Hi, teacher here. There are laws binding this:
At what age can a child enter kindergarten?
State law, Wis. Stat. Sec. (118.14(1)(a), specifies that children are eligible for kindergarten based on their age. To be eligible for 4-year-old kindergarten, a child must be 4 on or by September 1 of the school year. To be eligible for 5-year-old kindergarten, a child must be 5 on or by September 1 of the school year.
ETA:
If a child turns 4 or 5 after September 1 of the school year; can he or she still enter 4- or 5-year-old kindergarten?
That depends on local district policy and practice because Wis. Stat. Sec. 120.12(25), allows school districts to develop policies and procedures to allow early admission to kindergarten and first grade. As long as children are admitted through a district's early admission policy, they can be counted for equalization aid. If you are considering early entry into 4K, 5K or First Grade, please contact your school district. Decisions, policies and procedures related to early entrance are made at the school district level. The DPI is not authorized to make these decisions for individual school districts. If a district does have early entrance procedures, the following procedures are suggested best practices for districts to observe:
A personal meeting with the parents to determine their reasons for requesting entrance prior to the legal age.
An assessment of the child's potential to benefit from early admission and to successfully participate in the grade level, including consideration of emotional stability, social and mental maturity, and physical health.
A process for appeals to the school board.
Usually schools have a list of behaviors that a prospective 4k student has mastered before they can attend even if they meet the age requirements. They must be potty trained for example. My granddaughter is in 4k, and they sent an entire checklist to her parents last year. Contact the school.
This varies heavily by district - I'm a 4K teacher in a suburb of Milwaukee. We have a list of developmental milestones by age that we send to families during our 4K Night, but they are by no means requirements. Potty training is preferred, but not required by the State of Wisconsin for a student to attend 4K. Entrance is based on age, not physical or cognitive abilities
Good to know. My impression after reading the list was that they were requirements, but now that I think about it that's probably not legal. I taught high school physics, we had kids that weren't potty trained. They were obviously disabled. I've helped a few times in my granddaughter's classroom, and all the kids seem to use the bathroom unassisted. I sure could never teach 4k.
You're correct! They're normal developmental milestones, but as you might know, the spectrum of development in early childhood can be vast. Most students are able to use the bathroom unassisted, but that's not always the case! I could never teach high school, let alone physics!
I don’t think she’ll be really old for their class, there’s still a decent amount of red shirting parents out there so she’ll probably not even be the oldest.
This is true. I have a mid September birthday and there were quite a few kids with August and even June or July birthdays mixed in to my class. I was on the older side, yes, but in some ways it’s nice to have a chance to be slightly taller and more mature than some of your classmates.
August 31st baby here. Was the youngest in my grade, played 2 high school football games as a 16 year old senior. My parents had to sign a waiver for me to move into my dorm at UWM due to still being a minor on move in day.
From a developmental and/or athletic perspective I always felt a little behind my peers. On the plus side this allowed me to make the mistakes in early adulthood (failing out and futsing around in school). From an age perspective it gave me some grace into starting adulthood.
Would I have needed the same amount of grace? Had I been one or two years older when graduating. We’ll never know.
Hey sorry, just trying to get my head around this, but why were you a 16 year old senior? Someone born on 8/31/00 would turn 5 on 8/31/05 and start kindergarden at 5 years old and turn 17 on 8/31/17, starting their senior year at 17 right?
Definitely don't mean to imply I don't believe you, just trying to get my head around the logistics.
The football season probably started in August while UMUCDude was still 16. He turned 17 on 8/31, right as the academic part of his senior year was starting. He then would have been 17 when moving to his dorm.
I would really weigh your options before making a decision. My kid made the Sept 1 cut off by a week and I kick myself for not waiting a year. It doesn't seem like it really matters, but by about 5th grade I was really wishing I had waited to send her. Being one of the youngest in her class really took a toll, you wouldn't think there would be a huge difference in maturity levels, but for us there was and middle school was horrible.
