kindergarden

[fayemercier]

is it wrong to not send my 3 year old to school full days in September instead of next?She turns 4 on December 1st this year. Everbody looks at me like I am doing something wrong here when i tell them she is going to school this year but next.

I notice that you are from Ontario. No, you do not have to send your child to junior or even senior kindergarten until you think he/she is ready. I know several parents that keep their children home or in preschool until grade 1. Personally, I'm a working Mom and send my kids to child care in someone's home. Although I love our caregiver, I have found that both preschool and kindergarten have done wonders for my boys - preparing them for grade 1. I've reviewed the full day kindergarten program and can't wait to enroll my youngest - if it ever comes to our school Again, it's your call and only you know what's best for your child and your family. Don't let anyone tell you what to do!

[cushiebunny]

As a side note and slightly off topic, we signed our daughter up for JK this past week and I was blown away by how much it has changed since I was a kid.
Love the fact that there is a healthy snack put out each and every day for the JK and SK to nibble at whenever they want or need.
If my daughter had to enter last year I don't think she would have been ready... nor would I have been. She is a March baby and big for her age, but I think some of the wee ones I saw registering just did not look quite ready yet.
I'm guessing they must be fully potty trained by the time school starts, but many of the smaller ones were still in diapers.

[oddduck]

My daughter will be 4 in August (born Aug 2007) and is starting JK this year. It's full day every other day at the school she will be attending, and she will be bussed. My main concern is toileting. She's afraid of big toilets and still uses a potty, or at least a potty seat at home. She's pretty petite (36"/32lbs) so the size of toilets intimidate her.

From what I've heard. in Ontario apparently there is nothing in the education act that children must be toilet trained before starting school, though school administration may deter you from registering if they aren't.

If I didn't work outside the home, I may have kept her home until Grade 1. I have a friend that kept her son home from JK, and sent him in SK without issue.

[crystal_03]

my son started full day kindergarden last year at 3 and absolutly loved it!

[cmoody8107]

My son and the little girl I watch will be starting full day - 5 days a week Junior Kindergarten in Sep. 2012.
Nicholas (my son) will be 3 when he starts - 4 in October.
The little girl I watch will be 4 when she starts -5 in February.

The school mine youngest will be going to (where my oldest went and is still there in grade 3) has a day care / class room feel. Its not as structured as class room but not as free style as a day care.

There is a JK teacher, a ECE, 1 ECE Placement Student & 1 High School Coop Student in the class for the majority of the year. Class room sizes are limited to 15 max. (This year there is 2 - JK classes)

[cmoody8107]

My daughter will be 4 in August (born Aug 2007) and is starting JK this year. It's full day every other day at the school she will be attending, and she will be bussed. My main concern is toileting. She's afraid of big toilets and still uses a potty, or at least a potty seat at home. She's pretty petite (36"/32lbs) so the size of toilets intimidate her.

From what I've heard. in Ontario apparently there is nothing in the education act that children must be toilet trained before starting school, though school administration may deter you from registering if they aren't.

If I didn't work outside the home, I may have kept her home until Grade 1. I have a friend that kept her son home from JK, and sent him in SK without issue.

Alot of the school nows have mini toilets in the Kindergarten rooms. (like a mini washroom) The school my son will be attending has 2 little toilets both in little stalls with 1/2 height doors. (Not directly in the classroom - there is 2 rooms in one - the classroom then a coat area - with a door to outside, and 4 sinks, & a mini fridge)

[savess]

cmoody, I'm guessing this is some kind of private school? I thought there was a cap of 30, but someone else told me they are not capping. I should check. Like I said above - 27 little ones in my DS's JK class. Oh, and no washroom or cloakroom in the class.

[ninna]

I was in the similar situation last year, though, it was only regular kindergarten (full days every other day), NOT the full day, every-day kindergarten that our province is headed toward.

DD was a mid December baby. Oh, how I cringed at the idea of sending a 3 year old on the bus every other day for a 75 minute ride each way and a full day of school. Yup. You read that correctly. 75 mins each way for the ride.

