I, like many parents, am struggling with the idea of my son starting kindergarten. He will turn 5 at the end of August. I struggle with the thought of him not being developmentally or emotionally ready. I struggle with the school itself. I also struggle with my confidence in him at this age. He is one of the younger children that will be in his class. That worries me.
I went to the school that he would be attending last week to get a little info. They basically just kept telling me that everything will be fine and I shouldn't worry. That still didn't help me. They handed me a packet and sent me on my way. The principal later called me because of my concerns, but he didn't tell me anything different than the lady in the office. My mind is not eased.
After going through the packet, mostly everything seemed fine. That is until I got to the checklist of things he needs to know before entering. My son is a bright, fun little guy, but I was shocked at what he needs to know before entering this school district. I've never even heard of such things. Like I said, he's bright and picks up things fairly easy, so I can spend all summer teaching him the things he doesn't know, such as reading and writing his name in a way that is easily understood. He knows how to write the letters of the alphabet and can identify every letter. He can also write his name, but not in a way that would be easily understood! His letters are of all different sizes and are all over the page. Heck, it takes him a whole page to write his name. Now, on this checklist it states that he must know his parents full names, his addresss and phone numbers. There are a lot of other things as well, but most of them are things that I've never given two thoughts about because he either already knows these things or it would take him 5 minutes to learn. This is a fairly lengthy checklist, which requires my signature and his...did I mention he's not yet 5?!?! Why do they need an almost -five year old's signature? Is he supposed to be able to read the checklist too? He can barely write his name if given a full piece of paper and they allot him this teeny little line. Seriously? I am not an educator, but I have spent enough time in my son's preschool class to know for certain that not one child in my son's preschool class can write their name in that itsy bitsy little line. I don't feel as though he should be signing his name on it anyway. In my opinion, this checklist is ridiculous! Arent' they supposed to teach him the things like reading and writing? If that is something that falls on me than I expect him to know his times tables by the end of the school year. What I'm getting at is they are asking a lot from such young kids before even entering school. I spend time with him and teach him, but I do have another child at home and I work. I can only do so much. I have no idea how to teach him our phone numbers. I'm an adult and I have trouble remembering them at times, so how is a kid of his age expected to know them? In the past two weeks he has learned our names (first and last), as well as our address, including the city and state. My son is a little sponge and I'm so proud of him.
With him being one of the younger students in his class, I feel that he will naturally be behind the other students. He isn't quite as mature as the other children. He is well-behaved and does what he's told, but I still feel he's lagging. I notice a difference while watching him and other, slightly older children that would be in his class. I feel it has everything to do with him being younger. One year makes a huge difference in the maturity and readiness of a 5 year old. I feel as though his maturity would hinder his learning capabilities in a classroom setting.
My son also has slight speech issues. He does see a speech pathologist twice weekly, but is still behind in articulation. This may cause problems for him in school, in my opinion. He still doesn't express his thoughts and feelings as well as he should at this age. He isn't far behind in speech, only slightly and is making great strides with the speech pathologist, however, it still makes me nervous that he's far enough behind that it could make kindergarten difficult for him.
Other than his age and speech issues, he really has no problems. He socializes well with other children. He loves playing with other kids. Sometimes I think other kids are afraid of him because he's too outgoing. He just loves people. He loves meeting new people and making new friends. Having a younger brother has taught him to share and how to be considerate of others. Socialization is not something we would consider a problem.
As I've said, my son is a smart kid and he learns quickly. I know I have a few choices to consider, but I just want to make the best one for him. I could send him to kindergarten and see how he does. Worst case scenario, I would have to pull him out or have him repeat kindergarten. Or, I have the option of waiting another year before he starts. I don't have a lot of time to make this decision. I don't know why it is so hard on me, but it is. As a mom, I'm probably overreacting as most of us tend to do at times. Nonetheless, it's still weighing greatly on me. I see him growing and maturing every single day. He is a very bright, loving, confident kid. I am the lucky one who gets to be his mommy. I guess that's what makes trying to make the right decision so hard. I just want what is the absolute best for him. He doesn't deserve anything less than that.
UPDATE:
After speaking with my son's speech pathologist, I feel more at ease. Since she deals with children of all ages she knows where they stand, both developmentally and emotionally. According to her, he is very mature in class and very studious. He pays attention when she is talking to him. He follows directions well and handles situations with other students in a mature manner. Rather than getting upset if another student is bothering him (kicking, hitting, etc.) he will calmly let the teacher know what's going on and let her handle it. He doesn't react to it in any way other than that. I can't tell you how proud that makes me. He's much different at home! She is telling me that currently he is at a kindergarten to a first grade level. I need to learn to relax a little I guess and quit questioning every single thing.
I also asked about that ridiculous checklist. It turns out to be more of a scare tactic than anything. The school is trying to get some parents to actually do things with their kids. Some have started kindergarten without so much as a book or story ever read to them. How sad is that? I read to my kids daily. I can't imagine not doing anything with my kids. Even if you have nothing and can't afford a book, you can afford to spend quality time with them, teaching them valuable information. It really is tradgic that some kids go without the simplest attention from their parent(s).
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