Should Danny have waited a year to put Michelle in Kindergarten? What would you do?

[DTF955]

Can you tell I loved "Play it your way" adventures when young? :-) Okay, you are Danny Tanner. Before you go clean something, you have a dilemma created by your state's December 2nd cutoff date, with a birthday after which a child cannot be enrolled in Kindergarten. (Unless they're super smart.)

Your household will have at least one new baby in the fall. Your youngest girl is only 4 and a half, but she can count to 100, has reasonable manners, and has settled down since that stretch when you finally started to punish her. The pediatrician says you started really late, but she developed a concept of what good and bad was, and how to behave, so you didn't have trouble with her before then. When you did, even later, your oldest daughter stepped in and reacted when things got too rough, though she didn't correct every little sass, etc.; then again, neither do you. (In this adventure, it's going based on what happens psychologically with normal families where there's a struggling single paent.)

Your local elementary school has 3-4 classes per grade level. ("From Spellbound," the number of 4th grade winners/techer's.) One Kindergarten class is half-day, which you grew up with. (Full day is still not really common, and almost all that have a full day one also offer half day even now.) The others are full day. Jesse and Joey have helepd a lot, and are no longer doing much advertising, but you'd like to get Michelle out more. However, she'll likely be the youngest in any class. Here are your choices:

1. Put her in full day Kindergarten.

Pros: She is ready, wants to go, and doesn't need naps. She might be slower to read than her classmates, but they'll understand, and it's not overly structured. She'll be the youngest in her class, but that might make others take pity on her. Stephanie will be there for her at any time, like D.J. was for Steph in full-day - and Steph needed her when she was crying a couple tiems over Pam's death those first few weeks (we don't see this, but it's quite likely). That baby's going to cause lots of confusion. Pam was the mother, she didn't mind when Steph came home from preschool to baby Michelle. It'll help the whole household.

Cons: Is Michelle ready emotionally? Michelle might cop mroe of an attitude because she's the youngest in her class, trying to act tough and bigger to fit in; that's what Jesse did, and he was a real rebal. Is she ready socially? Preschool was 2 hours a day, this will be 6.5. She won't have any of her preschool friends, they're all going to the half-day one (whch explains why Michelle worries she won't know anyone.) Yes, Aaron might move up to full day, his mom says, but that's not a good thing.

2. Put her in half day Kindergarten.

Pros: Half day would put her with more of her friends. It's a transition to a full day of school. it's mroe than the 2 hours of nursery school, at 3.5 hours, but it's not as intimidating. Stephanie will still be there for her. but, since they remodeled the school, full day kids enter through that two-story part, half day ones through a one-story part.

Cons: She'll still be among the youngest, not turning 5 till November. She coudl still feel the need to cop an attitude to hide her true feelings. True, it's not preschool hours, but that's still 3 extra hours when the other adults would have to entertain her when she gets home, and once thta baby comes, that could be trouble. This is why you and pam wanted the kids spaced the way they were, after all.

3. Keep her in preschool one mroe year.

Pros: If she doesn't enter Kindergrarten till next year, she'll be the oldest kid in her class, and feel more confident. Stephanie will still be there, in 5th, jsut like D.J. was for Stephanie. In fact, Michelle will only be two months older than Stephnaie was when she started Kindergarten. The others can help Michelle work on reading, etc. at home - when they have time.

Cons: You hate to hold her back and force her to meet a new group of friends; she might not buy it when you explain that she'd have to make new friends in Kindergarten anyway. Keeping her occupied for 4.5 hours once that baby comes could *really* be taxing on the household. You might be stunting her acadmincally, unless you think Jesse or Joey can be good at helping her grow acadmincally. Jesse's influence is why she has some of the bad attitude she does.

4. Only in hindsight do you think you'd have held her back. Maybe you think Kindergarten when you only know the facts known after season 4 and in "Double Trouble." But, here is some more information which mght help you decide if in hindsight it would have been good.

You wouldn't know, in season 4, what her attitude would be like. Now, i think her behavior is mroe of a problem than attitude, in this instance, and it improved a lot in terms of obedience int he last 2 seasons. Howvever, I can understand where some of you come from, and i think paret of the attitude came from being the youngest in her class. She felt she had to act that way to stand up the older kids. She might have matured enough to be a good young schoolgirl if she waited, like Steph usualy was. (Then again, much of it was Jesse, too, and she'd hang around him most that year.)

You wuldn't know who her classmates would be. Denise was quite possibly in half day Kindergarten. Ironically, if you choose half day, Michelle might be best friends with Denise in Kindergarten, then meet another best friend the next year. Whereas, she's not best friends with Teddy or Denise if she's held back in preschool.

Being in preschool still means she might not sneak out, as she has nobody to do it with, in "Bachelor of the Month," and she might not have anyone to run away to later that year. (But, does she anyway?) Being in Kindergarten and not first means she wouldn't be going to that museum and wrecking the dinosaur that year. But, she'd still do Funny Buddy, and without the lessons learned, would she be wilder even after being grounded after Disneyworld? Or was she wilder because of the promise of fewer rules after the dinosaur? or, would she have done something like it aroudn then, anyway? Is her schoolwork pretty good, you feel, but becoming the oldest in her class would just be *so* much better the next two years? Or, could it be worse? When Stephanie meets Gia, what will happen? Or, will you try to work it so Steph can go to a different school? But, could you?

It was easy with Steph, putting her in full day when she was 5.5. She was mroe than ready academically and emotionally, and without Pam you all needed that. But, now what? Your'e Danny. Which do you choose?

[Ireneparalegal]

Waaaaaay tooooooo much info to read. I forgot what the question was.

