This age discrepancy due to "redshirting" is ridiculous

[Anonymous]

What is totally annoying is that the sports don't coincide with the school cutoff. It's almost as if these sports teams are trying to get kids to redshirt. Why have a July 1st or July 31st cutoff when the school cutoff is Sept. 30? People should be asking these sports teams to change their cutoffs to at least Sept. 1st if not Sept. 30th. There's no reason children in August and Sept. should have to play on teams 1 year less than the year they are going to school for and have to compete against kids over a year apart from them if they do want to play with their school friends. I'm sure this is the real reason 3 of the 5 older kids I knew redshirted. That and to possibly have a better chance to get into AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is totally annoying is that the sports don't coincide with the school cutoff. It's almost as if these sports teams are trying to get kids to redshirt. Why have a July 1st or July 31st cutoff when the school cutoff is Sept. 30? People should be asking these sports teams to change their cutoffs to at least Sept. 1st if not Sept. 30th. There's no reason children in August and Sept. should have to play on teams 1 year less than the year they are going to school for and have to compete against kids over a year apart from them if they do want to play with their school friends. I'm sure this is the real reason 3 of the 5 older kids I knew redshirted. That and to possibly have a better chance to get into AAP.

Agreed. I'm told from many parents they do it with boys to hope they get college scholarships in sports. If a kid is that good, a year many not make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is totally annoying is that the sports don't coincide with the school cutoff. It's almost as if these sports teams are trying to get kids to redshirt. Why have a July 1st or July 31st cutoff when the school cutoff is Sept. 30? People should be asking these sports teams to change their cutoffs to at least Sept. 1st if not Sept. 30th. There's no reason children in August and Sept. should have to play on teams 1 year less than the year they are going to school for and have to compete against kids over a year apart from them if they do want to play with their school friends. I'm sure this is the real reason 3 of the 5 older kids I knew redshirted. That and to possibly have a better chance to get into AAP.

Agreed. I'm told from many parents they do it with boys to hope they get college scholarships in sports. If a kid is that good, a year many not make a difference.

Actually, sports is the one place where there is quite a bit of evidence that being older translates to a distinct advantage. Not so much for education in the long run, but for sports it is absolutely advantageous.

[Anonymous]

I'm forced to hold DD back - her birthday is 10/15 and stupid ass FCPS won't let her test into kindergarten 2 weeks before she turns 5. Nope, let's waste an entire year and do NOTHING (with regard to her as she has to sit home for a whole year whereas in MOCO she'd be in K). Even if she reads, writes, adds, subtracts, they DON'T GIVE A F.

FCPS elementary school bureaucrats are the laziest bunch in the DC area I swear. God forbid they had to actually work a FULL 5-day workweek. God forbid they actually had to put some kind of effort into testing students to see if they are ready to enter kindergarten a couple weeks before their 5th birthday.

[Anonymous]

And you'd come running here whining that there's a kid turning 7 in your 4 yr old's class. Keep your 4 yr old at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm forced to hold DD back - her birthday is 10/15 and stupid ass FCPS won't let her test into kindergarten 2 weeks before she turns 5. Nope, let's waste an entire year and do NOTHING (with regard to her as she has to sit home for a whole year whereas in MOCO she'd be in K). Even if she reads, writes, adds, subtracts, they DON'T GIVE A F.

FCPS elementary school bureaucrats are the laziest bunch in the DC area I swear. God forbid they had to actually work a FULL 5-day workweek. God forbid they actually had to put some kind of effort into testing students to see if they are ready to enter kindergarten a couple weeks before their 5th birthday.

If you feel that strongly about it and can't face another year of preschool, why don't you send her to a private or move to Montgomery County? FCPS has to set a cutoff and if they continually make exceptions what would the point of a cut-off be? Particularly in an area where every parent thinks their kid is special and deserving of an exemption from the rules? The operative word here is PUBLIC school. If you don't like it, you can always try another option.

