September Birthdays - Kindergarten

[Anonymous]

I have 2 kids with September birthdays and they both started on time. Both were behind initially but caught up. Socially it has been much better for them and I’m glad they started on time because they have really strong social networks and a lot of friends where they currently are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know there are many that say you should do the early entrance but here is my story .... My kid has an early October bday and was reading probably at 3rd grade level before K. We debated doing early entrance but did not. He started on time when he was almost 6 and its the best decision I ever made. Yes he was bored in elementary school but he is HS now, plenty challenged with a magnet program. I am so grateful that he had these extra years of his childhood. It's better for social things and sports. Win / win.

Most magnet kids are NOT redshirted kids. Everyone can pick out the redshirt kids within a few weeks. It isn’t a good look. And no one ever takes your child seriously. You were either shirted for sports or shirted to “mature” and usually the latter is a character flaw, not an age issue. We have a red shirt boy in 5th grade that then repeated 1st grade. He is turning 13 in June and is always bragging about smart he is. Clueless kid.

Also all club and travel sports are by birthday, not grade level, so kid’s would never be with their peers in their own grade. So the sport issue makes no sense.

In MCPS, magnet test scores are also age normed.

My DC got in, and DC has a summer bday. Almost always the youngest in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid can read and knows his numbers he should be encouraged to start with a waiver / test.

If he can't do these things, work on them this year and start him next.

That’s not an unusual skill set in K for many MoCo schools.

My DC’s birthday is midSeptember and he started on time, and many of his classmates, especially boys, are 4-6 months older than him. I recommend you don’t push your child a year early.

It’s not pushing a year early. It’s sad how we dumb down our boys.

Right? What is with this anti-boy sentiment?

My kid has an August birthday and has done very well in school (so far). He’s in 8th grade and was in a regional CES in ES.

Boys are just as capable of doing well in school as girls. Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow - a lot of negative Nellie’s on this thread speaking so authoritatively without actual knowledge.

OP - the best thing to do is contact your elementary school, have him evaluated, and RT some real insight into the specific school an what they think about how he would fit in with the other students. This year everything is different, so trying to judge by previous years is pointless.

I agree.

Do the testing and see what happens.

My Sept birthday kid did EEK and I’m glad we did it. Worked out well so far, and the kid is now in a 4th grade CES.

Another year (an extra year!) of preschool would have been overkill.

Depends on the kid and depends on your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid can read and knows his numbers he should be encouraged to start with a waiver / test.

If he can't do these things, work on them this year and start him next.

That’s not an unusual skill set in K for many MoCo schools.

My DC’s birthday is midSeptember and he started on time, and many of his classmates, especially boys, are 4-6 months older than him. I recommend you don’t push your child a year early.

It’s not pushing a year early. It’s sad how we dumb down our boys.

Right? What is with this anti-boy sentiment?

My kid has an August birthday and has done very well in school (so far). He’s in 8th grade and was in a regional CES in ES.

Boys are just as capable of doing well in school as girls. Weird.

Yes and no. They are as smart. But they can be more fidgety and spending your first year in school being scolded for fidgeting can damage your lifelong relationship to yourself as a learner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move to Virginia. The cut-off is September 30.

We moved from MD to DC so my September birthday DD could start K just before she turned 5 (and for other reasons, but the school cut-off was a factor in choosing this side of Western Ave.). I'm so glad we did. She is thriving!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s going to be a monster class of kindergartners this fall because of covid redshirting. It’s not the year to push ahead.

This. Not worth it considering what happened this year with school and the pandemic, and due to MCPS ‘s large classes sizes to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know there are many that say you should do the early entrance but here is my story .... My kid has an early October bday and was reading probably at 3rd grade level before K. We debated doing early entrance but did not. He started on time when he was almost 6 and its the best decision I ever made. Yes he was bored in elementary school but he is HS now, plenty challenged with a magnet program. I am so grateful that he had these extra years of his childhood. It's better for social things and sports. Win / win.

