Skipping Kindergarten

There is a process including testing that you must go through in order to go on to 1st grade. If you're considering this, then you need to contact Keller ISD as soon as possible to get all the info.

Mary is right. Keller ISD will only enroll a child in 1st grade if they are 6 before Sept. 1--regardless of previous kindergarten experience. Keller does screen all kindergarteners for gifted and talented--so if your child is gifted, they will be served through the GT program.

No, they will not let them skip. I had the same issue with my son who turned 6 in Sept last year. They have to take a test to get out of k. The test has very difficult social studies and science on it. Only 1% pass all the levels and not ONE kid has passed all the levels from what I have been told in multiple years.

It is a headache dealing with it. Tell her to stay in private school till after K, if she can afford it.

Hi E.,

I was a kindergarten teacher in a private preschool that offered full day kindergarten. Most of my students were children who did not make the birthday deadline for Keller ISD. Unless the rules have changed in the past two years it is my understanding that they will still need to go to public kinder to stay within their birthdate class year. Testing is available, but I was told by a few of the first grade teachers that they make it really hard to discourage kiddos coming in socially "too young" for first grade. Most kids who go to preschool - especially Pre-K - start public school more advanced than kids who do not. It's really a "catch 22" that most of my student's parents had to face as well.

I taught kindergarten for 10 years, my last year was in Keller. It isn't recommended to skip kindergarten. I think she will see that skipping (in the long run) isn't that great for the child.
I wouldn't recommend sending my own child to Keller ISD Kindergarten, it is a half day program and the focus isn't reading and writing. They will tell you it is but the kindergarten curriculm is way behind times. 1st grade in Keller is like kindergarten, that's where children get the "basics" of reading. In my opinion, that should be taught and fostered in kindergarten. Keller needs to go full day and move the 1st grade curriculm down to kindergarten. Stick with a private kindergarten or request a very academic kindergarten teacher in Keller.

Keller ISD will not promote a child to 1st grade if they have not turned 6 by Sept. 1. There is an exam, however, your child must be 5 and enrolled through kindergarten registration (usually happens in late March early April) at the elementary school within your attendance zone. Once your child is enrolled you can talk with the assistant principal about your 5 year old taking a CBE (credit by exam). Your child will take 4 tests (math, language arts, social studies, and science in June or July depending on when you register) during the summer in which they must score a 90% or higher on all of the tests to be able to advance to 1st grade. You can go to www.kellerisd.net Click on department, then assessment evaluation, and then Credit by Exam and kindergarten acceleration. This will give you the information you will need to have. Hope this helps.

E.,
What's your friends rush? I would rather have the oldest child in the kindergarten class, than the youngest child in the 1st grade class.

It'll be so much more important when they get to high-school. It's hard being younger, less mature than everyone else in your class.

As far as intelligence, school gets much harder as it goes on, so even if kindergarten is just a refresher, I'd keep them there. Then they'd have a really good foundation as they moved up.

My friends daughter moved here from California. Her little girl had taken Kindergarten in CA but she didn't meet the "6 yrs old before Sept 1st" criteria for TX. When she went to sign her up for first grade the district said she'd have to repeat K even though she could already read and write. But they also said that a few weeks after school started, they would test her to see if she could move up to first grade. They tested her and she passed with flying colors and is now in first grade. This all happened in Justin in the NWISD.

Yes, there is a process. If you child is not 6 prior to September 1 there is a series of tests the child will go through. The test starts at 8am and ends about 3pm. They get a lunch break for 1 hour. They take a series of 4 tests - math, science, social studies and language. They have to pass each section with a 90%. The tests are sent to Texas Tech University Education Department for scoring. We tested my daughter but prior to receiving the scores we decided to go ahead and put her in kindergarten. Reason for us was that she might be ready to start first grade, but will she be ready to start college when she is 17 (just about to turn 18). We were concerned that we were pushing her. She is very advance in kindergarten, however, I had conversations with her teacher and she keeps her challenged and motivated. She goes to Keller 1/2 day & Children's Courtyard Private Kindergarten 1/2 day. Hope this helps. Call Keller ISD administration about the test and they can help you get regisitered if that is what you choose.

I am putting my son in Private Kindergarten next year, and if he is up to par and passes tests, he CAN go into 1st grade before he turns 6. It's on a case by case basis.
The law only gives statements about Kindergarten (public school). You have to be 5 by Sept. 1st. Texas law does not give age requirements for 1st grade, however it is typically up to the school district. My advise is for her to call the administration as I did.
E.

Being a former Kindergarten teacher, I strongly recommend that you not skip Kindergarten .. It usually doesn't affect a child in the younger grades but by the time they get to middle school it definitely does. It is always better for them to be older than younger.

J.

Hi E..
I'm not sure if the KISD will promote or not. But I will tell you that Kindergarten and most of the early years in grammar school are not only times that children learn different levels of education, but it is also a time for children to grow and Mature. Putting a child in a class with children that are older than they are and more mature can be very hard on a child later on even if they are on the same learning level. My child turned 5 the day Kindergarten started. She was very smart and always tested very well. She tested on a 4th grade level for Reading and Math at the Child Study Center in Ft. Worth. However, she was almost a year younger than all of the kids in her class. By the time she was in 4th grade she was having such a difficult time with the maturity levels that it affected her school work and she had to be held back. In doing so she then thrived and by the time she was in middle school and high school she was in all advanced classes. Had I known then, I would have definitely waited a year for her to start. I know that all kids are different, but it's something that should be considered. If you decide not to have your child skip a grade, work with your childs teacher on a curriculum that will best suit your childs need for a higher level of learning than others in his class so that he is not bored.

It's my understanding that it's Texas State Law that they must be six before Sept 1st to be enrolled in 1st grade. Even if they've gone to a private kindergarten. If they're young and have completed 1st grade at a private school, then they will allow them to go into 2nd grade as a younger student. My oldest son also skipped kindergarten, so he continued at that private school for 1st grade and then we switched him to a very academically challenging private school after that to ensure he's challenged. If her child is as advanced or smart as she thinks they are, she likely will want to keep them in private school. There are services that can do the IQ testing, etc. if she's not had that done before. She also needs to consider that there's more to school than just the school work and that social skills and maturity are almost more important to a child's success in the early years.

I don't know all the rules, but it seems you got enough answers about that. I will say that my sister started my niece in school early. She had a September birthday, so she had her enroll in private kindergarten and first grade. Mansfield ISD didn't look at age in enrolling in 2nd grade, so that's how she got through that loophole without testing. However, my niece is now in 8th grade. She does just fine with academics and always has. Her problem now lies in the fact that she's much more immature than all the other children. She has a lot of relationship issues and social problems being that much younger. Plus, she's a very petite girl. Even if she were in 7th grade where she should be, she'd be super tiny. She's now staring at high school for next year feeling extremely insecure about all of it. More so than most girls getting ready for high school. My sister says that if she could do it over again, she wouldn't have started her early.