The opposite of redshirting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP why are you even thinking about any of this? Enjoy your child and don't worry about it. And by the way, when you and your husband read and wrote really doesn't have much bearing on when your son will. I was also an early reader and my kids haven't turned out to be. Who cares, they all learn to read eventually.

Not all.

[Anonymous]

New York for the most part still has a Dec. 31 cutoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP why are you even thinking about any of this? Enjoy your child and don't worry about it. And by the way, when you and your husband read and wrote really doesn't have much bearing on when your son will. I was also an early reader and my kids haven't turned out to be. Who cares, they all learn to read eventually.

Not all.

I knew someone would say this. Anyone lurking on DCUM and pondering issues of red shirting is going to have a kid that learns to read eventually. I do understand that some children never learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Fairfax, it varies by school. I know a girl at our elementary school whose birthday is Nov. 5. After private K a year "early", school interviewed her and decided she was ready for 1st.

I don't think it varies by public schools in Fairfax County. They don't take 4-year-olds in kindergarten. However, as you noted, if a child starts private K a year ahead of their eligibility for FCPS, they can test into first grade in FCPS. In other words, a 4-year-old can't start kindergarten in FCPS, but a five-year-old can test into first grade.

[Anonymous]

I actually think it's a mistake that they have moved away from earlier ages in kindergarten.

Most research shows that the sooner kids get formal education, the better.

So all of the constant hand-wringing about how other countries are so far ahead of us, and yet we put into place policies that mean there will be a slew of kids (all of them with september, october, november and december) birthdays who are then forced to enter kindergarten so much later.

In my opinion, the cutoff should be december, 31. And the school system/state, instead of preventing kids from coming into kindergarten at 4, should put more effort in discouraging parents from redshirting.

I have an october birthday. my husband has a november birthday. one of my siblings has a december birthday. ALL of us entered K at 4 and were ALWAYS at the top of our class.

It wouldn't be a problem if we had universal pre-k. But I believe the current situation hurts working class families the most, as they are the ones who don't qualify for headstart but also can't afford an expensive private kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP why are you even thinking about any of this? Enjoy your child and don't worry about it. And by the way, when you and your husband read and wrote really doesn't have much bearing on when your son will. I was also an early reader and my kids haven't turned out to be. Who cares, they all learn to read eventually.

Not all.

I knew someone would say this. Anyone lurking on DCUM and pondering issues of red shirting is going to have a kid that learns to read eventually. I do understand that some children never learn.

You are wrong. Even DCUM lurkers and posters have children who will never read fluently. I am a parent of a child who will never learn to read fluently - red shirting or not. He has several LDs. It does not mean the he will not go to college. It does not mean that he isn't intelligent. It just means that despite years and years of intervention, he will not read fluently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually think it's a mistake that they have moved away from earlier ages in kindergarten.

Most research shows that the sooner kids get formal education, the better.

So all of the constant hand-wringing about how other countries are so far ahead of us, and yet we put into place policies that mean there will be a slew of kids (all of them with september, october, november and december) birthdays who are then forced to enter kindergarten so much later.

In my opinion, the cutoff should be december, 31. And the school system/state, instead of preventing kids from coming into kindergarten at 4, should put more effort in discouraging parents from redshirting.

I have an october birthday. my husband has a november birthday. one of my siblings has a december birthday. ALL of us entered K at 4 and were ALWAYS at the top of our class.

It wouldn't be a problem if we had universal pre-k. But I believe the current situation hurts working class families the most, as they are the ones who don't qualify for headstart but also can't afford an expensive private kindergarten.

Is everything in this post stupid and false?

There is no research that indicated an earlier introduction to formal education is better. Quite the opposite, there.
You realize that changing the cutoff date a few months changes nothing, right?

[Anonymous]

Everyone talks about how great the Finnish schools are. Kid in Finland don't start until they are 7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone talks about how great the Finnish schools are. Kid in Finland don't start until they are 7.

