Would you skip your 4.5 year old up to Kindergarten per their teachers request?

Question

My 4 year old daughter started preschool this year and her teacher thinks it would be a good idea to skip her up to kindergarten.  My husband thinks we should do it but I’m still unsure. My daughter has always been somewhat advanced, I think it’s because she spends a lot of time with her older sister and cousins. Her birthday is in March so she’ll be turning 5 in a few months. I’m scheduled to have a meeting with her teacher and principal on Monday. What would you do? Kindergarten just seems like such a big jump lol.

Answer

As a kindergarten teacher, no I would not. There is absolutely no reason to rush academics, or school in general. Let your child play and explore as much as possible. If the preschool is academic, consider a play based preschool.

Answer

Absolutely not. She's a toddler. No reason to push her into school when she'll be 5 in March and can start like normal later that year. Let babies be babies as long as they can even if they are advanced. They won't get that time back and you don't want to start them out at 4.5 years old with super high expectations because they are smart and you want to get them started in school early. There is no reason to rush.

Answer

I started at 4. I ended up being in the gifted program/AP classes on top of that all through school. It was developmentally appropriate for me to start when I did. You know your child Best along with evaluation from teacher. If you think she isn’t ready, don’t do it !

Answer

I was one of those kids growing up that they wanted to skip ahead (they wanted to send me to second grade when I was in kindergarten because I could multiply, do long division, was reading novels, etc). My mother decided against it because she would rather me be advanced for my age than average in an older age group. 
She made sure to put me in schools that kept me challenged (putting me in special groups within the class that were more advanced for reading, sent me to higher grade classes during math lessons, etc.) as well as keeping me challenged at home (helping my older siblings with their homework when they needed it, buying me workbooks and advanced books to read, etc). 
I ended up graduating in the top 10% of my class with a 3.9 GPA because I was able to thrive in an environment I was more comfortable with with people on the same maturity level. Sometimes being the youngest and/or smallest in a class can have negative emotional, mental, and social effects, which will effect their work in return.

Answer

My 4 year old does Kindergarten level work, but socially she isn't on that level yet. Same as my 6 year old doing 3rd grade work. I homeschool them so that they can still have all the play time they need to develop and still challenge them academically. Only you know where your child is at and what is best for them.

Answer

I don't see why not. I started kindergarten at 4.5. I wouldn't say I was advanced as a kid but if the teacher recommended it and she meets the cutoff for her birthday to start early I don't see the problem

Answer

4 is too young.

Answer

My cousin skipped her son a grade and he did just fine. I believe he graduates high school this school year.

Answer

I would. If she’ll be 5 in March she’s not much younger than the other kids. 
I was moved forward at that age as well because of how my birthday fell and they thought I would be bored waiting. I have not been behind at any point in my life in learning or size. I was usually the youngest in all years, but often had some near the same age. 
If your daughters ready, let her shine. A challenge is good for her, and if anything fails she can always do kindergarten twice.  It’s scary being your baby, but if they’re ready you’ll know.

Answer

I would give it a try and see how she does. You can always pull her back if you observe anything problematic.

Would you skip your 4.5 year old up to Kindergarten per their teachers request?

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