Just about a month ago, we attended Ace’s first ever parent/teacher conference. We had already gone to a few of the Montessori open house nights, and of course we toured the school before we started, but this was our first opportunity to sit down with the teacher and ask personal questions.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous before our meeting! When I was a teacher, we didn’t do scheduled conferences, but instead had informal sit downs with parents any time they wanted to chat. Scheduling a conference seemed too formal and adult. Despite having two children and a husband, most of the time I still feel like I’m 13 years old, so this was quite an adventure. At that point Ace had been going to school for about 6 weeks, but he wasn’t yet sharing much about his daily activities (he has since opened up and started telling us every.last.detail of his days). I was so curious to hear what his teachers would say!

The meeting went just fine. Ace is doing well and enjoys school, has a lot of friends, and loves doing projects. Then his teacher let us know that they have Ace on the “kindergarten track.” This means that they expect him to go into Kinder in August, instead of completing an additional year of preschool. I was shocked and didn’t know what to say in the moment. Ace has an early October birthday, so I always assumed he would just be the oldest in his class, not the youngest. However, his school has their own cutoff and they generally are ok with students going into Kinder as long as they turn five by 10/15, and that both the teachers and parents feel they are ready.

He still fits in a baby swing, it's too hard for me to imagine him in Kinder!
He still fits in a baby swing, it’s too hard for me to imagine him in Kinder!

I’m not so sure we will go that route. My husband is all for it. I have reservations. I haven’t done any research yet, but my first instinct is that being the very youngest kid in his class, possibly starting college at age 17, might not be the best idea. My husband thinks it isn’t an issue. He doesn’t see the difference between a kid with a September birthday or an October birthday… what’s one month if the kid is ready? Plus, there is the financial aspect. Private preschool is certainly not cheap, and once he starts K we will no longer have to pay a hefty tuition. I worry about social issues, maturity, and bullying.

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When Ace’s teachers asked what we hoped Ace would get out of this year of preschool, my husband and I had very different answers. I said that I wanted him to have fun, make friends, play outside, and have more fun. Mr. Jellyfish’s answer had a lot more to do with academics and reading. Things that Ace certainly enjoys and will learn to do eventually, but nothing that I am worried about at this age. Since then we have had a lot of discussions about this, but we still aren’t on the same page. I am hoping that we can get there before we have to make these tough choices.

There is so much to consider, and after the new year, I really need to make some time and start doing some research. In April, his teachers will give a “formal recommendation,” and we will need to decide what we want to do by the end of that month. It’s a little frightening that we have to make a decision that can alter Ace’s entire educational future when he is only four years old!

Anyone else have a child with a Fall birthday? What did you decide about school readiness?