Otherwise, you might want to chill. Your daughter is 4 and you have a long way to in dealing with school bureaucracies. Best to save your energies for the battles that matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm forced to hold DD back - her birthday is 10/15 and stupid ass FCPS won't let her test into kindergarten 2 weeks before she turns 5. Nope, let's waste an entire year and do NOTHING (with regard to her as she has to sit home for a whole year whereas in MOCO she'd be in K). Even if she reads, writes, adds, subtracts, they DON'T GIVE A F.

FCPS elementary school bureaucrats are the laziest bunch in the DC area I swear. God forbid they had to actually work a FULL 5-day workweek. God forbid they actually had to put some kind of effort into testing students to see if they are ready to enter kindergarten a couple weeks before their 5th birthday.

It is so shocking they don't want to deal with you any earlier than absolutely necessary.

[Anonymous]

So you want a rule to keep older kids out but no rule to let younger kids in? Ok got it.

[Anonymous]

Unless there is a specific developmental concern, redshirting is a prime example of parents thinking their child is too special for everyone else's rules.

Someone has to be the youngest.

[Anonymous]

Can someone fill me in on the law when it comes to keeping a 5-year-old at home? My 4-year-old son's birthday is in the Winter, so it's not close to the line or anything and the plan is to send him next Fall, at which he'll be about 5 and a half. We may be moving at just about that time - about a month into the school year - and I'm wondering if it violates a law for me to keep him home for that month rather than start at one school and transition him once the move is complete. We currently live in Montgomery County and we would be moving to Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know. It's weird that my 4 year old is in a kindergarten class with a boy who just turned 7.

This happens in K-1 classes, but from your post, it doesn't sound like a K-1 class.

When will your 4 year old be turning 5?

Mid-October.

[Anonymous]

There is no law - KG is an optional grade

And I quote..."Kindergarten is recommended, but not required by law... If your child will be six years old by September 30, Virginia Law requires you to enroll your child in school"

Our DC turned 5 the very end of September. We waited for DC to start KG until the following year, so DC would be 5 when KG began, not 4! We did NOT tell the school, as some have suggested, as there is no law advising such, we just enrolled DC in KG the following year.

Not a Big deal - DC is 4 days older than the next oldest kid in DCs class. Thankfully, DC is not 361 days younger than the oldest kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason parents do this is simple: many, many 5yos, especially boys, are not physically ready to sit quietly for a full-day class working on fine-motor tasks like writing with only one short recess period per day. That is not an age-appropriate expectation, but it is what we expect of kindergarteners now. I have the money to send my wiggly 5-year-old who struggles with handwriting into a private school with lots of outdoor time and small class sizes that allow him to learn at his own speed. But if I had to go public or redshirt, you can bet I'd be redshirting in a heartbeat.

That is what they are supposed to learn in preschool. Instead everything is play based and they are not gaining the skills to sit down, work, follow directions. My 3 year old who is very active with delays can sit, no recess for hours to get work done. Look at your parenting and the school. We changed preschools form 2-3. The two had no expectations but to play. He is now in a very structured program, with some play, and is thriving. I think its a general assumption like you are making and it does not apply to all kids. If we have to hold back our child due to birthday, it will be a disaster as there are few affordable that are a true prek that will give him the academic and other skills he needs. You supplement with physical activities after school, but I want school to be a learning process with academics. He can get plenty of park and activity time after school and on the weekends.

Try an OT for the handwriting.

This is complete and utter bullshit. You clearly know nothing about child development. As you note above "it does not apply to all kids." Precisely. Different kids have different needs. Some sit at desks quietly and write neatly at age 3. Some don't do that until they are closer to 7. As a parent to a child more like the latter, I can attest that both kinds of kids can turn out just fine, without remediation or OT, and with no subsequent academic disasters.

[Anonymous]

I would actually worry about a kid that sat quietly at age 3 for hours at a time.

[Anonymous]

"Red-shirting" is not new. My brother started kindergarten late, and he's almost 50. It had nothing to do with academics; it was all about maturity.

I did the same for my August boy (oldest). Best decision I ever made. He never, ever socializes with kids who would have been in his grade, and he isn't even the most socially savvy of the kids who ARE currently in his grade. Academically, he does fine, but he's far from bored. It worked for us.

On the flip side, we chose to play him up in sports, so he competes with kids two years older in his league. So we couldn't care less about the sports piece.