[HugeTVFan]

Originally Posted by DTF955

Can you tell I loved "Play it your way" adventures when young? :-) Okay, you are Danny Tanner. Before you go clean something, you have a dilemma created by your state's December 2nd cutoff date, with a birthday after which a child cannot be enrolled in Kindergarten. (Unless they're super smart.)

Your household will have at least one new baby in the fall. Your youngest girl is only 4 and a half, but she can count to 100, has reasonable manners, and has settled down since that stretch when you finally started to punish her. The pediatrician says you started really late, but she developed a concept of what good and bad was, and how to behave, so you didn't have trouble with her before then. When you did, even later, your oldest daughter stepped in and reacted when things got too rough, though she didn't correct every little sass, etc.; then again, neither do you. (In this adventure, it's going based on what happens psychologically with normal families where there's a struggling single paent.)

Your local elementary school has 3-4 classes per grade level. ("From Spellbound," the number of 4th grade winners/techer's.) One Kindergarten class is half-day, which you grew up with. (Full day is still not really common, and almost all that have a full day one also offer half day even now.) The others are full day. Jesse and Joey have helepd a lot, and are no longer doing much advertising, but you'd like to get Michelle out more. However, she'll likely be the youngest in any class. Here are your choices:

1. Put her in full day Kindergarten.

Pros: She is ready, wants to go, and doesn't need naps. She might be slower to read than her classmates, but they'll understand, and it's not overly structured. She'll be the youngest in her class, but that might make others take pity on her. Stephanie will be there for her at any time, like D.J. was for Steph in full-day - and Steph needed her when she was crying a couple tiems over Pam's death those first few weeks (we don't see this, but it's quite likely). That baby's going to cause lots of confusion. Pam was the mother, she didn't mind when Steph came home from preschool to baby Michelle. It'll help the whole household.

Cons: Is Michelle ready emotionally? Michelle might cop mroe of an attitude because she's the youngest in her class, trying to act tough and bigger to fit in; that's what Jesse did, and he was a real rebal. Is she ready socially? Preschool was 2 hours a day, this will be 6.5. She won't have any of her preschool friends, they're all going to the half-day one (whch explains why Michelle worries she won't know anyone.) Yes, Aaron might move up to full day, his mom says, but that's not a good thing.

2. Put her in half day Kindergarten.

Pros: Half day would put her with more of her friends. It's a transition to a full day of school. it's mroe than the 2 hours of nursery school, at 3.5 hours, but it's not as intimidating. Stephanie will still be there for her. but, since they remodeled the school, full day kids enter through that two-story part, half day ones through a one-story part.

Cons: She'll still be among the youngest, not turning 5 till November. She coudl still feel the need to cop an attitude to hide her true feelings. True, it's not preschool hours, but that's still 3 extra hours when the other adults would have to entertain her when she gets home, and once thta baby comes, that could be trouble. This is why you and pam wanted the kids spaced the way they were, after all.

3. Keep her in preschool one mroe year.

Pros: If she doesn't enter Kindergrarten till next year, she'll be the oldest kid in her class, and feel more confident. Stephanie will still be there, in 5th, jsut like D.J. was for Stephanie. In fact, Michelle will only be two months older than Stephnaie was when she started Kindergarten. The others can help Michelle work on reading, etc. at home - when they have time.

Cons: You hate to hold her back and force her to meet a new group of friends; she might not buy it when you explain that she'd have to make new friends in Kindergarten anyway. Keeping her occupied for 4.5 hours once that baby comes could *really* be taxing on the household. You might be stunting her acadmincally, unless you think Jesse or Joey can be good at helping her grow acadmincally. Jesse's influence is why she has some of the bad attitude she does.

4. Only in hindsight do you think you'd have held her back. Maybe you think Kindergarten when you only know the facts known after season 4 and in "Double Trouble." But, here is some more information which mght help you decide if in hindsight it would have been good.

You wouldn't know, in season 4, what her attitude would be like. Now, i think her behavior is mroe of a problem than attitude, in this instance, and it improved a lot in terms of obedience int he last 2 seasons. Howvever, I can understand where some of you come from, and i think paret of the attitude came from being the youngest in her class. She felt she had to act that way to stand up the older kids. She might have matured enough to be a good young schoolgirl if she waited, like Steph usualy was. (Then again, much of it was Jesse, too, and she'd hang around him most that year.)

You wuldn't know who her classmates would be. Denise was quite possibly in half day Kindergarten. Ironically, if you choose half day, Michelle might be best friends with Denise in Kindergarten, then meet another best friend the next year. Whereas, she's not best friends with Teddy or Denise if she's held back in preschool.

Being in preschool still means she might not sneak out, as she has nobody to do it with, in "Bachelor of the Month," and she might not have anyone to run away to later that year. (But, does she anyway?) Being in Kindergarten and not first means she wouldn't be going to that museum and wrecking the dinosaur that year. But, she'd still do Funny Buddy, and without the lessons learned, would she be wilder even after being grounded after Disneyworld? Or was she wilder because of the promise of fewer rules after the dinosaur? or, would she have done something like it aroudn then, anyway? Is her schoolwork pretty good, you feel, but becoming the oldest in her class would just be *so* much better the next two years? Or, could it be worse? When Stephanie meets Gia, what will happen? Or, will you try to work it so Steph can go to a different school? But, could you?

It was easy with Steph, putting her in full day when she was 5.5. She was mroe than ready academically and emotionally, and without Pam you all needed that. But, now what? Your'e Danny. Which do you choose?

To Ireneparalegal:Just read the poll. To DTF955:Maybe Danny should've held her back only one year. Have to respond to both people! Yes that is crazy!

[Vegas Girl]

I voted for full day kindergarten. She was smart enough, and it would get her out of the way with the new babies in the household.