Almost 7 year old in kindergarten!!

[Anonymous]

Even if there aren't parties, birthdays are celebrated in Kindergarten- children say today is my 7th birthday!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

oh plenty of people on this thread (as parents!) seem to know the birthdays of every child in the class. very curious.

Why on earth is it curious? People have parties, you get to know families. Our class size caps at 24 and we only had 22 kids. Is it really that hard to believe that you'd be at least moderately, socially friendly with at least the majority of the 16 or 17 of those families who actually show up at events and get involved in stuff at the school?

Yes, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

oh plenty of people on this thread (as parents!) seem to know the birthdays of every child in the class. very curious.

Why on earth is it curious? People have parties, you get to know families. Our class size caps at 24 and we only had 22 kids. Is it really that hard to believe that you'd be at least moderately, socially friendly with at least the majority of the 16 or 17 of those families who actually show up at events and get involved in stuff at the school?

Yes, actually.

You are nuts. Birthday talk is prevalent among children ( be they in Kindergarten, fifth grade, or 7th)...and are you forgetting the ubiquitous birthday calendar reviewed DAILY during circle time. Schools are communities where kids are vested in the lives of their FRIENDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

oh plenty of people on this thread (as parents!) seem to know the birthdays of every child in the class. very curious.

Why on earth is it curious? People have parties, you get to know families. Our class size caps at 24 and we only had 22 kids. Is it really that hard to believe that you'd be at least moderately, socially friendly with at least the majority of the 16 or 17 of those families who actually show up at events and get involved in stuff at the school?

Yes, actually.

I agree with you. We are friendly with maybe five families, not 16 or 17.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

oh plenty of people on this thread (as parents!) seem to know the birthdays of every child in the class. very curious.

Why on earth is it curious? People have parties, you get to know families. Our class size caps at 24 and we only had 22 kids. Is it really that hard to believe that you'd be at least moderately, socially friendly with at least the majority of the 16 or 17 of those families who actually show up at events and get involved in stuff at the school?

Yes, actually.

You are nuts. Birthday talk is prevalent among children ( be they in Kindergarten, fifth grade, or 7th)...and are you forgetting the ubiquitous birthday calendar reviewed DAILY during circle time. Schools are communities where kids are vested in the lives of their FRIENDS.

funny how I was held back and no one really knew until HS when I got my drivers license first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

oh plenty of people on this thread (as parents!) seem to know the birthdays of every child in the class. very curious.

Why on earth is it curious? People have parties, you get to know families. Our class size caps at 24 and we only had 22 kids. Is it really that hard to believe that you'd be at least moderately, socially friendly with at least the majority of the 16 or 17 of those families who actually show up at events and get involved in stuff at the school?

Yes, actually.

You are nuts. Birthday talk is prevalent among children ( be they in Kindergarten, fifth grade, or 7th)...and are you forgetting the ubiquitous birthday calendar reviewed DAILY during circle time. Schools are communities where kids are vested in the lives of their FRIENDS.

My kids didn't have that in kindergarten.

Birthdays were read over the announcements at school, but my kids didn't come home and tell me about everybody's birthdays in the class. And even if they had, I wouldn't have known how old the birthday kid was; just that the birthday kid had a birthday.

[Anonymous]

My daughter will turn 7 the summer (July) after she completes K.

We are doing this b/c we adopted her from China when she was 2.5 and she had an unrepaired cleft lip and palate. We have had that repaired and she is now in speech therapy, but is very behind in speech. VERY behind. The facial and mouth muscles in kids with clefts -- esp. if repaired late -- never get the same experience with even things as simple as babbling so they have to learn to work all these muscles after the repair is done and the muscles have a chance to heal. It is very new to them to learn how to utilize all these things. Before repair, most of them do not move their palates at all and just make vowel-y sounds.

So, anyway, long story short, despite her having a July bday, we are having her start K right after she turns 6 that July. The extra time will give her an opty. to catch up in speech , and, well, just other things as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter will turn 7 the summer (July) after she completes K.

We are doing this b/c we adopted her from China when she was 2.5 and she had an unrepaired cleft lip and palate. We have had that repaired and she is now in speech therapy, but is very behind in speech. VERY behind. The facial and mouth muscles in kids with clefts -- esp. if repaired late -- never get the same experience with even things as simple as babbling so they have to learn to work all these muscles after the repair is done and the muscles have a chance to heal. It is very new to them to learn how to utilize all these things. Before repair, most of them do not move their palates at all and just make vowel-y sounds.

So, anyway, long story short, despite her having a July bday, we are having her start K right after she turns 6 that July. The extra time will give her an opty. to catch up in speech , and, well, just other things as well.

