This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
School Restraint
Mar
3
2008
When you have children, make sure they are born in the spring. Then you’ll avoid any problems and decisions about whether to start them in school early or hold them back and start them late. My wife and I are trying to decide what to do regarding sending our son to kindergarten. Do we send him now? Should we hold him back a year?
I enjoyed high school, and I think I missed some trouble because I was on the young side – being naive has its advantages. On the other hand, I don’t know if I may have enjoyed school better being older.
If we start our child in kindergarten now, then he will be four when he starts but he will turn five a couple of weeks later. That seems to be the right track, but then he will be only 16 when he starts his senior year, and that seems too young. On the other hand, he seems ready for school and has almost completed a year of pre-school.
If we wait a year, we can always supplement his schooling and teach him things at home, ahead of his school schedule. If we start him now and he turns out to be not ready, what are our options? Either he struggles through school or we hold him back a year. What will be the worse option for a child: having to repeat a grade or being a grade ahead in some subjects? From the child’s point of view, those choices are: am I not good enough or am I smart? How would you rather have your child feel about himself?
“Give {instruction} to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase {his} learning. ”
– Proverbs 9:9
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 11:23 pm and has been carefully placed in the Family category.
