I know what the advice says, but I ignored it.
Kindergarten enrolments are open again and every parent with a four-year-old born in the first half of the year is deciding whether to enrol their child in school next year.
A few years ago I was one of those parents.
My son is a March baby and basically from the moment he was born everyone asked “when will you send him to school”.
I’ve researched and I’ve read all the advice: “hold your child back or you are a horrible parent” and “don’t ever send boys, it is the worst thing you could do for them”.
I viewed it like I view all parenting advice I’m given. I consider it, take it on board, and then, if necessary, completely ignore it, do the opposite and follow what my gut says is right for my child.
This was one of those times and I, confidently, sent my four-year-old to big school.
I get asked all the time “why did you send him?”.
Of course, I can’t really give a direct answer to that but I can tell you that I, 100% believe each child should be considered on their own merit not on their birth date or their gender.
And, more importantly, I will not decide when to send my child to school based on whether he can attend schoolies legally when he finishes high school. Yes, I actually had people say to me “but he won’t be 18 when he finishes school.”
Not that it matters but isn't it better he won’t be 18 and tempted to go pub-crawling while doing HSC exams? (As an August baby myself, I admit to this being a real issue).
Also, parents need to understand that school is not all about social skills and whether children are outgoing or as many people call it 'socially ready'. If anything, my son’s social skills were the least developed of all his skills.
He was quiet and reserved and still cried sometimes when I dropped him off at preschool and, yes, I still sent him.
But, from the day he started school my son has thrived. He thrived on the routine, the work and he just flourished in the whole school environment.
