<p>I also strongly advise parents to consider having your son/daughter starting kindergarten at age 6, not age 5 too. The children get so much more out of their schooling overall. Oops. I suppose parents on this forum already have already started their child’s formal education. Ah well.</p>
<p>mommathree & mdh625 – I was very impressed with the offerings on goabroad.com which another CC’r mentioned. Though a lot of the opportunities are for graduate students or people over 18, they are not all like that. There’s also wheretherebedragons.com but I can’t see my kid in (say) Nepal…she’d love it…I would not.</p>
<p>limabeans – The minute I finish my Tardis I’ll get right on that!</p>
<p><<i’ve been=“” considering=“” a=“” gap=“” year,=“” but=“” my=“” kids=“” keep=“” finding=“” me=“”>></i’ve></p>
<p>(please find the humor in this given the limitations of cyberspace!)</p>
<p>I think the foregoing is very funny!</p>
<p><<i also=“” strongly=“” advise=“” parents=“” to=“” consider=“” having=“” your=“” son=“” daughter=“” starting=“” kindergarten=“” at=“” age=“” 6,=“” not=“” 5=“” too.=“” the=“” children=“” get=“” so=“” much=“” more=“” out=“” of=“” their=“” schooling=“” overall.=“” oops.=“” i=“” suppose=“” on=“” this=“” forum=“” already=“” have=“” started=“” child’s=“” formal=“” education.=“” ah=“” well.=“”>></i></p><i also=“” strongly=“” advise=“” parents=“” to=“” consider=“” having=“” your=“” son=“” daughter=“” starting=“” kindergarten=“” at=“” age=“” 6,=“” not=“” 5=“” too.=“” the=“” children=“” get=“” so=“” much=“” more=“” out=“” of=“” their=“” schooling=“” overall.=“” oops.=“” i=“” suppose=“” on=“” this=“” forum=“” already=“” have=“” started=“” child’s=“” formal=“” education.=“” ah=“” well.=“”>
<p>I could not agree with the foregoing, more. My first-born (born at the very end of December) is a good year to a year and four months younger than many of her grade peers. While she has done so well academically and socially, I think that the kids who got to be older for their grade have a decided advantage–documented, compellingly, in the book The Outliers. Very deliberately, our next child was planned for and born in the middle of the year. </p>
<p>It is my experience that “old for the grade” kids do better on the athletic field, in the social arena, and, even, mastery of academic material. Even their impulse control should be greater than that of their younger peers. I think that my child’s very high score on her SAT/Subject tests was a function of aging, neurologically, particularly because her PSAT score, two years earlier, would not have boded such a high score. So, clearly, the developmental differences narrow as one ages (not an original theory, I know) and manifest in performance and, it is to be hoped, increased equanimity, especially in the face of both academic and emotional challenge.</p>
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<p>K at 6: boys vs girls?</p>
<p><<k at=“” 6:=“” boys=“” vs=“” girls?=“”>></k></p>
<p>Both, say I.</p>
<p>My response to K at 6, gap year, public vs private, bottle vs breastfeeding, cloth vs disposable, really any choice for our children, is that it is an individual thing, and what may be good for one is not necessarily good for all. I’m glad your D is having a good gap year. If my S was to take a gap year, he would be playing video games 16 hours a day.</p>
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<p>This is not true – an excellent gap year option for a younger high school grad is a year-long foreign exchange, via an outfit like Rotary, AFS, YFU. The age range for foreign exchange is 15-18, and it is very common (and probably preferable) for students to do the exchange after graduating from high school, given the difficulties of scheduling that occur when students try to fit in an exchange during high school. </p>
<p>While I would agree that some options are limited for, a foreign exchange is a wonderful experience – and I personally feel that the same concerns (over/under 18) apply to college as well. In fact, in some ways a youngster living abroad is treated more as an adult than here, depending on the local customs, laws and attitudes.</p>
<p>blueiguana, if there were awards for CC posts, your post #20 would certainly win!
Hilarious!</p>
<p>My daughter’s good friend chose not to attend college this year. They both graduated last June. Instead, she has been traveling on her own since August throughout Eastern Europe, as well as Italy and other countries. Her favorite so far is Budapest, Hungary. She can’t seem to stay away from that place. She’s staying in hostels. Recently she met up with her father who is doing some business in India. She keeps in touch with friends and family through Facebook, email and Skype. I believe she bought a cell phone over there. She also purchased a laptop, but the keyboard is in Hungarian. :)</p>
<p>I’m not sure when she’s returning to the states or if she plans to extend her time over there. I do know that she marches to a different drummer, somewhat. A very bright girl, especially in the language arts. Her dream is to write a book…or more. I admire her for taking on this challenge…living out of a large duffel backpack for months. This is a gal who said she could NEVER live in a small dorm room with a miniscule closet. 
