3 day preschool, half day K and then full day K?

[hellokitty]

Has anyone gone this path for their child? DS3's bday is literally less than a wk before our district'c cut off, and due to some speech issues and emotional immaturity, he will probably be held. I had assumed we'd do the same thing for him as we did for DS2, whose bday was a couple wks AFTER the cut off (2 day preschool, 3 day preschool, full day K). However, I was discussing this with some moms at the ball game last wk and one of them did 3 day preschool (our district doesn't have a 5 day preschool option, but preschool is still charged tuition), half day K (it would be in the AM, 5 days a wk, which is free), and then full day K (tuition).

I had not really thought of that option before, but now I keep thinking it could be a viable option. Have any of you done this, and if you did, how did it go? Did your child feel any stigma of repeating K, or b/c it was half day the first yr and then full day the next yr, it just seemed all new again? Did the school discourage or support this? I just feel that this would be a nice option for DS3, b/c he is one of those kids who wants to be kept busy all of the time. His option otherwise would be 3 day preschool for two yrs in a row.

[JBaxter]

Sounds like an option I would be very open too. You need to find out if you are allowed to do it. If you can request him be held back. Some places do not allow it.

[georgiegirl]

I haven't done it personally, but I know one mom who did. Her DS was right around the cut off, and she ended up sending him to half-day private K for a year before enrolling him in full day public. She said most of the kids in that class were kids who barely made the cut-off, but the parents had chosen to red-shirt them.

I will have to consider this option since I have a mid-July boy (who I'm planing on sending on time unless his pre-K teachers this year recommend holding him back) and I'm pregnant with another DS who is due right when school starts in mid-August( but before the cut-off.)

[Ceepa]

You wrote the full-day Kindergarten would involve tuition, but half-day wouldn't. Are you looking at a private Kindergarten? Would he then go to a private first grade or public first grade? Same school? I'm a little confused.

[egoldber]

I sent older DD (August birthday) to a private half day K, because I wanted to have the option of sending her to either public full day K or public first grade the next year. I ended up sending her on to first, but I do think that it was nice to have the flexibility.

I also wanted the half day K and the full day K to be at different schools. I will say that since I ended up sending her into first, in retrospect, I wish I had just done the full day K at our public. She was at a definite disadvantage socially not having started there in K.

[westwoodmom04]

We had my son do private kindergarten at his preschool (3 full, two half days) and he will enter public K this fall (full day). His birthday is in the summer and our district has a September 1 cutoff. The private K was very non-academic (lots and lots of outside play, a separate toy room, etc..) although they did do phonics, math, science, etc. . . Anyway, I don't think my son feels any stigma, we told him before he started the year last year that he would do K at both schools so he knows it is not performance related and simply because he was the youngest in his class. It helps that this is incredibly common in our area, and that all of the children in his class this past year are either doing kindergarten at a different school this year, or going into pre-first (a common offering at private schools in our area) instead of first grade.

[wellyes]

I am thinking of doing something similar for DS if he is an immature 5 year old. I think it's a good idea. But, I don't think you can do both kindys in the same school. I would do private half day K. I'd want the child to do full day K with the kids who will be his classmates moving forward. I wouldn't want him to see all his friends advance while he is put in with younger kids.

[hellokitty]

You wrote the full-day Kindergarten would involve tuition, but half-day wouldn't. Are you looking at a private Kindergarten? Would he then go to a private first grade or public first grade? Same school? I'm a little confused.

We're in OH and they appealed the full day K that Obama tried to pass. So, in our state, full day is not something available at every school, and our district is allowed to charge tuition for full day K, but not half day K. We also happen to be one of the only districts that has a 2 and 3 day half day preschool, BUT you still pay tuition, even though it is part of our public school. So, he would do all of these options, whether it be two yrs of 3 day preschool and then K or a yr of 3 day preschool, half day K and then full day K all at the same school. The half day K is the only option that is, tuition free.

