Age Cutoff for Kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Boyd School in NOVA will let them into kindergarten if they turn 5 by December 31.

Feeling sad for those kids whose parents let them do that.

Don't. I have 4 kids, all born between early October and late December. 3 of the 4 were pushed forward, and 2 of those 3 then also skipped a grade. Those two are in college now, after taking a gap year and traveling to different parts of the world. Somebody will always be shortest and somebody (else) will always be tallest. My kids were very unaffected by it. "I bet when you were 15 you were this short too; it's just that you're 18 now." The only thing that bummed them out was not getting the opportunity to drive themselves to school, but their friends picked them up most of the time. Don't feel sad for those kids. They're not all wandering around completely lost with poor fine motor skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Our DD's birthday is October 16, but we've been wondering about the possibility of her starting kindergarten at age 4. Does anyone know of private schools in the DC area that do not have a September 1 cutoff? Also -- I know Montgomery County has a process that can push back the entry date "six weeks," which the MCPS website describes as October 15. Is anyone familiar with that process, including whether they've ever made an exception where it's only a day later?

My DC's birthday fell in the six week window. They evaluate them on pre-reading skills and math (i.e. count out 17 bears) I'm not sure if they make exceptions but you can always ask.

It's not quite as simple as PP put it. There is an informal assessment along with seven tests. Kids have to achieve the passing score on all seven assessments - there's no averaging of the overall score. I've heard that there is some discretion vested in the school principal and I've heard there isn't discretion, it's all test scores.

But, there are private schools that might accept a child who didn't pass the MoCoPS assessment e cause the criteria is different.

[Anonymous]

It depends which school you're at too. At our local elementary, one third of the school is already working a grade above, so it's no big deal to be the oldest. There will always be another peer for those kids.

[Anonymous]

I have a summer birthday boy who went K on time..just turned 5. His best bud for all the years is a full year older with a Sept b-day. My son now 13 hit puberty early and looks/acts older than his friend. It will even out in a year or so but you really can't predict what the outcome will be for your child. I have no regrets. We just followed the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Boyd School in NOVA will let them into kindergarten if they turn 5 by December 31.

Feeling sad for those kids whose parents let them do that.

Don't. I have 4 kids, all born between early October and late December. 3 of the 4 were pushed forward, and 2 of those 3 then also skipped a grade. Those two are in college now, after taking a gap year and traveling to different parts of the world. Somebody will always be shortest and somebody (else) will always be tallest. My kids were very unaffected by it. "I bet when you were 15 you were this short too; it's just that you're 18 now." The only thing that bummed them out was not getting the opportunity to drive themselves to school, but their friends picked them up most of the time. Don't feel sad for those kids. They're not all wandering around completely lost with poor fine motor skills.

But you have to admit that school was very different back then, and your kids' kindergarten experience was likely not that unusual for the time. If they are in college now, then we're talking at least 15 years ago, when it was certainly more common to use the calendar year for age cut-off. Meaning that while a November birthday might be the youngest in the class, there could easily be some October and September kids that weren't that much older. To do that now in a school system that says the cut-off is September 1 would be much different (and yes, I'm aware the PP was talking about a school with a cut-off of December 31). Kindergarten is just not what it used to be, and the norm is for students to be five years old when school starts, and be at that maturity level.

[Anonymous]

Does the District of Columbia school district allow redshirting? The compulsory school age is 5, meaning that those who turn 5 on or before September 30th must attend school. But could kindergarten legally be delayed for a year in DC schools based on that, and attend kindergarten the following year at age 6, rather than 5?

[Anonymous]

MoCo is very strict about October 15...you cannot even try to get your child tested if the birthday is a day or two later. The deadline also applies to first grade, so you would need to keep your child in private school through first grade to skip him/her. Even with a year of private K, they will not push children ahead in most schools.

[Anonymous]

Sorry - submitted too soon. MoVo also has a compulsory law, & redshirting happens all the time. Parents either need to have children in a licensed prek or register to homeschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the District of Columbia school district allow redshirting? The compulsory school age is 5, meaning that those who turn 5 on or before September 30th must attend school. But could kindergarten legally be delayed for a year in DC schools based on that, and attend kindergarten the following year at age 6, rather than 5?

