Wwyd?

The registration for the sept 2011 primary school intake opens on the 1st of september and I'm in 2 minds over applying for Aoife to go I've always said that I would register her and send her the earliest I could for purely selfish reasons but now the time is nearly here I'm worried that it will be the wrong thing to do. I was a july baby and started reception the september following my 4th birthday, luckily I was a reasonably bright student so never fell behind though at the same time I was not ahead either ...... I was reading on another forum about what is better for a child with regards to the month they were born and the age of starting school and it seems most people would have preferred their children to have been born in september and start school at 5, reasons include a more mature child, better chance of doing well at school and an extra year at home.
Aoife is a bright girl and I feel awful that she is stuck at home with me ALL the time, I was fortunate in one respect that I was able to work part time after having her and had my sister to look after her while I worked but it mean't she did not go to nursery so has never had the chance to play with other children or get out of the house away from us . I missed applying for her to go to nursery this september as the whole of feb all I could do to was try to stay awake or not feel sick so she is stuck at home for another year.
Aoife adores playing with other children at park if she sees them and is always talking about her friends which breaks my heart as her only friend is Imogen

Okay this has turned into essay which is what I want to know is will I really be emotionally and educationally harming her by sending her to school early or would it in fact be good for her? what would you do or did you do?

I would register her. A lot can change in a year, for her and for you, in all senses. You can always change your mind later and it will be much easier to change your mind if she's registered, than if she isn't.

Ollie is a July baby, his birthday is 31st July. So when he started school he was only 4 and a month. He struggled at first and he didn't really settle in until the end of reception year. We had wondered about keeping him out until the next year but we decided he would miss out on too much that way. The reception year is really important as it's a very gentle introduction into school life. I have no idea how Ollie would have coped if we had put him straight into year 1 as there is a bit of a culture change between reception and year 1.

Ollie is just about to go into year 3. He did his SATS at the end of year 2 and he is in the the top 5% of his year, despite being the third youngest in the year. We were confident we had made the right decision by the last term of reception year but we did struggle with guilt for the rest of that year.

As shadow said, you can always turn down the place but you will struggle to get her in if you don't apply.

Charlotte is an April baby so a bit older but I know she is more than ready for school, she needs the extra stimulation and is desperate to be able to read - unfortunately I am just not the sort of person who is able to give this to her at home. She also really misses her friends. While on holiday all she could talk about was her friends and now every day she is asking to go to pick Ben up from nursery so she can pop in and see her friends (she is home with Daddy at the moment and he just doesn't cut it as far as she is concerned!). So I am sure the social side of things is important.

Having said that though, only you can decide what you think is right for your child.

ETA Just to add to what has been said about reception - from what I have seen of Charlotte's reception class, it is very much like her nursery. It has a bit more structure but many of the activities and the classroom environment itself is very similar, so if you are considering nursery then school really won't be that different.

watching with interest as im worried about when dawn starts too ;(nov baby)

I'm lucky in that Bella is a September baby, so she'll be 5 by the time she starts, which is more than early enough for me

I think I'd go with what Shadow says and register now. At least you then know she has a place if she's ready for it and you can withdraw her from it if she's not ready.

Megan will be 4 years and 10 months (nov baby) when she starts (sept next year) i know she will be ready for it and I would apply for the place hun, you can always change your mind

The reception year is really important as it's a very gentle introduction into school life. I have no idea how Ollie would have coped if we had put him straight into year 1 as there is a bit of a culture change between reception and year 1.

WSS
Jack is a mid-August baby so was just 4 by a few weeks when he started in Reception, yes he was behind academically for a while, probably until about Year 4, but socially he was fine & loved school.

I personally think if she has been at home with you all the time & hasn't really had a chance to sociallise then going into Reception would probably be better for her than the huge shock of going straight into Year 1. As Shadow said, you can always put her name down and then change your mind when the time comes if necessary.

I think it is worth registering, as others said if you do that, you can delay making a final decision until closer to the time. I would look at pre-school/nursery in the meantime, as you will get the chance to see how ready she is. I used to work in childcare and I worked in nuseries and primary schools - there isn't much difference in terms of routines and so on, (in fact, primary school is a bit easier going as the day is much shorter than in nurseries, when they children can often be there from 7:30am till 6:30pm) and if she starts off a couple of days a week and then you build up, it will allow her to adjust to the new routine at her own pace and will also give you a really good idea of whether to hold off another year.

Does your chosen school not offer a January start?