Starting School

They are standardishing the starting age for all states here in Australia pinklilly. Part of the reason for this is because in Victoria they could start school much younger than in other states, but when the parents moved for some reason, a child who turned 5 in June could actually be in a class with others who were up to 2 years older. Our son was born in December, so the age wasn't an issue at all for us or him. However one of the boys that started school the same year as our son was not coping at all, so he was held back a year. That did him the world of good actually and he did very well even in his later years of schooling. In later years, one of our son's mates at school turned 5 on 30th June, which meant he actually started school the same year as our son. When the finished Year 12 and went off the University was the real problem, as this other young man wasn't mature enough to cope with the pressures put on him. He was younger than the others, couldn't legally go to the Pub and so tended to be left out unless he broke the law of course. His parents were very strict, which did not help matters at all. On the other hand another mate of our sons had his birthday in March, but he hadled the transition with ease so it does depend on the maturity of the child. Also some states are now bringing in legislation that a child has to reach a certain Year at school before they can leave, rather than an aged based leaving age. I do not like the new idea at all, because there will be some children at school simply because they have to be there and do a certain year. This means that they are not at all interested in learning, can be disruptive to other students and the teachers. Suggest that you put him in kindergarden and if the teachers there think he is not ready, they will tell you if he should be kept back for another year. If you think he is ready, then why deny him the opportunity to learn, but first talk to him about it. If it does seem once he starts that he is unhappy, talk to him as well as his teacher and see if there is a coping problem. It is a troubling time for everyone, but in Australia you can legally keep them out of school until they turn 6. It is more about maturity for age than about the actual age they should start school as far as I am concerned. Good luck pinklilly and I accept that this is a troubling time for you while you weigh up the pros and cons. :)

I live in the US, and in my school district your child has to be 5 by August 31st to start school. My son turned 5 September 20th, so he missed the cut off by less then a month, at first i was thinking of putting him in a private kindergarten this year and then start him in first grade next year, but then I thought about it and I am glad i didn't because his maturity level was not there for him to start kindergaten this year. So yes he will be older then the other kids in his class, but i think he will get more out of school though. I think the schools do put an age limit for a reason, i think you should just go with the flow and see how it works out. if he is bored later on with his studies because he knows them all maybe you can move him up a grade.

What are the cut off dates in Australia? I don't know how the school year works for you guys since your seasons are the opposite of ours (I was wondering how it works for you guys). Here in the US school goes usually from the end of August or the first week of September until the beginning of June (sometimes later). Cutoff dates are usually around beginning to mid September. At our school it was Sept. 30. Our son missed that by 1 day (his birthday is Oct 1). So he isn't in kindergarten this year. Our oldest turned 5 at the end of June (2 1/2 months before school started) and did great in Kindergarten. She is one of the smartest kids in her class (she got straight As last term--she's in 1st grade now) and was reading at a 2nd grade level by the end of the school year and hadn't turned 6 yet. She is also one of the smallest in her class. But the youngest is a girl that just turned 6 at the end of Sept--about 3 1/2 weeks after school started. It all depends on the child. I think, even if my son had been eligible this school year for Kindergarten I would not have sent him. He just was not ready for school and would have been one of the very youngest in his class. If it had been my daughter in the same predicament I would have had no problem sending her because she was so ready to go.

Here in the states the kids can't start pre-school until 3 yrs old. They go until they are 5 years old. Then it's off to kindergarden. They have to be five before Sept 1 of the school year. It's just the way it is around here. If they don't turn 5 until after september 1st. They have to wait until the next year. It should depend on the child. If they are ready I say let them go and if they don't do well just hold them back to repeat the class. That's just my feeling.