I had been thinking about having the Monkey tested to start Kindergarten early. It has been on my mind since he was a toddler, because he has the special joy of having an early October birthday. With the traditional cutoff date for age qualifications sitting at August 31, he almost always has to wait a year to start activities like soccer and baseball. A very frustrating thing for him. He’s also very bright though introverted which makes the decision more difficult because then you wonder if he really IS ready for school.

Mr Puffles has been rather non-committal about my whole dilemma or lack of dilemma in his eyes. He sort of sees the Monkey as perfectly ready to start school. The dilemma lies more in whether or not I want us to pay for private school (Montessori) or just to put him into public school.

So, I have decided NOT to start him early. I certainly believe that he could handle the curriculum, but I think that his introverted personality might make him struggle a bit more than necessary in addition to being one of the youngest if not THE youngest child in his class. The Monkey is certainly very mature and focused, but his introversion doesn’t make him a confident child.

Of course, waiting a year won’t make him an extrovert, but I hope that he will continue to gain confidence in his own wonderful skills and knowledge. Besides, he will have many more years to sit at a desk.