This is the reason my DD was held back - also a July bday. She was adopted at an older age and needed time to catch up emotionally, socially, and academically.

[Anonymous]

We redshirted our May boy. It's been great for our dear boy! He isn't bored at all and has great friends to boot. His last report stated he was a rules follower and as such, probably a joy to his teacher. He regularly is invited to his friends homes and we have daily playdates. The children all seem to get along. Maybe we are just lucky- we go to a fantastic school. His pre k is a perfect mix of academics and play. It is religious based so many of the families share the same religion.

He isn't much older than his peers. I don't know all the children's birthdays of course, but I do know there is at least one other May and of course several June, July, and August redshirts. Actually I only know two children not within 12 months of my child. His two youngest buddies are another May not redshirted and a September who will redshirt. Of course these are only the families we know of, there may be children much younger, for example children who skipped a grade.

I wouldn't worry too much if a child is 5 for 9 months inkindergarten and 6 for one and a half months. For most of the year the child is the same age as the vast majority of the children. Further, your child will likely make friends with children older and younger in the classroom and throughout life. Are you also unsettled by a child who skips a year (which could result in a larger age age gap than your typical redshirt).

If you think a child is disturbing the classroom or bothering your child, let the teacher know and perhaps the parent. Most parents want the best for their child and yours and would want to correct any misbehavior. That said, I would think the more mature the child, the less misbehavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We redshirted our May boy. It's been great for our dear boy! He isn't bored at all and has great friends to boot. His last report stated he was a rules follower and as such, probably a joy to his teacher. He regularly is invited to his friends homes and we have daily playdates. The children all seem to get along. Maybe we are just lucky- we go to a fantastic school. His pre k is a perfect mix of academics and play. It is religious based so many of the families share the same religion.

He isn't much older than his peers. I don't know all the children's birthdays of course, but I do know there is at least one other May and of course several June, July, and August redshirts. Actually I only know two children not within 12 months of my child. His two youngest buddies are another May not redshirted and a September who will redshirt. Of course these are only the families we know of, there may be children much younger, for example children who skipped a grade.

I wouldn't worry too much if a child is 5 for 9 months inkindergarten and 6 for one and a half months. For most of the year the child is the same age as the vast majority of the children. Further, your child will likely make friends with children older and younger in the classroom and throughout life. Are you also unsettled by a child who skips a year (which could result in a larger age age gap than your typical redshirt).

If you think a child is disturbing the classroom or bothering your child, let the teacher know and perhaps the parent. Most parents want the best for their child and yours and would want to correct any misbehavior. That said, I would think the more mature the child, the less misbehavior.

Your child is in a kindergarten class, not a pre-k. The amount of redshirting is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Some kindergartner are 6 most of the school year and some are 5 most of the school year. Almost redshirted children turn 7 in the summer of at the he ending of the school year. They spend almost the entire school year as a 6 year old.

I asked a high school teacher friend of mine about this- he had no clue how old each of his students were...

[Anonymous]

Is it really that hard to believe that you'd be at least moderately, socially friendly with at least the majority of the 16 or 17 of those families who actually show up at events and get involved in stuff at the school?

Yes, actually.

Sorry to hear you feel that way. I guess either (1) you aren't very friendly, (2) the other families at your school aren't friendly, or (3) your kids don't do sports or activities that require you to sit around and chat with other families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Is it really that hard to believe that you'd be at least moderately, socially friendly with at least the majority of the 16 or 17 of those families who actually show up at events and get involved in stuff at the school?

Yes, actually.

Sorry to hear you feel that way. I guess either (1) you aren't very friendly, (2) the other families at your school aren't friendly, or (3) your kids don't do sports or activities that require you to sit around and chat with other families.

NP - but saying hello to other families and engaging in idle chit-chat does not mean we know everyone's kids birthday. Besides at our school, there are a lot of immigrant families who don't actually speak English.

[Anonymous]

I don't know all the birthdays, but my daughter knows every child's birthday and we did have a class list come home with all the birthdays. No years, though.

[Anonymous]

I cannot imagine any first grade or Kindergarten class where the teacher does not acknowledge the child's birthday. I taught both K and first grade, and, while I did have it on the calendar and brought it up in circle, it was the rare birthday child who didn't come in the door telling everyone that it was his/her birthday. As far as the age, we would clap the number. This was a few years ago when it was the custom to "spank" the birthday child--yes, I am old. I would always let the child pick a friend to do the "spanking"--which was "pretend". I doubt I would do this if I were teaching today, but it did used to be the custom.