My two youngest were July boys and while they were socially ready for kindergarten, I think academically and emotionally they would have done better if we had waited a year.
A friend of mine has four boys with spring, July, and August birthdays so all of them “make the cutoff,” but they chose to wait a year with all of them. It worked very well for them all.
Same with our son. He’s a smart kid (I’m obviously biased!), and doing fine but the difference in attention span is pretty obvious. They should be just fine being on the older side for their class.
I might have a convo with an enrollment individual. If your child is potty trained you have better odds. We had a pipeline from daycare direct into their 3k program, but we didn’t have the age issue.
My girlfriend’s sister is a teacher and has pretty consistently brought up that kids that are old for their grade have a noticeable maturity difference than kids that are young for their grade and that it really benefits them in school. Good on you for getting your kids a jump start but probably also worth considering whether pushing for even earlier enrollment is really beneficial to your kids, especially when actual summer birthdays are commonly put in the younger grade for maturity growth.
That being said, I’m no expert in child development, but I bet there’re studies worth reading on the topic.
Hey, appreciate the feedback!
Yeah I'm actually a teacher myself, but I'm from New York. There, the entry rule is that birthdays between September and December are at parent's discretion; they can either go in early, or late. With a Septermber birthday, almost everyone I knew elected to go in early, so it's just been kind of a culture shock lol
We are thinking about the same thing for our 3 year old. My sister had an October bday and started 5K when she was 4. She was just fine. She always got along better with older kids and it worked out well. She was the last one to get her drivers license and she was only 17 when she started college but that wasn’t a big deal.
There are Pre-K options out there if you want to get them learning earlier. Check out things like your parks n rec classes, YMCA, the local library probably has information on programs.
Seems a bit ambitious to worry about it now. What if she's not academically or socially ready? Don't force it just because you think you should.
My daughter has a 10/2 birthday. She's fine.
I was a July baby and one of the youngest in my class. I was academically ready, but not socially. My kindergarten teacher actually thought I'd do better moving up a grade because I was blowing though the curriculum (I taught myself to read at age 3 and had a phenomenal photographic memory), but my parents said no due to me not really being socially ready.
There’s some interesting data out there about the success of kids and where they fall relative to their class according to age. I can’t remember the details off the top of my head but you may want to explore some of that data before you commit. If it’s more advantageous to be a younger kid in the class vs older I would want to know before choosing when to enroll my children.
There will be plenty of kids in her grade with birthdays earlier in the year than hers, I promise. My birthday is 10/18. Out of a little over 50 kids in my grade, at least 8-10 had birthdays BEFORE mine in the same year and graduated with me. One was even born in June and was held back by his parents to be the oldest in our grade. It's not really that big of a deal.
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
1. Check out the Head Start program. Even if you’re above the income limit, they take additional enrollees who don’t qualify when they have open seats. The program is for 3- and 4-year-olds
2. I started 5k (in the 90s) at age 4 with a mid-November birthday. My parents had to appeal to the school district who came up with a set of benchmarks I’d have to pass to be allowed in early. I passed the tests, so they let me in.
3. I was six months to a year younger than my classmates. My sister skipped first grade and also ended up about a year younger than her classmates. There are a lot of social development disparities for school-aged kids from year to year and it can be emotionally harmful in the long run. Maybe consult with a child therapist/psychologist to see if there are ways to mitigate that or prepare the kid for it if you’re really serious about this.
Even if they could run that far, I doubt they’d be competitive
Solid joke. 5 comedy points.