Jbaxter, that is a good point about parents holding their kids back and whether the school allows it or not. I'm thinking yes, since one of the moms at the game (in our district) has done it for her dd.

[egoldber]

I would definitely be concerned about the school not allowing you to hold him back for another year of K, especially if the full day slots are in demand. Our district also really discourages grade retention except when kids are really struggling. (Delaying initial entry to K is different.) That's another advantage to doing the private half day K. OTOH, you may decide he actually is ready and not want to hold him back.

[hellokitty]

I would definitely be concerned about the school not allowing you to hold him back for another year of K, especially if the full day slots are in demand. Our district also really discourages grade retention except when kids are really struggling. (Delaying initial entry to K is different.) That's another advantage to doing the private half day K. OTOH, you may decide he actually is ready and not want to hold him back.

Actually, they will only have one teacher left doing half day, since there is a lottery to get into full day, even though it requires tuition. I don't really want to send him to private K. The only options are religious schools. I am willing to just wait and see what happens, but was just thinking ahead for a back up plan. I have a friend who was in a very similar situation and her son was actually recommended to go to K (he did half day) and he has thrived just fine, with a very similar birthday as my DS3's. So, I'm open to seeing what happens, but was just throwing it out there, as to who has tried this and how it went.

[wellyes]

I do have one friend who sent her child to private preschool at 5 instead of 4 (emotionally immature). Then went to enroll him in public Kindergarten, and they refused. Put him in grade 1 because he is 6. Which I think will be really tough for him. So, definitely do check about rules before going too far down that path.

[Ceepa]

We're in OH and they appealed the full day K that Obama tried to pass. So, in our state, full day is not something available at every school, and our district is allowed to charge tuition for full day K, but not half day K. We also happen to be one of the only districts that has a 2 and 3 day half day preschool, BUT you still pay tuition, even though it is part of our public school. So, he would do all of these options, whether it be two yrs of 3 day preschool and then K or a yr of 3 day preschool, half day K and then full day K all at the same school. The half day K is the only option that is, tuition free.

Jbaxter, that is a good point about parents holding their kids back and whether the school allows it or not. I'm thinking yes, since one of the moms at the game (in our district) has done it for her dd.

OK I see. I would check with your school because if full-day K slots are in high demand they may push for your DS to advance to first grade after a year of half-day K. He may be ready for first grade at that point, but you should be prepared for another year of full-day K to not be an option from the school's POV.

[scrooks]

I also live in Ohio and know of 2 families this upcoming year with kids repeating K but they did private K first and then sent them on to public K (or will this year). I would be worried about them not letting you repeat them in K. Btw I am jealous of your full day option (even if its pay). Most every district around us is full day or offers the pay option EXCEPT ours. As of right now all of my DC will be redshirted and I wish there was an all day option!

[llama8]

I actually think red-shirting is not legal where I live but I am not 100% sure. If not, redshirting is not popular where I live. If anything, most people try to push their kids ahead. My DD1 is born 2 weeks before the cut-off of Dec 1 and I am unsure if I could leave her back unless issues warranted it. I would not do it unless necessary.

I am not judging at all and you said your son has speech delays, but is it possible to try him out going the expected track and only hold him back if your really feel it is necessary at that time? It seems that you are expecting to hold him back without giving him the chance to start on time and see how he does.

On an aside, I am surprised that there is still half day K. There is only full-day K in my area and has been for many years . I didn't realize half-day K still exists in some areas. It is interesting how each state is different.

[smilequeen]

Well, I would only do that if you are OK with going to first instead of repeating K. He could end up surprising you and doing really well with K. If that's the case, then repeating it and doing it full day could be painfully boring to him. Or if he meets the academic standards, you stand the chance of public school telling you that you can't hold him back.

We didn't hold back our July boy, but we certainly kept in touch with the teachers all year and if it had been necessary, he would have repeated, but he's moving on to first.

