Repeat kinder or proceed to primary school

[kim tham]

Hello everyone,

I am strugling to decide if I should keep my 4 years 3 months one more year in kinder or go ahead to enroll him into prep-k in primary school starting February next year. In Australia, the close-off date of birth for primary school entry for next year is 1st April, and my son was born at late March, just early enough to have a place  in Prep. This means he will be quite younger than most of the children attending school in the same year.

Due to the fact we speak 3 languagues at home, he is quite behind the other children in speaking language . Besides, the kinder teach said he has problems following instruction, lack of concentration, and difficulties in communicating effectively with others. At kinder, he does not get along very well with other children as most of the time the don't know what he's talking about. I have seen few psycologists, but they all say he's fine, he just needs time to adjust to new environment where people speaks English all the time and have different of socializing standards. The kinder teacher advises that it will be more beneficiary for him to stay one more year at kinder and if we insist in sending him to Prep, he will struggle emotionally and socially there. Honestly, for some reasons I don't trust this teacher. Few of my friends agreed on that it's better to go to Prep and if things don't go well, stay one more year in Prep in stead of Kinder as there's not much to learn from kinder.

From my and my DH's perspectives as parents, DS is an open-minded boy who loves people, loves talking. He just talks non-sense stuff, for example, if he meets a new person,  in stead of saying hello, he will talk about train, cars,.. whatever in his head at that time. I know he is just trying to communicate and impress others. In general, he's not a good listener although he's quite sensitive about what is going on around him.

Academically, as he's a child with Brill-kids background he can read independently (Vietnamese, English) and read  Polish phonetically without understanding the meaning, know all shapes, do calculation up to 20, read up and down to 500  and his drawing as teacher said can be equivalent with grade 4-5 kids. What I am worried about is not his ability to finish tasks at school, but, the experience he's gonna have emotionally. That's why I cant decide which option is better for him in long term of his life journey as I am aware of that the starting point is very important.

I would be very much appreciate for any thoughts, experience and recommendation from you.

Thank you so much and really look forward to your reply.

[Mandabplus3]

Ok I teach kindergarten in QLD add I say send him to school! He is not going to develop the skills he needs by staying where he is for another year. When this years class goes off to school your child is going to be left in a class of even less mature kids. He will be the oldest. He is already reading, not being extended there and is most likely bored out of his brain! If he wasn't a handful I would be surprised!
However if he goes to school he will be with a mature group of children, learning from good examples. He will still have support as its the first year of school. It doesn't matter if he spends half his year unfocused while he matures- he ALREADY knows the entire curriculum! Also you do have the option to move him back to kindergarten if he is struggling too much. The decision is not set in stone. Give him 6 months in big school and then decide. He can repeat prep and learn more in two years than he has any hope of learning staying where he is.
His language isn't a concern. In school he has 5 days a week to consolidate his learning. The context will be simple and the teachers more qualified and experienced to deal with ESL kids. They will also have support classes if he needs them.
Please ask any questions you still have happy to help.

[Kimba15]

I believe mandab is right. Your son will go nuts with boredom in Kinder and its time to move him on. My own daughter was put up into reception a year early. She is loving it and needed to go up. I was worried about all the same things you are she is the youngest in her class but it has not been noticed. and she slotted right in and got on with it.

[kim tham]

Dear Mandabplus: wanted to write a thank-you reply to you yesterday, but my little DD suddenly got sick and took all of my free time at night. Thank you so so much for your thoughts and opinions. What a relief I have after reading your posts, especially knowing that you are also a kindergarten teacher . Now I am sure what to do without any slightest hesitance. I really like your thoughts about learning from mature examples. This is exactly what I have been told about my son by his teacher: he's so immature. But, it has come to the truth that that having him stay longer in kinder does not help him to be more mature.

I just have one more question and hope that you could help me to answer..... After talking with the kinder teacher this morning about our decision, she insisted that I have to tell the school where DS is going to about her concerns. However, I find that her concerns are mostly exaggerated and not true. She also said she's going to talk to the principal of the school to make sure that everything is clear before DS starts school and as she said this is all for DS's benefits. So, I am just wondering if this could make it more difficult to have DS's enrolment enquiry accepted? You may find this question sounds so naïve   But, we just move to Australia not long ago, and the school we're enrolling him in has quite limited vacancies, hence I  have all kind of wonderings

Thank you again and Karma to you.

[kim tham]

Dear Kimba: Thank you very much for you reply. I feel much better to know that you have been through similar thing. I'm also happy to know that your daughter has been going well with that. I really forward to see such a progress from my son as well.
Thanks a lot and karma to you

[Mandabplus3]

Sure I can help! Anytime
 Is your child going to your local public school or a selective private school? it makes a difference to my answer. If it is your local public school the school has to take him if you are in their catchment. They have no choice he is the right age 
If however you are enrolling him into a private school (or possibly a public one outside of your catchment) then you may need to talk them into accepting him. Honestly the fact he can already read WILL be enough to convince them to take him. So just be prepared to prove it to them when they need to be shown.
You also have the option to tell the school that you disagree with the kindergarten teacher's opinion. Perhaps saying that you believe much of the issues are due to the nature of the class (below his intellectual level, unstructured play based learning, lack of acceleration, inexperienced teachers and assistants etc) and that you understand your child is young and are prepared to be flexible with his education should the need arise.
You need to get across the message that you are sticking up for your child and also that you are prepared to work with the school in decisions regarding his educational future. Its best to be upfront and let the school know that the kindergarten teacher has some concerns about his age and maturity but believes that academically he will excel. In Australia they cannot refuse entry to a child who is of the right age to attend school. In fact they cant even force you to repeat a child (until about 3rd grade from memory...)They could never force a child who can read to repeat a grade and are obliged to provide strategies to ensure your child is catered for in terms of behaviour management and education.
Honestly you will look back on this and wonder what all the fuss was about in a couple of years or even by April next year!

[kim tham]

Hi Mandaplus,
So sorry for late reply. I did read your post the other day and use your advices to get my son enrolled in school we wanted. Can't tell how useful your advice is to us. Thank you and I very much appreciate for that. Sometimes, I just love the nowaday world, like now, when I could have such great support from someone who I have any met in person, but give me helps that I cant have from all people around me

Back to my DS's story, his enrollment has been accepted. We had an interview with the principal last Thursday, she was impressed with DS's reading and math ability I also advised her the kinder issue and things turned better than I thought. Like you said, Mandaplus, "what all the fuss was about"

Thank you again Mandaplus.

[Mandabplus3]

You are quite welcome! Glad to be of some help. Enjoy the new path in a more supportive educational environment 

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