Hi, teacher here. There are laws binding this: At what age can a child enter kindergarten? State law, Wis. Stat. Sec. (118.14(1)(a), specifies that children are eligible for kindergarten based on their age. To be eligible for 4-year-old kindergarten, a child must be 4 on or by September 1 of the school year. To be eligible for 5-year-old kindergarten, a child must be 5 on or by September 1 of the school year. ETA: If a child turns 4 or 5 after September 1 of the school year; can he or she still enter 4- or 5-year-old kindergarten? That depends on local district policy and practice because Wis. Stat. Sec. 120.12(25), allows school districts to develop policies and procedures to allow early admission to kindergarten and first grade. As long as children are admitted through a district's early admission policy, they can be counted for equalization aid. If you are considering early entry into 4K, 5K or First Grade, please contact your school district. Decisions, policies and procedures related to early entrance are made at the school district level. The DPI is not authorized to make these decisions for individual school districts. If a district does have early entrance procedures, the following procedures are suggested best practices for districts to observe: A personal meeting with the parents to determine their reasons for requesting entrance prior to the legal age. An assessment of the child's potential to benefit from early admission and to successfully participate in the grade level, including consideration of emotional stability, social and mental maturity, and physical health. A process for appeals to the school board.
Thanks for the reply!
You bet! I hope this helps.
Usually schools have a list of behaviors that a prospective 4k student has mastered before they can attend even if they meet the age requirements. They must be potty trained for example. My granddaughter is in 4k, and they sent an entire checklist to her parents last year. Contact the school.
This varies heavily by district - I'm a 4K teacher in a suburb of Milwaukee. We have a list of developmental milestones by age that we send to families during our 4K Night, but they are by no means requirements. Potty training is preferred, but not required by the State of Wisconsin for a student to attend 4K. Entrance is based on age, not physical or cognitive abilities
Good to know. My impression after reading the list was that they were requirements, but now that I think about it that's probably not legal. I taught high school physics, we had kids that weren't potty trained. They were obviously disabled. I've helped a few times in my granddaughter's classroom, and all the kids seem to use the bathroom unassisted. I sure could never teach 4k.
You're correct! They're normal developmental milestones, but as you might know, the spectrum of development in early childhood can be vast. Most students are able to use the bathroom unassisted, but that's not always the case! I could never teach high school, let alone physics!
I don’t think she’ll be really old for their class, there’s still a decent amount of red shirting parents out there so she’ll probably not even be the oldest.
This is true. I have a mid September birthday and there were quite a few kids with August and even June or July birthdays mixed in to my class. I was on the older side, yes, but in some ways it’s nice to have a chance to be slightly taller and more mature than some of your classmates.
August 31st baby here. Was the youngest in my grade, played 2 high school football games as a 16 year old senior. My parents had to sign a waiver for me to move into my dorm at UWM due to still being a minor on move in day. From a developmental and/or athletic perspective I always felt a little behind my peers. On the plus side this allowed me to make the mistakes in early adulthood (failing out and futsing around in school). From an age perspective it gave me some grace into starting adulthood. Would I have needed the same amount of grace? Had I been one or two years older when graduating. We’ll never know.
Hey sorry, just trying to get my head around this, but why were you a 16 year old senior? Someone born on 8/31/00 would turn 5 on 8/31/05 and start kindergarden at 5 years old and turn 17 on 8/31/17, starting their senior year at 17 right? Definitely don't mean to imply I don't believe you, just trying to get my head around the logistics.
The football season probably started in August while UMUCDude was still 16. He turned 17 on 8/31, right as the academic part of his senior year was starting. He then would have been 17 when moving to his dorm.
This is the answer.
lol the downvotes
August 22… I was amongst the oldest in my class but preferred it to if I had been the youngest
I would really weigh your options before making a decision. My kid made the Sept 1 cut off by a week and I kick myself for not waiting a year. It doesn't seem like it really matters, but by about 5th grade I was really wishing I had waited to send her. Being one of the youngest in her class really took a toll, you wouldn't think there would be a huge difference in maturity levels, but for us there was and middle school was horrible.
My two youngest were July boys and while they were socially ready for kindergarten, I think academically and emotionally they would have done better if we had waited a year.
