Experience as a summer birthday at Sidwell, Beauvoir, Potomac?

[Anonymous]

In my DDs class at Beauvoir, only 2 kids were already 5 at the start of the school year - both had late August birthdays. There are other summer birthdays in the class including my DD who are all doing fine. All the discussion on these boards about redshirting had me nervous for my daughter - that the age gap between her and the oldest child in the class (most likely a boy) might be very large - but I am very happy to say that in her class all the kids are close in age and it makes for a very nice group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my DDs class at Beauvoir, only 2 kids were already 5 at the start of the school year - both had late August birthdays. There are other summer birthdays in the class including my DD who are all doing fine. All the discussion on these boards about redshirting had me nervous for my daughter - that the age gap between her and the oldest child in the class (most likely a boy) might be very large - but I am very happy to say that in her class all the kids are close in age and it makes for a very nice group.

Thanks, PP. This is helpful. And I assume you are talking about PK4?

[Anonymous]

In my experience, the most important factor in your decision should be whether your child is intellectually ready, and not so much whether they are physically bigger/smaller or behaviorally mature. And I would always err on the side of pushing them ahead rather than keeping them behind.

My oldest son is a November birthday, so he is slightly past the September cutoff. When he was in PK many years ago, his DC private school called us in the second week of classes and asked to move him up from PK to K because he was intellectually ready.

We agreed and have never regretted the School's decision. He is now a 12-yr. old 7th grader in a class in which most kids are already 13 yrs. old and some will turn 14-yrs. old over the summer. He is at the top of his class, confident, athletic, popular and well-rounded. Oh and he's not even the very youngest in the class anymore as a child who came from another country started school even earlier. I also know that the School has made the decision to move at least one other child slightly past the September (October) cutoff forward a grade.

My third son is July birthday. He was initially slow to speak and required some early speech therapy when he was a 2-yr. old. By the time he was ready to apply for PK at the same DC private school, he had mostly caught up and we decided to go ahead and apply for his natural grade level (and not hold him back). Although he does seem a little childlike relative to his peers, again, we are very happy with the decision to forge ahead. He is a happy, friendly and intelligent 6-yr. old 1st grader who does well in school, is liked by teachers and peers, and is confidently reading the Harry Potter books.

My other son and daughter are both April birthdays in their natural grades. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know whether the current K and 1st grade classes at Beavoir tend to have a lot of kids who were redshirted?

[Anonymous]

Very impressive. Which school?

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, the most important factor in your decision should be whether your child is intellectually ready, and not so much whether they are physically bigger/smaller or behaviorally mature. And I would always err on the side of pushing them ahead rather than keeping them behind.

My oldest son is a November birthday, so he is slightly past the September cutoff. When he was in PK many years ago, his DC private school called us in the second week of classes and asked to move him up from PK to K because he was intellectually ready.

We agreed and have never regretted the School's decision. He is now a 12-yr. old 7th grader in a class in which most kids are already 13 yrs. old and some will turn 14-yrs. old over the summer. He is at the top of his class, confident, athletic, popular and well-rounded. Oh and he's not even the very youngest in the class anymore as a child who came from another country started school even earlier. I also know that the School has made the decision to move at least one other child slightly past the September (October) cutoff forward a grade.

My third son is July birthday. He was initially slow to speak and required some early speech therapy when he was a 2-yr. old. By the time he was ready to apply for PK at the same DC private school, he had mostly caught up and we decided to go ahead and apply for his natural grade level (and not hold him back). Although he does seem a little childlike relative to his peers, again, we are very happy with the decision to forge ahead. He is a happy, friendly and intelligent 6-yr. old 1st grader who does well in school, is liked by teachers and peers, and is confidently reading the Harry Potter books.

My other son and daughter are both April birthdays in their natural grades. Hope this helps.