My son's kindergarten class has several 7 yr olds in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 19-year-old "men" thing is just bait. I went to a subpar suburban high school many years ago and there were plenty of 19 year-old "men" there. They had been held back. Many of them had troubled family lives, no academic support at home, police histories, etc. I don't know if I'd say they were "trouble" for those not in their group, but the situation was not great. Nobody was up in arms about it though, yet somehow it is kids with parents affluent enough to buy them an additional year of preschool, boys whose parents are concerned enough about their social-emotional development that they think they need extra "time" or OT for their small motor to develop -- these are the boys you are so worried about???? You think these kids are "mollycoddled" but you also think they are going to turn into hardened rapists?????

Two words.
George Hugueley.

Technically, they're two proper nouns.

[Anonymous]

It is hilarious that there are people freaking out about their sons or daughters going to high school 19-year-olds. You should start your own list serve with topics like - If I go to a baseball game will I get killed by a foul ball? or What if I'm slow climbing on the Metro, will the door cut off my arm? or Should we put all 19-year-olds in jail because they are older than my 13-year-old. YOU MAKE NO SENSE. GET A LIFE.

[Anonymous]

How sad for this little boy! What must this do to his self esteem?

Anonymous wrote:Her redshirted child was rejected at the first choice school but admitted at the second choice school. It's a little awkward, because her DC is currently in K and doesn't understand why he will be in K again next year. He may be young, but he's smart enough to know that his classmates are going onto first grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A very close relative redshirted her (May birthday) DC this year--WPPSI score in the high 90s and no developmental delays. She just thought that in this competitive admissions process, her DC would appear to be a stronger, more mature and more compelling applicant if compared to "younger" kids. So for those of you pretending that anyone who redshirts must be doing so for "honorable" reasons, you can drop the Pollyanna act.

Did it work? Why do schools go along with this? Can't they push back? At our school, I know of at least one case where the parents would have liked to redshirt and the school insisted on placement in the higher grade.

[Anonymous]

The difference is that those 19 year old men at your high school were held back for legitimate areas--they weren't faring well academically and they failed their class. Holding your child back for no reason other than you happened to read "The Outliers" (i.e. a lot of redshirting on this board) is hardly a sympathetic cause.

quote=Anonymous]The 19-year-old "men" thing is just bait. I went s support at home, police histories, etc. I don't know if I'd say they were "trouble" for those not in their group, but the situation was not great. Nobody was up in arms about it though, yet somehow it is kids with parents affluent enough to buy them an additional year of preschool, boys whose parents are concerned enough about their social-emotional development that they think they need extra "time" or OT for their small motor to develop -- these are the boys you are so worried about???? You think these kids are "mollycoddled" but you also think they are going to turn into hardened rapists?????

[Anonymous]

Here in Virginia the cut off for kindergarten is Sept 30th. So mu November born twins have to wait for kindergarten because they missed the cutoff by 5 weeks. It sucked! They were academically ready, but 5 weeks too young. Couldn't do anythign about it. SO my kids will be turning 6 in kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just have to think that all the parents who are so up in arms about red-shirted kids must have very young kids, either not in elementary or just starting. You are weaving all sorts of scenarios, based on what? Those of us with older kids -- middle school, high school -- seem to agree that in our kids' grades it isn't that big a deal.

I have older kids and it WAS a big deal in middle school. BMOC=Big Men on Campus Syndrome. One poster said GDS goes Feb/March so I assume a 14 month spread. Some privates might have a 22 month spread. Big difference.

[Anonymous]

I have older kids as well, and from my observation the BMOCs were the ones who hit puberty early, were star athletes, and had the desire and personality to BE a BMOC. This was not especially correlated with birthdate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here in Virginia the cut off for kindergarten is Sept 30th. So mu November born twins have to wait for kindergarten because they missed the cutoff by 5 weeks. It sucked! They were academically ready, but 5 weeks too young. Couldn't do anythign about it. SO my kids will be turning 6 in kindergarten.

The cutoff where we live is Oct. 1. DS turned 5 on Sept. 1, and is thriving in kindergarten. DD is a March birthday, so no problem, but #3 is due October 15. I'm gonna start jogging at 37 weeks to make that darn cutoff.

Where we live (an affluent area with top schools in a medium-size city), I think most parents would be surprised and a little bothered to have a 7 year old in kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

But yet, there are plenty who are holding their precious little ones back to give the gift of time.

Yes, in our days, it was not glossed with a term like "redshirting", but rather held back, failed, or some other negative connotation.

[Anonymous]

Actually it still is. Most people in the D.C. metropolitan area still don't know about redshirting and it wouldn't occur to them to hold their child back. If they hear of a 7 year old in Kindergarten, they will just assume that the child failed Kindergarten a couple of times.

Anonymous wrote:But yet, there are plenty who are holding their precious little ones back to give the gift of time.

Yes, in our days, it was not glossed with a term like "redshirting", but rather held back, failed, or some other negative connotation.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about it. Turning 6 at some point during the Kindergarten year is expected. Now if your children turned 6 before the school year even started, that would be a whole other story...

Anonymous wrote:Here in Virginia the cut off for kindergarten is Sept 30th. So mu November born twins have to wait for kindergarten because they missed the cutoff by 5 weeks. It sucked! They were academically ready, but 5 weeks too young. Couldn't do anythign about it. SO my kids will be turning 6 in kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't worry about it. Turning 6 at some point during the Kindergarten year is expected. Now if your children turned 6 before the school year even started, that would be a whole other story...


My oldest son was 6 when he started K. My younger son will also be 6 when he starts and neither one of them will have been held back. Both of their b-days are the first week of September so they miss the Sept. 1 cut-off. They both turn 5 a couple of days later. Waiting the year to start K when they were supposed to meant that they both turned 6 about a week before classes actually started.

[Anonymous]

12:51: My DC has a few 6 y.o.s in PreK class and will be 6 1/2 in September when they start K.

[Anonymous]

My 6 1/2 year old DD is in the same first grade class with a boy who will be 8 on the last day of the school year.

The mom told me that she held him back so that he wouldn't come under the influence of older boys in middle and high school, not realizing that she was then making HER son that older (and now also bored and acting out) boy.

[Anonymous]

Oh, no, not that. You mean he is going to turn 8 on the last day of first grade! Horrors! I can't believe he is going to be 8 when he starts second grade. The only 8 year old boys in the class should be the boys who turn 8 in the fall otherwise it's not fair!