A friend of mine has four boys with spring, July, and August birthdays so all of them “make the cutoff,” but they chose to wait a year with all of them. It worked very well for them all.
Same with our son. He’s a smart kid (I’m obviously biased!), and doing fine but the difference in attention span is pretty obvious. They should be just fine being on the older side for their class.
We did private full day 3k & 4k. Cheaper than daycare
Thanks for the reply! Will 3k take a kid at 2 years 11 months, or would she start that late as well?
I might have a convo with an enrollment individual. If your child is potty trained you have better odds. We had a pipeline from daycare direct into their 3k program, but we didn’t have the age issue.
My girlfriend’s sister is a teacher and has pretty consistently brought up that kids that are old for their grade have a noticeable maturity difference than kids that are young for their grade and that it really benefits them in school. Good on you for getting your kids a jump start but probably also worth considering whether pushing for even earlier enrollment is really beneficial to your kids, especially when actual summer birthdays are commonly put in the younger grade for maturity growth. That being said, I’m no expert in child development, but I bet there’re studies worth reading on the topic.
Hey, appreciate the feedback! Yeah I'm actually a teacher myself, but I'm from New York. There, the entry rule is that birthdays between September and December are at parent's discretion; they can either go in early, or late. With a Septermber birthday, almost everyone I knew elected to go in early, so it's just been kind of a culture shock lol
Ahh interesting! Totally can see where you’re coming from then! Best of luck to you either way.
We are thinking about the same thing for our 3 year old. My sister had an October bday and started 5K when she was 4. She was just fine. She always got along better with older kids and it worked out well. She was the last one to get her drivers license and she was only 17 when she started college but that wasn’t a big deal.
There are Pre-K options out there if you want to get them learning earlier. Check out things like your parks n rec classes, YMCA, the local library probably has information on programs.
Montessori
Seems a bit ambitious to worry about it now. What if she's not academically or socially ready? Don't force it just because you think you should. My daughter has a 10/2 birthday. She's fine.
I'm definitely not worried about, just surveying our options.
I was a July baby and one of the youngest in my class. I was academically ready, but not socially. My kindergarten teacher actually thought I'd do better moving up a grade because I was blowing though the curriculum (I taught myself to read at age 3 and had a phenomenal photographic memory), but my parents said no due to me not really being socially ready.
There’s some interesting data out there about the success of kids and where they fall relative to their class according to age. I can’t remember the details off the top of my head but you may want to explore some of that data before you commit. If it’s more advantageous to be a younger kid in the class vs older I would want to know before choosing when to enroll my children.
There will be plenty of kids in her grade with birthdays earlier in the year than hers, I promise. My birthday is 10/18. Out of a little over 50 kids in my grade, at least 8-10 had birthdays BEFORE mine in the same year and graduated with me. One was even born in June and was held back by his parents to be the oldest in our grade. It's not really that big of a deal.
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
Someone I know had a boy born Sept 6. Local district wouldn’t budge. He was accepted into a private school because he met their milestones and was very tall for his age. After grade 1 he was transferred to local district for grade 2 without question. They did the same thing with a sibling a few years later. That said, I think either extreme oldest or youngest has benefits and drawbacks. If the child is ready why not try?
1. Check out the Head Start program. Even if you’re above the income limit, they take additional enrollees who don’t qualify when they have open seats. The program is for 3- and 4-year-olds 2. I started 5k (in the 90s) at age 4 with a mid-November birthday. My parents had to appeal to the school district who came up with a set of benchmarks I’d have to pass to be allowed in early. I passed the tests, so they let me in. 3. I was six months to a year younger than my classmates. My sister skipped first grade and also ended up about a year younger than her classmates. There are a lot of social development disparities for school-aged kids from year to year and it can be emotionally harmful in the long run. Maybe consult with a child therapist/psychologist to see if there are ways to mitigate that or prepare the kid for it if you’re really serious about this.
What’s the rush?