So There Taking Away Naps I School Now?

[Second Home]

Here in MD our county has not done naps for 12 years ( could be longer than that I am just going by my oldest dd ) .

And full day K for 8 years .

[Lucy]

Here, you have to turn 5 by September 1st, and our school year starts after Labor Day. So all kids are 5 before they even start Kindergarten.

Also, Kindergarten is half day here, so no need for naps. I have two girls in PM Kindergarten right now, and they go from 12:50 to 3:30.

[Lucy]

Parents could always choose to wait a year, nothing wrong with that. I personally wouldn't send a 4-yr-old either.

Depends on your state. One of my DC kids' birthday is end of August. He was always a little less mature anyway, and with him barely turning 5 a couple weeks before he was to start Kindergarten, his mom and I thought that she could just go to the school and say she wanted to hold him out another year.

Not so easy. They have to test them to see if they're ready, and THEY make the determination. In this boy's case, they felt he was ready, so he went. He was in AM Kindergarten, so I just had him nap an hour after school every day. It has all turned out fine - he's in 5th grade now and doing well.

My point is, not every state/school district lets YOU just say "I'm keeping my kid out one more year".

[Candy]

My point was if there are two parents & they both work that they could work different hours to shorten their child's time in school. Don't blame it on the school if your child is there so long, make changes to make it shorter for them or delay sending your child if they are only 4 - no one will make you send a 4-year-old.

Uhm wow ok many people cant just up and change their schedule and you have to send your child to school here at 5 so you can't hold them back. Nobody's blaming the school and shocking tho most kids in our school district have 1 parent.

[Candy]

Depends on your state. One of my DC kids' birthday is end of August. He was always a little less mature anyway, and with him barely turning 5 a couple weeks before he was to start Kindergarten, his mom and I thought that she could just go to the school and say she wanted to hold him out another year.

Not so easy. They have to test them to see if they're ready, and THEY make the determination. In this boy's case, they felt he was ready, so he went. He was in AM Kindergarten, so I just had him nap an hour after school every day. It has all turned out fine - he's in 5th grade now and doing well.

My point is, not every state/school district lets YOU just say "I'm keeping my kid out one more year".

I herd there was a lady who kept her kid out a year because he was smaller and she wanted him to be bigger than the other kids an more athletic. I don't think that's what she told the school her reason was but if true that would be one of the dumbest excuses ever.

[Annalee]

I herd there was a lady who kept her kid out a year because he was smaller and she wanted him to be bigger than the other kids an more athletic. I don't think that's what she told the school her reason was but if true that would be one of the dumbest excuses ever.

This happens here alot. To be such a small school, sports rules! My son is 12 in 6th grade and he has some 14 yr old boys in his class because parents wanted the extra size in sports. I think it is, not only a dumb excuse, but a selfish one on part of the parents as well.

[TwinKristi]

They don't have nap time in kinder here and it's full day. I know a Kindy teacher in another area of my state and they have half day and said if they had full day they'd need to include nap time?? Not here.

[sahm1225]

We haven't had naps in kindergarten here for years.

My dd birthday is august 27 and the cut off was august 31st. School doesn't start until after labor day so all kids will be 5 by the time school starts. I asked about holding her back a year and apparently it is not an option in our state.

Kids adapt. My DS is in kindergarten now. He goes from 7:45am -2:45pm. He wakes up around 6:45am and goes to bed at 7:15pm. His body has adapted and he wakes up and goes to bed at the same times even on the weekends and school off days. The first month of school may be harder since they are adjusting to a longer day and no naps, but kids are tough

[Scribbles]

Not all states require Kindergarten:

15 states plus DC mandate kindergarten attendance (kids are required to have attended kindergarten before enrolling in first grade.)
35 states do not require that children attend kindergarten (kids can go right into first grade at the compulsory age for attendance)

Each state has a compulsory age in which children are required to be enrolled in school.

In 8 states plus DC the compulsory school age is 5
In 25 states the compulsory school age is 6
In 15 states the compulsory school age is 7
In 2 states the compulsory school age is 8

Most states say that once a child is enrolled in school, they become required to adhere to mandatory attendance rules.

http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=32

[SilverSabre25]

I was in kindy more than 20 years ago and we didn't nap! It was only half day.

Honestly if your child still naps I don't think they're ready for school.

[craftymissbeth]

I was in kindy more than 20 years ago and we didn't nap! It was only half day.

Honestly if your child still naps I don't think they're ready for school.

Exactly.

OP - I didn't catch what state you're in. Here in Kansas the compulsory attendance age is 7 AND children may not enter kindergarten until they are 5 (I don't remember the cut-off date for the 5th birthday). So if I had a 5 year old still falling asleep during school hours they would either be homeschooled that year or start kindergarten when they're older.

Honestly, if a parent chooses not to rearrange their schedule or to homeschool and they STILL have a problem with the no-naps policy then they need to rethink their priorities. It's not the school's problem... the responsibility of making sure your child is ready for kindy falls on the parents' shoulders.

[Unregistered]

We are going to all day kindergarten next year. Kindergarten is not mandentory but if your child doesn't attend they will be sooo far behind.

We will be the only 6 hour kindergarten in our area-Most are 7:45 to 3:30/3:45 with either a 1/2 day on Fridays or no school at all on Fridays.

[renodeb]

I recently read an article about how they are eliminating nap time in preschools because of rising curriculum demands. I have never heard of nap time in kindergarten though. IMO american children are severely behind on sleep. Parents want to hang out with them in the evenings instead of putting them to bed on time. Naps are essential to a child's development. Eliminating them would be a huge mistake in any setting.

[Candy]

Im in Louisiana for prek they have to be 4 by Sept 30th and 5 by the same date for K. But school here starts the second week in Aug. I do agree that kids don't get enough sleep, I remember catching a movie at 11 at night at the theater and kids were everywhere. No kid should be up at that late.

[Candy]

For the states that K isn't mandatory I would imagine that child would be very far behind unless the parent was teaching them at home.