Starting an August birthday (boy) in K in DCPS

[Anonymous]

Parent of another August bday boy here. We are not in DCPS but in MCPS. I think it really depends on the kid.

Here is my experienc.... My son went to K on time just after he turned 5. He sounds like your son in that he was not interested in reading and also has trouble focusing. Kindergarten was a disaster for him since he was in a class of 25 kids with ranging from non-english speakers to kids reading magic treehouse. Throw in a few major behavior problems and he was definitely lost in the shuffle. He was constantly in trouble for not sitting, following rules, etc. He did learn to read and write better but was towards the bottom of the class and constantly feeling bad about both his behavior and academics.

Being the youngest makes his attention issues magnified. Another major issue is handwriting, which is of course going to be worse for him than kids a year older.

Some kids do great, but others do not. I would say an August boy ho is motivated and a rule follower will do fine. Sounds like your son is not one of those kids either.

[Anonymous]

I have an August birthday boy in kindergarten. Was aldo worried about it but he is doing great and since December really started enjoying the reading aspect of K. Socially, he seemed to struggle in the beginning but is flourishing now. I think your son will be fine.

[Anonymous]

My August boy started K this year. It has been pretty much fine. No significant issues following rules or staying on task. Socially a little more immature than many of the boys in his class, but still seems to have plenty of friends.

[Anonymous]

OP, don't worry too much. I'm the PP who posted about research suggesting that redshirting isn't all that helpful in the long run. FWIW, I wasn't reading fluently until 1st grade, and I still got an almost perfect verbal SAT score w/minimal studying. Point being, it is hard to judge a kid's future trajectory by where they stand at age 4 or 5.

I found one of the articles I shared on another thread, which speaks to why redshirting may actually not be the best thing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/dont-delay-your-kindergartners-start.html

Most of the commenters here have talked about their sons. Do we value young boys being bigger/smarter/faster moreso than girls? I remember one of the articles stating that yes, boys are more likely to be redshirted than girls. I just find this interesting.

If you're at Janney, and most people are indeed redshirting, this complicates the issue a bit. Perhaps the principal will have more insight and can provide the best guidance.

Good luck with your decision!

[Anonymous]

I think that there are kindergarten readiness assessments, aren't there? In some school districts, all children take them before starting kindergarten. It strikes me that you could take some of the guesswork out of this.

https://maryland.kready.org/olms/2400

[Anonymous]

I think boys are more likely to be redshirted than girls because on average, 5 year old girls can sit and follow directions better than 5 year old boys.

[Anonymous]

I am a Janney parent of a child with a summer birthday. Our experience was that most kids were not reading fluently at the start of K, some definitely were but our summer birthday child was not and she was not an outlier. Our fall birthday child was reading fluently when she entered K, but she was almost 6 (not a red shirt) and she was an outlier for her reading ability, so plenty of kids not reading.

Both are now excellent readers.

Talk to the principal about your specific child, they want a good placement as well.

[Anonymous]

Another option is to stay at the Montessori for K and then reevaluate after to put him in first grade or back in K.

Really only you can know your child. Go with your gut, so many people will have so many opinions. Most public schools will tell you to hold back if you aren't sure.

[Anonymous]

My Aug birthday kid was the only fluent reader in his k class. Your kid will not be behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've responded to this sort of thread before, although I can't find the links right now--I looked into this given talk of redshirting on DCUM (had never heard of it before), and also because my 3yo has a September bday.

Anyway, I remember reading that the research doesn't really support redshirting. It basically said that the little bit of an edge redshirting give kids as far as academics and sports early on fades by the time they get to high school. Basically, these kids don't have to try as hard, because they're bigger and smarter and faster than their peers. However, if your kid is the one of youngest in the class, they'll have to try really hard to keep up with their older classmates--and they'll benefit cognitively from that in the long run.

One of the studies I can recall was by Stanford (of Stanford & Binet fame). They looked at kids who had IQs in the top 1% of the population. Kids who were young for their grade were over-represented in the sample.

There are more of these studies, along with a couple of NYT and other articles about the topic, if anyone else can find them (I just got home and have stuff to do).

I don't know. Our 11th grade son has an IQ of 147 and a September birthday. We sent him on time. He was amazing from K - 3rd grade, and then there was a problem. He was just not mature enough and it caused all kinds of problems. School was a nightmare for us until this year. He has finally caught up. The issue was maturity, not academics.

[Anonymous]

Just to add - agree with all PPs above to talk with principal and trust your own instinct. A lot of people say it's not these years that you see the differences, but it's turning 18 in college (rather than high school) and turning 21 after your peers in college that the child really notices it. I agree that academics are usually guided by your intelligence rather than how old you are.

I am parent of a September birthday at JKLM school, and decided to "redshirt". I've had some many rude parents say something to me - I never tell them my child was being evaluated for a life ending illness in Montessori K year. Therefore a second year of K made sense for us. So make your decision and just know that you will get criticism from both sides - too old and too young.

And our principal told us that it was her decision on when the child started and it what grade. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to add - agree with all PPs above to talk with principal and trust your own instinct. A lot of people say it's not these years that you see the differences, but it's turning 18 in college (rather than high school) and turning 21 after your peers in college that the child really notices it. I agree that academics are usually guided by your intelligence rather than how old you are.

I am parent of a September birthday at JKLM school, and decided to "redshirt". I've had some many rude parents say something to me - I never tell them my child was being evaluated for a life ending illness in Montessori K year. Therefore a second year of K made sense for us. So make your decision and just know that you will get criticism from both sides - too old and too young.

And our principal told us that it was her decision on when the child started and it what grade. Hope this helps!

That is my understanding as well. It could be the case that you keep him in his Montessori program and want him to start K one year later, but the principal decides that he belongs in 1st anyway, and that is what you don't want. I think the best course of action is to talk with the Janney principal and get her take and then see if they will accommodate you if you want him held back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents with boys born in the spring and early summer will secretly hate you and talk about you behind your back. It's true.

?? I don't understand this.

You would understand if your son was born in June and is small for his size. Because when he plays on the playground before school, at recess, and after school with a redshirted August manchild the physical size difference is significant. Boys roughhouse more than the teachers and parents can police. It can easily become an unintentional bullying situation. The smaller boy will come home crying, a lot. I've seen it happen. That's one reason the other parents will end up not liking you. There are other reasons. Please start your kid when you are supposed to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the cut off for DCPS? I think Aug/Sept is on the cusp and can go either way. Redshirting is when you're talking about late spring/early summer kids that are being held back.

Cut-off is Sept 30th.

There will always be someone older and someone younger but the cut-off is there for a reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents with boys born in the spring and early summer will secretly hate you and talk about you behind your back. It's true.

?? I don't understand this.

You would understand if your son was born in June and is small for his size. Because when he plays on the playground before school, at recess, and after school with a redshirted August manchild the physical size difference is significant. Boys roughhouse more than the teachers and parents can police. It can easily become an unintentional bullying situation. The smaller boy will come home crying, a lot. I've seen it happen. That's one reason the other parents will end up not liking you. There are other reasons. Please start your kid when you are supposed to.

DS1 is a spring birth in his correct grade, right now 1st. With tall genes, he is a head taller than all of the other kids and has always been. He has very good control of his body and is taught not to engage physically except in self defense. The littlest kids in the class are the ones who challenge him the most, although it is quite an infrequent thing (twice this year, nobody got hurt bc DS is faster and can block their attempts at punching, hitting, etc.). PP's post is silly and should be teaching her runty kids not to be physical - they can be bullies and hurt other, bigger kids, too. Size is not a reason to hold a kid back or, in our case, to push a kid forward a grade.