Is My Child Ready for Kindergarten?

I have made many decisions in my relatively short 4 years as a parent, but none have stood me in the crossroads as much as deciding whether to send my son to kindergarten next year.

My husband and I have been straddling the fence on the issue for about a year, and most of the time it seems that we are no closer to making a decision than we were on the day my son was born! We are on our second year of preschool; my son was in the three-year-old "introductory" class at his daycare last year. He attended preschool 3 days a week, but always under the premise that if he did not want to participate that day, he was free to join the daycare kids for playtime instead of preschool. My husband is a teacher, and we both strongly feel that learning should be fun for the child, and we did not want to force anything on my son until he was ready. To our surprise, he very rarely left preschool; in fact, he really seemed to be thriving.

This year he has been attending the four-year-old class, which meets 5 days a week. We have again been happily surprised at how attentive he is during preschool. My son....well, he doesn't sit still for too long, just like most boys his age. Some may label him as hyperactive, but we prefer the term exuberant. We were nervous that sitting for longer periods of time at preschool may not exactly be his idea of a good time, but we have had nothing but good reports from his teachers.

So here is where the decision becomes more interesting- my son's birthday falls on July 24^th, so if he is sent to kindergarten next year, he will only be a little over a month past his 5^th birthday. After asking the advice of many of our friends with young kids already in school, we have been strongly encouraged to wait one more year, and begin kindergarten when he turns six. The resounding reason we have been given is "because everyone knows that boys do not mature as fast as girls, and so they just are not ready for school yet."

Maybe I am just being the naive, biased mother when I think that possibly, just possibly my son may be the exception to that rule. I believe him to be very outgoing, with no attachment issues; he will strike up a conversation with any stranger that gives him a sideways glance. I don't think attending a new school would be an issue for him- it will just be new faces that have never heard his favorite stories told before. I believe that skills will not be an issue; he can already write all 26 letters, and numbers 1-20. He knows most of the phonics for each letter, and has just begun to spell a few (albeit very basic) words. He knows the days of the week, and has just begun working on the months of the year. I have no worries that he will be behind any of the other children in his class.

My main worry boils down to this then; I am worried that he simply will not be able to sit still for the entire day. I am also worried that if I send him to school too early, that I am somehow forcing him to grow up too fast- kids seem to be expected to mature at an earlier age these days, and I don't want to take that precious time away from my son where he is just free to be a kid. Kindergarten in my area moved to all-day schedules two years ago, which I think is an awfully long time to have to pay attention for any child- 5 or 6 years old. I am afraid however, that if we don't send him to kindergarten next year, that he will be bored to tears the following year because he won't be learning anything new. I feel like either scenario can spell disaster, and will eventually lead to potential behavioral issues.

So, in the meantime, my husband and I have been talking to one of the local kindergarten teachers, and gathering as many opinions as we possibly can to decide which path we will take. Meeting with this teacher has been extremely helpful to us; she has allowed us to bring my son in to visit her classroom, and to show him some of the projects that the class is currently working on. She has given us samples of her curriculum, and some of the standards the kids are expected to acquire while in their first year of school. It has all been sound advice, but the bottom line is that the decision truly rests with my husband and I deciding once and for all what is in the best interest of my son. We have found that when the subject is brought up around other parents, they are all too willing to share their strong opinions, and those opinions are often in disagreement with one another. While we are grateful for all (ok, most) of the advice, we realize that our love and respect for our son will truly be what guides us into making the correct decision, and we ultimately have to trust that parental instinct that seems to have been instilled in us. In the meantime, I think we will just sit back and enjoy what seemingly little time I have left before my little boy grows up.