[army_mom]

The option you posted sounds like a good option. If I wanted an extra year of learning for my DC, I would chose to have the extra year in K and not preschool. Do the half day preschoolers move forward to 1st grade just like full day preschoolers? (I'm not very familiar with this as DD is just starting preschool this fall). If they do, I would really have a hard time putting my DD in a class with friends that will move up to 1st grade and be in the same school. In addition, I a honestly a bit surprised a school district would let you *plan* send your DC to K for two years. Of course if they were not ready to progress up to 1st grade after completing one year of K, that would be a different story.

Reading through this thread made me go look up cutoff ages and I was really surprised how much they differ from state to state! (I guess I just assumed they were mostly summer cutoff dates). I am glad that the state we came from and this state have roughly the same cutoff or DD would be way behind as she would make the K cutoff in some states (Dec 1 birthday). Our districts here have both the full day and half day options but you have to pay a fee for the full day option. How does this work exactly? Wouldn't the kids having a full day option get "ahead" of those doing the half day option and need to play catch up in 1st grade? When I was growing up we all did half day K (parents chose either AM or PM) and then everyone moved to 1st grade. Just curious as we will be moving again next summer and soon we will be researching K programs at her new place!

[westwoodmom04]

Actually, they will only have one teacher left doing half day, since there is a lottery to get into full day, even though it requires tuition. I don't really want to send him to private K. The only options are religious schools. I am willing to just wait and see what happens, but was just thinking ahead for a back up plan. I have a friend who was in a very similar situation and her son was actually recommended to go to K (he did half day) and he has thrived just fine, with a very similar birthday as my DS3's. So, I'm open to seeing what happens, but was just throwing it out there, as to who has tried this and how it went.

If the standard K at your school is half day, then I would go ahead and send him on time. I would not have held my son back a year if our public K wasn't full day and very academic -- he could have easily handled half day K. The second half of the day "option" at your school must be mostly play as the district has to provide the same curriculum to all kindergarteners to have them wind up the same place for first grade so I wouldn't feel bad about keeping him out of that if he isn't quite ready to be at school for a full day.

[AnnieW625]

I agree with what Westwoodmom04 said that way that if he is doing fine in the half day kindergarten and is ready for the first grade he has an option to continue to the first grade, but if he isn't then you have the full day kindergarten as well.

I have known a couple of students who repeated kindergarten because our school's cut off date is August 31st, but they did a year of half day kindergarten at their local public school, and then they switched to kindergarten at the Catholic school for kindergarten, which at the time was also half day (full day started a few years later).

FWIW, my April birthday DD1 went to 3 day a week play based preschool and then went straight to full day kindergarten. She was super shy as well and I was a tad worried about her socializing, but she has done okay, and I am very glad that I went that route for her. There are boys in her class who were born in May until the last week before school and there are really only two boys with those summer birthdays who probably should have started a year later, and their moms are really open about. I actually think one of those boys may not be coming back to the school and the mom of the other one was thinking about having her son repeat the first grade. I think it all depends on the kid and the parent.

[hellokitty]

If the standard K at your school is half day, then I would go ahead and send him on time. I would not have held my son back a year if our public K wasn't full day and very academic -- he could have easily handled half day K. The second half of the day "option" at your school must be mostly play as the district has to provide the same curriculum to all kindergarteners to have them wind up the same place for first grade so I wouldn't feel bad about keeping him out of that if he isn't quite ready to be at school for a full day.