Most magnet kids are NOT redshirted kids. Everyone can pick out the redshirt kids within a few weeks. It isn’t a good look. And no one ever takes your child seriously. You were either shirted for sports or shirted to “mature” and usually the latter is a character flaw, not an age issue. We have a red shirt boy in 5th grade that then repeated 1st grade. He is turning 13 in June and is always bragging about smart he is. Clueless kid.

Also all club and travel sports are by birthday, not grade level, so kid’s would never be with their peers in their own grade. So the sport issue makes no sense.

My kid is not redshirted. Anyways, I know there are a lot of feelings on this topic but just wanted to share my experience. Sports are a hobby here but my kid is on the smaller side - glad he had that extra year for everything.

For us the extra year of was a god send. Especially glad im not sending him off to college at 17. Childhood is too short, why rush through it? So you can brag that they skipped a grade or started early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know there are many that say you should do the early entrance but here is my story .... My kid has an early October bday and was reading probably at 3rd grade level before K. We debated doing early entrance but did not. He started on time when he was almost 6 and its the best decision I ever made. Yes he was bored in elementary school but he is HS now, plenty challenged with a magnet program. I am so grateful that he had these extra years of his childhood. It's better for social things and sports. Win / win.

Most magnet kids are NOT redshirted kids. Everyone can pick out the redshirt kids within a few weeks. It isn’t a good look. And no one ever takes your child seriously. You were either shirted for sports or shirted to “mature” and usually the latter is a character flaw, not an age issue. We have a red shirt boy in 5th grade that then repeated 1st grade. He is turning 13 in June and is always bragging about smart he is. Clueless kid.

Also all club and travel sports are by birthday, not grade level, so kid’s would never be with their peers in their own grade. So the sport issue makes no sense.

My kid is not redshirted. Anyways, I know there are a lot of feelings on this topic but just wanted to share my experience. Sports are a hobby here but my kid is on the smaller side - glad he had that extra year for everything.

For us the extra year of was a god send. Especially glad im not sending him off to college at 17. Childhood is too short, why rush through it? So you can brag that they skipped a grade or started early?

Wow, no. That’s not why we did EEK. Why the need to be so rude? I don’t care what choice you made for your kid, but you can keep your negative judgement to yourself.

We did EEK for our own reasons and I’m super glad we did. We certainly did not brag about it. Who does that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid can read and knows his numbers he should be encouraged to start with a waiver / test.

If he can't do these things, work on them this year and start him next.

That’s not an unusual skill set in K for many MoCo schools.

My DC’s birthday is midSeptember and he started on time, and many of his classmates, especially boys, are 4-6 months older than him. I recommend you don’t push your child a year early.

It varies greatly actually, especially with reading levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know there are many that say you should do the early entrance but here is my story .... My kid has an early October bday and was reading probably at 3rd grade level before K. We debated doing early entrance but did not. He started on time when he was almost 6 and its the best decision I ever made. Yes he was bored in elementary school but he is HS now, plenty challenged with a magnet program. I am so grateful that he had these extra years of his childhood. It's better for social things and sports. Win / win.

Most magnet kids are NOT redshirted kids. Everyone can pick out the redshirt kids within a few weeks. It isn’t a good look. And no one ever takes your child seriously. You were either shirted for sports or shirted to “mature” and usually the latter is a character flaw, not an age issue. We have a red shirt boy in 5th grade that then repeated 1st grade. He is turning 13 in June and is always bragging about smart he is. Clueless kid.

Also all club and travel sports are by birthday, not grade level, so kid’s would never be with their peers in their own grade. So the sport issue makes no sense.

In MCPS, magnet test scores are also age normed.

My DC got in, and DC has a summer bday. Almost always the youngest in the class.

It depends on the test. Some are age normed, some are grade normed. I am not worried about sports as my child has found two activities (one sports) they like and are doing well and will never be a commutative athlete nor would we push that. I don't want mine doing sports in college except rec. My child had very high test scores but didn't get in, which is fine as they didn't want to go. Either way the MS allowed accelerated math, which would have been our main reason for going.

