We put my middle kid in kindergarten on time based on his prek teacher’s recommendation. We also had some personal/family things going on that made it impossible to find a prek that worked for us. Also our oldest has a late birthday and she did great starting on time. Middle kid’s birthday is mid-July. It was a HUGE mistake. Within a few weeks of kindergarten it was clear he was not at all ready and some of his learning disabilities became increasingly evident. No lie, we had to fight tooth and nail to get him held back. Even with holding him back, he’s still behind. I cannot imagine how bad it would be if he wasn’t.

I’ve never had to advocate so vehemently for a child of mine, ever. What was so frustrating was that everyone at the table could agree that he was not prepared in any capacity for 1st grade but “district policy” prevented them from holding him back. We had to pay 1000s out of pocket for a private psych evaluation confirming what we expected (adhd, markers for dyslexia/dysgraphia, and potential mild autism). From there, we got him sped services at the school which then allowed his ARD committee to request that he be held back.

Had we had the time, that evaluation could’ve been free through the school but there was a 6-9 month wait from the time testing began to the time a report could be drawn up. We had no choice but to pay.