Actually, the std is now become full day K. Our school wants $. Originally, they have had 2 half day K classes (one half day K teacher teaches the afternoon preschool class), starting this upcoming school yr, there will only be one teacher teaching half day, the other half day teacher will be switched to full day (complaints from parents that they want full day). There will be 4 or 5 full day K classes. I am willing to hold or send him due to the recommendation of the preschool teacher, who I have great respect for, she was DS2's preschool teacher and should be retired, but still works PT, b/c she loves it so much, her recommendation when I asked her a couple yrs ago about DS3's situation was to hold him. He is just going to be turning four in less than two wks, but it will be his first yr of preschool. I was just throwing the question out there for parents who HAVE done this and how it went. My older two, one did one yr of 3 day preschool and then did half day K and he did ok, but he was already reading by the age of 4, but he is a Feb baby and one of the youngest in his class, b/c ppl seriously hold their kids back for bdays as early as May. My middle one, started 2 day preschool at age 4, did 3 day preschool and then did full day K and did beautifully. Our cut off is Aug 1st, DS3's bday is the last wk of July, so he really could go either way. I saw that my parents pushed my brother through, saying there was no good reason to hold him back (with a similar issues as my youngest, being the youngest one in the entire class) and while he did well academically, it was socially a disaster and he dealt with a lot of bullying and teasing throughout his elementary yrs. So, I'm not just considering, "redshirting" (geez, by a WEEK), just so my kid can be ahead of others.

[westwoodmom04]

Actually, the std is now become full day K. Our school wants $. Originally, they have had 2 half day K classes (one half day K teacher teaches the afternoon preschool class), starting this upcoming school yr, there will only be one teacher teaching half day, the other half day teacher will be switched to full day (complaints from parents that they want full day). There will be 4 or 5 full day K classes. I am willing to hold or send him due to the recommendation of the preschool teacher, who I have great respect for, she was DS2's preschool teacher and should be retired, but still works PT, b/c she loves it so much, her recommendation when I asked her a couple yrs ago about DS3's situation was to hold him. He is just going to be turning four in less than two wks, but it will be his first yr of preschool. I was just throwing the question out there for parents who HAVE done this and how it went. My older two, one did one yr of 3 day preschool and then did half day K and he did ok, but he was already reading by the age of 4, but he is a Feb baby and one of the youngest in his class, b/c ppl seriously hold their kids back for bdays as early as May. My middle one, started 2 day preschool at age 4, did 3 day preschool and then did full day K and did beautifully. Our cut off is Aug 1st, DS3's bday is the last wk of July, so he really could go either way. I saw that my parents pushed my brother through, saying there was no good reason to hold him back (with a similar issues as my youngest, being the youngest one in the entire class) and while he did well academically, it was socially a disaster and he dealt with a lot of bullying and teasing throughout his elementary yrs. So, I'm not just considering, "redshirting" (geez, by a WEEK), just so my kid can be ahead of others.

I hope you didn't think I was criticizing your reasoning, I did "redshirt" my son (see my first post in this thread) but probably would not have done so if our K was half day. You have such a unique situation in your school district so it may be difficult to find another been there, done that outside of your area. I have to add that I think there may be serious legal issues with the system your local district has set up. Education law is far from my specialty, but I don't think a public school system can offer a different curriculum for "paying" students and another for everyone else at the same grade level.

[Kindra178]

My twins are on the other side of the cutoff by a couple of weeks. We considered a private half day kinder before they proceeded onto a full day kinder in public. Instead, we settled on a full day Montessori equivalent of kinder and then they will proceed on to public kinder. In your case, I would not do half day k and then do full day k at the same school. I think socially it will be odd for others to proceed on while your child repeats. Do the preschool for another year.

[MSWR0319]

I am doing a similar path for DS1. He misses the cutoff by two weeks (We are also in OH FWIW). He was in a Catholic 3 day preschool this year. Because it's a private school, they have given me the option of putting him in the 5 day, half day preschool or in the half day Early 5 program. The early 5 program is a half hour longer than the preschool and focuses more on academics and less on social skills. They told me that DS knows everything he would be taught in the preschool, so we are probably doing the Early 5's. He will then go to full-day K next year. For us, it seems like the best option because DS doesn't adapt to change well, so this slowly transitions him into full-day school.