But, I have to say--she LOVES school and even on the very first day, this little 3 year old waving good-bye to mommy all confident and stuff. She was ready. Mommy was not. Mommy cried all the way down the hall back to her car and had to take the day off work to weep profusely and bake things as a distraction. LOL.

We were lucky though. Nearly half of her classmates were December babies too--so there were a lot of 3 year olds in the same situation and I think that made it better because she didn't seem so little by comparison.

[Natalka]

Gee, ninna, that's a long bus ride each way. When our son was bussed, the school division had a max of 60 minutes a child could be on the bus - and yes, there were years he was on the longest time. However, what they always did - depending upon where your home fell on the route and schedule - was that you only had one long trip per day. So either the child was picked up early and was home relatively soon after school was over, or picked up later in the morning and had the longer bus ride after school. It was always best for my son to have the longer ride in the morning -

Check with the school division to see if they have a policy on this - if not, maybe one can be implemented.

[ninna]

Gee, ninna, that's a long bus ride each way. When our son was bussed, the school division had a max of 60 minutes a child could be on the bus - and yes, there were years he was on the longest time. However, what they always did - depending upon where your home fell on the route and schedule - was that you only had one long trip per day. So either the child was picked up early and was home relatively soon after school was over, or picked up later in the morning and had the longer bus ride after school. It was always best for my son to have the longer ride in the morning -

Check with the school division to see if they have a policy on this - if not, maybe one can be implemented.

Yeah, we have a policy. It’s 75 minutes maximum. lol.

But what a difference the bus driver makes! We fought the board because of the bus stop issues. We live at the edge of a town and they wanted our kids to walk down a busy highway (70km is posted speed) with no sidewalks to the nearest bus stop in town. How does that make ANY sense?

We went along with that until winter hit and the snowbanks were enormous. We tried asking the bus driver to make a small but easy adjustment to the route that would make everyone’s life safer. He refused.

So, we took our complaint to the school and wouldn't back down til we got a stop in front of our house. We had a very supportive Principal and she advocated for us and we won. But it took us 6 months of driving the kids ourselves before the battle was said and done. Out of principle, I would not put them back on that bus til it was resolved to my satisfaction.

After that decision though, the ride became 75 minutes long because of the way the route was planned to accommodate the new stop. The driver could have altered things to make it shorter for everyone (including himself!!!) but he refused to. I think it was out of spite and he didn’t like us complaining.

Fortunately, about halfway through the next year, we got a new driver who took one look at the route and said, “this is ridiculous!” Why on earth would they do it this way because THAT makes absolutely no sense!” So he took it upon himself to change the route and the ride is now 50 minutes. He got positive reinforcement from us every day and a LARGE bus driver gift at the end of the year.



Sorry OP. I've strayed off topic. Wasn't trying to hijack your thread.

[Natalka]

Well, that was a much better resolution!

[RMurp007]

As a retired teacher, I can tell you that children who start school later benefit more because they are always the oldest in their class and therefore, much more mature. This becomes very important in later grades when peer pressure is strong. Those who started early wind up being the youngest, less mature, more easily picked on and usually a little behind academically.

[Natalka]

RM - as a teacher, too, I know that's totally true generally!

Then I went and had a son who was born end of Oct., so was always one of the youngest in his class - was reading well before four years old, later in the extended learning opportunities program, and was quite mature.
It just depends on the child, in the end.

[ninna]

As a retired teacher, I can tell you that children who start school later benefit more because they are always the oldest in their class and therefore, much more mature. This becomes very important in later grades when peer pressure is strong. Those who started early wind up being the youngest, less mature, more easily picked on and usually a little behind academically.

I hadn't thought about it that way before....but it makes sense. Real common sense. (I hate it when common sense eludes me. LOL.)

[kris10]

Well, that was a much better resolution!

I agree,now that you mention it,lol. My birthdays in November and I always wondered why eveyrbody seemed ahead of me,lol.