So why concern yourself over this huge mistake other people are making and putting their kids at a huge disadvantage (as the PP upthread said) making the kids likely bully targets who will get teased for being too old and too big (according to some)? If nobody is doing it, what is the problem? |
That's insane. She will be 19 when she graduates high school. |
So the fact that she was already slated to be in the oldest quarter wasn't good enough? You needed her to be at-least 10 months older than anyone else? How are her December-born classmates supposed to compete with someone 21 months older than them? And as for your last sentence, your daughter probably will do much better than all of her classmates, but it won't be because she's smarter. It'll be because she's ridiculously older. |
What cut off puts a March birthday in the oldest quarter? School cut offs are getting earlier and earlier all the time. Where are you that the cutoff is Dec 31 for entering K? That's not the reality for many people so you are likely applying a set of rules that doesn't apply in this situation. The chart below shows how out of date your assumptions are about the age spread of kids in the classroom are. Are you in Connecticut applying the before Jan 1 rule? https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp |
| Pretty sure it's the same troll (or just impenetrably ignorant poster) on each thread who always makes these posts with an implied grade eligibility cutoff date of Jan 1. |
As they get older, kids do question when a classmate is much older or much younger than others. For example, they do question when sixth graders have their Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and they'll ask if they got held back since most kids have their Bar or Bat Mitzvah in seventh or even eighth grade. I used to teach eighth grade (before moving grade levels), and I overheard, and intervened in, many conversations in which kids were not very kind when they had classmates who turned 15 during eighth grade. A frequent series of questions was, "Why? What's wrong with you? Did you fail a grade?" They also questioned, not always kindly, when their classmates were 12 for more than a few months of eighth grade. |
Honestly, that kind of response is probably just impulsive. Obviously, they have no right to be mad at the kid, as it was their parents' decision, not theirs, to redshirt. I mean, this older student was probably constantly outshining his or her classmates and winning every class competition, and when they found out that it was because they had an unfair advantage, it's only natural that anger would've been their immediate reaction. Wouldn't you feel angry if you found out that someone beat you unfairly? |
Nah, kids will tend to pick on any outlier, especially if the target isn't one of the "cool kids" in their class. Older, younger, taller, shorter, fatter, skinnier, top of class, bottom of class, etc. regardless if there is cause. You're certainly projecting here with the whole "constantly outshining" bit as the motivating reason. But a 13yo isn't going to magically constantly outshine a class full of 12yos academically just because they're a year older, unless they'd ALSO have been top of their class had they gone on time... in which case they've likely been done a disservice by being held back a year. There's probably a few years in there where they get a good advantage in sports just because of physical maturation and size, but again by HS that one-year advantage has disappeared. The top athletes make varsity teams as sophomores, as the year or two advantage the Jrs/Srs have is easily overcome by superior talent. |
Even in an area with a September 30th cut-off, a kid with a March birthday is still going to be on the older half. And redshirting a kid with a March birthday is going to make them at-least 7 months older than their oldest classmates and 18 months than their youngest classmates, which still gives that child a ridiculous advantage. |
How many March birthdays are redshirted? Is this really a massive problem? You seem like a hammer looking for a nail. How many March birthday kids are 18 months older than their younger classmates in any given classroom? This "problem" is exceedingly rare and it begs the question why you care about something so rare and unusual in the first place. |
| People are crazy about redshirting nowadays. My June 2016birthday daughter will be starting Kindergarten on time this year BECAUSE SHE'S READY, as are most children her age. I know a ton of families redshirted their spring-born children this year, so I know that she will be in school with children that have spring 2015 birthdays. We know a boy that has a May 2015 birthday and DEFINITELY should have been in Kindergarten this year, but his parents didn't want him to do virtual K and refuse to start him on time in first grade next year. It's absurd. He's going to turn SEVEN in Kindergarten. My seven year old is in 2nd grade right now. |
But not a March birthday? |
I'm referring to the one parent on here who claims to have redshirted their March-born child. |
I don’t know. My September birthday kid turned 7 the first week of first grade. So turning 7 in K maybe doesn’t seem as ridiculous to me as it would if my older kid had a spring birthday? My 2nd kid is May 2016 and he’ll be going to K in the fall on time, but it wasn’t until very recently that I thought he’d be ready for K by September. I have several friends with May/June boys who feel like some of the issues their kids have had in school have been related to being on the young side. For sone kids, I can see it being a tough call. |
My September child turned 6 in first so yes it’s too old. |