Something happened the last year my daughter was in preschool, everyone started talking about birthdays. Not fun topics like, “What kind of cake are you serving, but tough ones like, ‘are you holding your daughter back another year because of her birthday?’”
I was stunned. Should I?
My daughter is a “summer birthday” (a term used to define children who barely make the cutoff for kindergarten because of their birthdays). Other moms would ask about this strange “summer birthday” and want to know what I was going to do about it. Huh? Well, I guess have a party?
They weren’t talking about parties (bummer, because I’m great at that subject). They were talking about Transitional Kindergarten. A phrase I am familiar with these days as my “summer birthday” daughter is a proud student in TK . . . or in some circles JK.
She loves it, and so do I. It is the perfect environment for hands-on learning, social development, and early skills. She plays and learns and laughs. She is learning to concentrate, she never complains about going to school, and she is starting to read and write new words everyday.
Childhood development varies. Some “summer birthdays” may excel in Kindergarten, while others need another year to work on gross motor skills and concentration. For my daughter, it was concentration. She needed another year to learn to focus (a trait I am sure she gets from me) so she could get the most out of a kindergarten setting.
If you are in the middle of the “summer birthday discussion” . . . you are in luck. There are a tremendous resources to help you make the best decision for you and your summer babe. Read this insightful article from Scholastic about the rise in popularity of a Transitional Kindergarten year. It was enlightening!
You can also have your child tested to evaluate their readiness. We visited with physiologist, Terry Hudson Huntley. She spent time with our family and gave us insightful information which allowed us to make an educated decision. The most creative tool Terry used was when she asked our daughter to name all the animals she could in thirty seconds. She named only one. I was stunned, clearly our five-year-old knew more than just one animal!? She did, but in those thirty-seconds she talked about the first animal she named and how much she liked it. Before she knew it, time was up. The point of this exercise wasn’t to test her knowledge of animals, rather to test her ability to concentrate.
Many independent schools offer a Transitional Kindergarten year and almost all preschools offer a comparable program. Research your options carefully and keep an open mind.
Finally, trust your instincts. You know your child best. Don’t worry too much about what everyone around you is doing and be prepared for a ton of unsolicited advice (some good and some downright judgmental). Go with what is right for you knowing your “summer birthday” will learn at their own pace, no matter where they end up!
7 comments
We LOVED the TK year. I can now see the full benefit since my daughter is in K this year. She is in full blown learning mode. TK set her foundation for a love of school. She is excited to go every single day. I just hope it continues through high school.
TK has been the best decision for our son. We knew he needed a little more time socially and for maturity reasons. It took me some time to narrow out the best TK program for him. Some schools are half day and some are full day. We found the best schooling by going the 9:00am-1:00pm followed by an afterschool camp from 1:00-3:00. It has been the perfect way to get him ready for the full day next year and socially ready at the same time.
Thanks for this post…it sounds exactly like my summer birthday daughter. That “unsolicited advice” is everywhere, so it’s great to hear that your daughter really thrived in TK!
When our second child (summer birthday girl!) was in 4 year old preschool, the teachers suggested we consider TK. At first I was a little taken aback, like you think my child isn’t “smart enough” for Kindergarten?? But after a lot of thought, research & prayer, we did decide a TK year would be beneficial for her…and it was GREAT! She gained so much confidence & focus! And I realized that her preschool teachers only had my daughter’s best interests at heart & wanted her to succeed & flourish just as much as we did! Bonus: I also like knowing that when she starts high school she will have an added year of maturity!
I spent several years as a private school admissions director, and kindergarten age was our most controversial issue. I infuriated several paretns with the suggestion that a transitional year might be a good idea. Finally for several families, I decided to leave the decision in their hands. I was not surprised that they came back to discuss their child in a much less confrontational way. As a “gatekeeper,” I can say that the admissions decision was always about helping the child to thrive. Nothing else was important.
Love this- thank you! And who is most upset that my son will be attending TK next year and not “big school”? His older sister by 19-months. She is devastated that he will be two years behind her instead of just one. She’ll get over it (someday) and we know it is the best decision for everyone involved who really matters!
Great post! We did this w/ our summer b’day girl. All testing, all teachers said she did not need to go to TK/JK, but we wanted to look past K’garten and look at our summer b’day girl going to middle school, high school, and college not as the youngest but now as one of the oldest in her class. We will do the same thing w/ our 4 yr old son who has a late April b’day. He will also be the oldest in his class, but late April is only 1 month from being a “summer” b’day, so he is TK/JK bound as well. The unsolicited comments about “why in the world would YOU do this w/ YOUR children” can definitely catch you off guard. As I often say about many things in life, “it’s a good fit for our family, but may not be the best thing for every family.” I am thrilled with our decision for our 1st grader!