the youngest. So he has always been the oldest in school. And for him, I think it was the right decision too. Also being short, being the eldest in class didn't hurt him physically too. I supplemented academically in elementary school for him and in middle school he was placed appropriately.

Each child has such individual needs, it is a tough decision to make.

I also know a mom that started her twin boys early because they were so bright (gifted). All through school they have been immature compared to classmates. In 12th grade it was discovered that they had "executive functioning problems" (add basically). They were not quite ready for college so parents encouraged them to do a "gap year program" hoping that it will help them mature to be ready for college.

jfla239150.8649189815My son was actually 6 when he started Kindergarten...We held him back a year and am so glad we did...no way was he ready. He actually does well this year and seems to be on the same level as his peers even though they are younger. I think he would have struggled his whole life had we not held him back. He is reading and writing so much better...than last year. He did'nt even know his letters last year. And hopefully since his dx and meds he can keep up. School is hard these days...he is in Kindergarten and they have spelling words, and addition and subtraction. Good luck with your decision...you are never really sure what to do. Confused

Ok, my son turned 5 Feb 28. So, he should be enrolling this fall. Neither his pediatrician nor our psychologist have diagnosed him with anything yet. He tested well in his pre-k screening...many categories he measured at a 6 year old level, the majority at a 5 year old level, and just 2 items below level (one was catching a ball, which he most certainly can do very well, so it must have been a fluke....the other was rhyming, which its true he isn't very good at that yet).

Our parents as teachers rep met with us last week, and based on his behavior during that one hour visit (he couldn't sit with us on the floor and do the activities, he kept getting up, leaving, started to jump on the furniture (big no no in our house) and got 2 time outs in that hour. She recommended we do half day private kindergarten and then the next year do full day kindergarten.

We then had our pediatrician visit. She recommended he just stay in his current preschool since he has a teacher he gets along with and hold him back, starting him in kindergarten when he's six.

I read an article in the paper this weekend that said 9% of kids are held back each year nationwide, mostly because of behavior issues. The article went on to discuss some US dept. ed study that holding those kids back didn't help and it only delayed getting them the services they needed.

My husband wants to sign him up for kindergarten in our public school and see what happens.

I'm leaning towards a 1/2 day kindergarten at a baptist church at least until january (they'll let us move to full day if he's ready at that point). Then, decide at the end of that year if he's ready to move on to 1st grade or re-do kindergarten at a different school (so he doesn't feel like he got left behind).

Neither of us like the idea of leaving him at his current pre-school as he'll see all his friends leave for kindergarten and it will be a certainty that he is held back. I'm curious what you all would do in this situation?

We too are holding our almost 5 year old back from kindergarten next year. He will go to a Pre-K program at the same school where he is now. My reason for not sending him to ANY Kindergarten program was because I do not want him to be "that kid." The kid always called out, the kid that causes problems, the kid that cannot sit still..... Kindergarten expects A LOT these days and I know he is not ready, so we are not sending him. He has asked some questions about it, but for the most part, is oblivious to the fact that he will be going back to the same school next year.

Hope you find what is right for your family!