[Anonymous]

I would wait personally. I regret putting my child in K early. Child was academically advanced, socially made lots of friends and was happy but as she gets older I wish I had given her another year of her childhood. It's going too fast for both of her and for me.

This is a flexible and friendly child who did not care academics were easy in elementary and would have been fine making friends in the class after hers too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know there are many that say you should do the early entrance but here is my story .... My kid has an early October bday and was reading probably at 3rd grade level before K. We debated doing early entrance but did not. He started on time when he was almost 6 and its the best decision I ever made. Yes he was bored in elementary school but he is HS now, plenty challenged with a magnet program. I am so grateful that he had these extra years of his childhood. It's better for social things and sports. Win / win.

Most magnet kids are NOT redshirted kids. Everyone can pick out the redshirt kids within a few weeks. It isn’t a good look. And no one ever takes your child seriously. You were either shirted for sports or shirted to “mature” and usually the latter is a character flaw, not an age issue. We have a red shirt boy in 5th grade that then repeated 1st grade. He is turning 13 in June and is always bragging about smart he is. Clueless kid.

Also all club and travel sports are by birthday, not grade level, so kid’s would never be with their peers in their own grade. So the sport issue makes no sense.

My kid is not redshirted. Anyways, I know there are a lot of feelings on this topic but just wanted to share my experience. Sports are a hobby here but my kid is on the smaller side - glad he had that extra year for everything.

For us the extra year of was a god send. Especially glad im not sending him off to college at 17. Childhood is too short, why rush through it? So you can brag that they skipped a grade or started early?

Wow, no. That’s not why we did EEK. Why the need to be so rude? I don’t care what choice you made for your kid, but you can keep your negative judgement to yourself.

We did EEK for our own reasons and I’m super glad we did. We certainly did not brag about it. Who does that?

EEK is not really early admission. Kids are turning 5 within 6 weeks of school starting. Many of our kids were reading and had been in programs prior to K so they were ready to move on. Academically ES and even MS is very slow, so I am glad we did early entry. I cannot imagine my MS being in ES this year both academically and socially. The brag, if anything is that posters ability to recognize what her/his child's needs are and was able to meet them. To hold back because strangers on the internet tell you to to make them feel better about their choices makes zero sense.

[Anonymous]

My friend's DD with a Sept. birthday got in through EEK but decided to wait and is very happy about it. Her child really loves school and is considered a leader in everything she does. She really developed a lot of self confidence that I think she'll carry her whole life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know there are many that say you should do the early entrance but here is my story .... My kid has an early October bday and was reading probably at 3rd grade level before K. We debated doing early entrance but did not. He started on time when he was almost 6 and its the best decision I ever made. Yes he was bored in elementary school but he is HS now, plenty challenged with a magnet program. I am so grateful that he had these extra years of his childhood. It's better for social things and sports. Win / win.

Most magnet kids are NOT redshirted kids. Everyone can pick out the redshirt kids within a few weeks. It isn’t a good look. And no one ever takes your child seriously. You were either shirted for sports or shirted to “mature” and usually the latter is a character flaw, not an age issue. We have a red shirt boy in 5th grade that then repeated 1st grade. He is turning 13 in June and is always bragging about smart he is. Clueless kid.

Also all club and travel sports are by birthday, not grade level, so kid’s would never be with their peers in their own grade. So the sport issue makes no sense.

I also think it’s hard on the kid who is redshirted. My 8th grader has a classmate who was redshirted. I remember the kid was always embarrassed during the random times birthdays come up (like when the kids are lining up by birthday girl something, or with regards to sports that are done by age).

Consider what message that sends to your kid. Essentially, the kid learns that his parent didn’t think he could hack it in K and so the parent chose to hold him back?

Do what works for you, but socially, I don’t see how being redshirted is an advantage. If anything, I’d avoid it for that very reason.