Finland's actually pretty overrated and the Finnish experience isn't relevant to our system of education. About the only thing that can be learned from the Finns is to value teachers more.

I hate it when people invariably trot out the "But! Finland!" canard.

[Anonymous]

OP - we currently have my daughter in a Private K program because she misses the Fairfax County cut-off by 11 days. She is 100% ready for Kindergarten. Just because her birthday is after the cut-off we felt it was wrong to have her do another year of Pre-K. My son's first grade teacher did not think I was crazy. She knows how smart he was and his sister is even smarter.

Fairfax county won't budge on allowing someone to test into K. So you will need to do private if you are in FFX County. Look for an accredited private school. You can find this on the State of Virginia Private School website.

How is our daughter doing? She is reading & writing. First one in her class to get through 20 word lists of 20 words at least on each word list. She LOVES Kindergarten. Her dad and I both started K as 4 year olds and both graduated college as 21 year olds. We would prefer that our daughter is the LAST to learn to drive or become legal instead of the FIRST.

Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

My children are currently in HS. Most of the kids who were held back and most of the kids who were pushed in early do fine. However, while almost all of my aquaintance were very happy with their decision in elementary school, things changed in Middle and High School. Kids go through puberty at different times and it is a time of social flux. If your child is much older or younger than his/her co-hort they will be more likely out of step with their friends during that time- this makes their life harder at a time when it can already be difficult. Most of my friend who were totally comfortable and glad they had made the decision in ES wavered during MS/HS and some have rued that decision soley on the maturity (or lack there) of their child. Don't just base the decision on academics, think about the social and emotional maturity (or lack there of). Think hard about the whole child.

Just remember, it isn't just about where they are now (4 or 6), it is about where they will be when they are 12-14 and where they are when they enter university.

[Anonymous]

Arlington will have the conversation, but it's not easy. If you can provide a strong case for your child, many of the schools will have several teachers talk to him, "interview" him, read with him, etc. to see if they think as a group he's ready. And it's not just academics, they'll look emotionally and developmentally as well. But if you can make the case and they agree, it can happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure in VA it is a state law that Sept 30 is the cutoff. In Arlington I don't believe there's any budging on this. It has happened that kids do private Kgn and then can test in early for first grade, but don't believe they will take kids for kindergarten who missed the cutoff.

Now that schools in fairfax county have gone to full day k, is there a chance they will push back cutoff dates? I read somewhere that in MD, cut off dates have been changed multiple times from Dec to Sept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure in VA it is a state law that Sept 30 is the cutoff. In Arlington I don't believe there's any budging on this. It has happened that kids do private Kgn and then can test in early for first grade, but don't believe they will take kids for kindergarten who missed the cutoff.

Now that schools in fairfax county have gone to full day k, is there a chance they will push back cutoff dates? I read somewhere that in MD, cut off dates have been changed multiple times from Dec to Sept.

Probably not since the cutoff date is already September 30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP, I am an early October birthday. I started K at 4. It was in California, though.

The only time it posed any issues was in later teen years when I was always the last of my peers to get a driver's license, turn 18, turn 21, etc. But in hindsight, that wasn't very traumatic. And it's balanced now by the fact that I'm the last to hit 40, etc. Turnabout is fair play.

In California at that time, the cut off was 31 December (I don't know if they changed it since then, but I have a 29 year old friend who went to school in California and that was the cut off date when he was there.) An October birthday there was well before the cut off, so there would be lots of other kids with similar birthdays. Very different from being almost a month younger than the next youngest kid in the class.

No matter how smart a child is, he or she still is developing physically and emotionally. Intellectual, physical, and emotional development all take place at different rates and advancement in one does not guarantee advancement in the others.

Your blanket statement about California is incorrect. I grew up in CA as well, but in our school district, schools started in mid August and the cutoff was August 31st. I have an early September birthday, and my parents somehow got me in the year I turned 5 by keeping me at preschool until after my birthday. I'm guessing there were a lot more loopholes in the 80s than there are now.