I don't know the answer to this question, but I do know several children who have repeated preK years and effectively waited a year for K that way.

[Anonymous]

Normally the age cut off applies to all students in K through 2nd grade. After 2nd grade its at the discretion of the principal, not in terms of skipping a year, but if a child comes from another state, or country having finished 2nd grade but is past the cut off date, they would normally put them in 3rd grade, because they have already got that far academically.

[Anonymous]

Just remember - push her ahead and someday she may be a 15 year old with 17 year old boys in her class. I'm in that boat now with my junior and it's not that fun.

[Anonymous]

Since the compulsory law in DC is 5 before Sept. 30, does that mean redshirting is NOT allowed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you really think of advantages to being possibly the youngest and/or smallest child in a class? IMHO as a long-time educator, it's not usually in the best interests of a child--even an extremely gifted child.

Yes: you're working at your ability all through high school and college and are not crushed by the stultifying boredom of being a year behind where you should be academically. Many kids (myself included) started in a school with a December 30th cutoff and moved to other school systems with earlier dates, guaranteeing that I was the youngest all the way through. It was never a problem, and my best friend in high school was someone who'd been held back in 1st grade (for legitimate reasons) and was therefore 14 months older than I was. It wasn't a problem.

Instead of concern-trolling all these posts on the assumption that no child could possibly be ready for kindergarten three (or six or ten) weeks earlier than another child, why not just answer the questions about the actual school options. To quote an old favorite poster: sheesh!

But that's not what happens. Kids who are gifted aren't steadily a year ahead of their peers. Instead, they learn at a different pace. So, if the teacher introduces least common denominators, and then spends 30 minutes on practice problems, the kid is not going to be challenged for 25 of those minutes, whether they're in 8 in 4th grade or 9 in 4th grade. Whether they'll be bored during that time, or they spend it doing something of interest, has to do with the curriculum (e.g. Is the material presented as a sheet of similar math problems, or is it something like a project that allows kids to challenge themselves by moving ahead or going into depth), the structure of the classroom (e.g. is a kid allowed to demonstrate knowledge by doing the last 3 problems correctly, and then skip the rest? Do you allow kids who enjoy working as peer tutors to do so?) and the personality of the kid. I don't remember being particularly bored in school, despite learning very quickly. I do remember the novel I wrote quietly in the back of my math notebooks, the elaborate dream worlds I built in my mind, or the fact that I'd practice translating the word problems into other languages. But I'm an introvert and spent a lot of time in classes where the teachers were happy to let me do my own thing if the work got turned in.

Now if your kid is ahead because they've been pushed academically, and not because they naturally learn quickly or have a eager curiosity, then pushing them will keep them ahead, but it will also teach them that learning is a passive, adult directed thing.

-- teacher who is a former gifted child and has experience with grade skipping from multiple angles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just remember - push her ahead and someday she may be a 15 year old with 17 year old boys in her class. I'm in that boat now with my junior and it's not that fun.

You know what its not going to make any difference. The world is full of 17, 18,19 year old boys.

Hell when I was 14 a college student came to our HS and cast me in his student film. My being 14 in 10th grade did not stop him trying to ask me out.

[Anonymous]

Just remember - push her ahead and someday she may be a 15 year old with 17 year old boys in her class. I'm in that boat now with my junior and it's not that fun.


You know what its not going to make any difference. The world is full of 17, 18,19 year old boys.

Hell when I was 14 a college student came to our HS and cast me in his student film. My being 14 in 10th grade did not stop him trying to ask me out.

Glad it worked out well for you.

I'll pass on having my DD hang with kids older than she for most of her school career. They grow up fast enough--no point in encouraging her to be a teenager before her time. MS is the worst--having her hang with kids older and going through all of that.

I've known people who pushed their kids ahead--and this is something that they regret--not because of academics, but because of the social issues that come later. So, you have a thirteen year old out in cars with 16 year olds. What could go wrong?