</p>
<p>Eventually she’ll need to come back to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life. I would hope that means going on to college and getting an education so she’ll have more options in the future. But, for now, she’s definitely having a learning experience! </p>
<p>**momofthreeboys wrote:</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily think the “gap” year has to be between high school and freshman year of college. Some kids just burn out mid-way of college and gapping a year then can be valuable. I think it’s a great idea at the right time and don’t think it’s a concept that should be “restricted” to between high school and college.</p>
<p>And mdh “gap year” isn’t a program per se, it’s simply delaying whatever the next step is for a year. It’s not affiliated with any educational system K-12 or college. Some kids work, some kids do some foreign travel or study, some kids volunteer for a year…it’s simply “time out”.**</p>
<p>^ This reminds me a bit of my brother, although he already had his undergrad when he went overseas. He worked one year after school, then simply packed all of his things up to my mum’s, quit his job, left his car, and got a eurail pass and was gone. Two months later he called and said he had a job and he wasn’t coming home. That was over 20 years ago. He now has his own firm, owns his flat, teaches graduate classes at the university, and still doesn’t come home. Oh, and he speaks English with an accent which drives us all insane!!</p>
<p>I guess the trick is to send them on that gap year before they run away!!</p>
<p>Some of my family live in England (as do I now) where it is pretty common to have a gap year before university. Hearing my cousin talk about his year rubbed off on me as I took one too. After HS graduation, I worked from June through December in an temp office job in my home town to raise money. It was hard that first fall when all my friends were having a great time at college and I was stuck working 9-6 in an office. Weekends, I would travel to visit them for football games and see them settled in with their room mates and sorority sisters and wonder what the heck I was doing (I think they thought that too!) </p>
<p>After Christmas I went on various organised programmes to: Namibia, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Costa Rica then home - I was gone 6 months, lived out of a big back pack (although bought a lot of, ahem, gifts at a lot of markets so had to keep sending stuff back!). It was an organised program, with a round the world ticket, meals and accomm provided at each location. I did a variety of volunteer work with children, animals, old folk, etc. I learned to live on very little money and made wonderful friends too. I was awfully homesick sometimes and the culture shock was very wearing at times too. India was especially hard work but an incredible, beautiful place.</p>
<p>I went back to work over the summer before heading off to college, where I also did a year abroad and various other travel programs</p>
<p>Maybe it’s in the family as my dad travelled to Europe against the wishes of his family back in the day, met my mother and we didn’t return to the US til I was about 13… I think a lot of us in our family march to our own drum, which causes no end of amusement from our friends and neighbors!</p>
<p>I think a “gap” year between UG and grad school is almost a necessity, in some fields. You need some work in the field to make you a better grad student. Or some work in any field to make you a more mature student. Grad school is not just more of the same UG!</p>
<p>I was not aware exchange students could do this after HS…thought it was only in HS. NOW you tell me! :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Ds who started K at four ( gasp) is taking a year and a half between undergrad and grad school. He finished his undergrad a year early and hadn’t prepped with GRE etc for grad school. We are not funding anything. He I living and working on his own.
As far as age for starting K so much depends on the kid. In his case preschool teachers wouldn’t keep him. Said he needed the challenge of next level. Same story with every teacher after that. We were not opposed to him repeating any grade but the schools wouldn’t do it. So it is fine to have a firm opinion about ages for school but circumstances and kid may intervene.</p>
<p>^ We have boys with summer birthdays. Two of them we questioned sending from pre to k, from k to 1, and from 1 to 2. We were told consistently the same thing ‘We don’t want them held, they will be board. There is no behavior problem, but hold them and you will have one.’ We listened with one and by hs realized the maturity issue was just who he was, not a developmental issue. With one we stuck in our heels knowing full well the independence that is required from 1st to 2nd grade…it’s a big jump he wasn’t ready for. We held him and have never regretted the decision once. One of our boys with a summer birthday would have been fine skipping a year if he hadn’t had a good deal of extended material available. He was, and is, a mature young person.</p>
<p>I strongly believe that beyond the given cut-off dates students are individuals and their readiness, both academically and maturity, can vary widely. A parents gut instinct is usually right.</p>
<p>JHS and I are NOT the same people. Don’t know anything about him/her, either- except info from CC (Philadelphia vs Wis location, for example). Under age kids can’t get hotel rooms. Travel from point A to B is different than taking a year to go about the country, it is very easy to put a kid on a plane, train or bus but they can’t sign into a hotel as minors.</p>
<p><<<jhs and=“” i=“” are=“” not=“” the=“” same=“” people.=“” don’t=“” know=“” anything=“” about=“” him=“” her,=“” either-=“” except=“” info=“” from=“” cc=“” (philadelphia=“” vs=“” wis=“” location,=“” for=“” example).=“”>>></jhs></p>
<p>Really?! Has anyone ever seen you and JHS in the same room, simultaneously, much like La Toya and Michael (who, too, I suspect of being one and the same).</p>
<p>I guess if you can afford it and you don’t mind not going to college when all your peers are go ahead. I never would throw away a year (just my opinion) but that’s just me.</p>
<p>Throwing away a year? Hardly. Not if you go with a plan. And having lived in another country is an increasingly desirable thing to have on your resume. </p>
<p>[Living</a> Outside the Box - Living abroad boosts creativity](<a href=“http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/index.php/Kellogg/article/living_outside_the_box]Living”>http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/index.php/Kellogg/article/living_outside_the_box)</p>
<p>My daughter will be barely 17 when she graduates. She’s already accepted early to a great college and is thinking of a gap year. She has lived abroad and is a confident and competent person and I would have no concern about her doing a gap year in the US or overseas. However, it can’t have a net cost, as we will still have four years of college ahead. So far, the programs with stipends seem to be for those 18 and above, which she would not be until the last six months of her gap year. Does anyone have experience with programs where at least basic living costs are covered but are open to those who will be 17 at the start. She’s flexible about what she would do, but would like to give back while experiencing something new. Thanks.</p>