the big kindergarten decision

So we have been going back and forth about whether we're sending Gabe to kindergarten this year or next year. He will be 5 before the school year starts, but just barely. We were also concerned that all the children he knows will be beginning school this year and didn't want him to be left out. We also felt like if we said we were going to wait a year, that we were saying he isn't smart enough to start kindergarten yet.

We know he's smart enough. He is eager to learn, and is confident around other kids and adults. We're just afraid that he's not physically ready to sit still and listen all day. Plus, pretty often he still needs to take a nap in the afternoon, so there was another clue for us.

We also don't want to start him too early and then have him fall behind in later years. It's a known fact, boys do develop on a slower timeline than girls. I don't want learning to be hard for him, and for him to grow to hate school.

Craig brought up some good points too: We know he'll be average or a little above average if we start him now. (this is just based on what kindergartners are supposed to know and learn, and what we know Gabe already knows) But we also know that if we start him next year, he'll definitely be ready and he'll almost definitely be above average. We want to make sure he'll be able to have a good handle on the information he's being taught so that school can be fun. Another point of Craig's was his physical development. He may fall behind in sports or the physical activities simply because he's almost a year behind his peers. That can be a big problem for a little boy.

So, bottom line is we're going to wait a year to start kindergarten. He'll still go to Tuesday school at church, and we will continue our learning at home. We are currently working on recognizing letters and the sounds they make, and differentiating currency. We'll just keep going with that and hope we're making the right decision for him.