My son's kindergarten class has several 7 yr olds in it.

[Anonymous]

I have two children in two different privates schools and am fully immersed in the whole private school world in DC and I do not know of a single child who was held back for purely competitive reasons, so get some sort of edge. I am sure such families exist, but they must be awfully rare. I do know of children who were held back for reasons that are probably not apparent to the busy body parent of another child in their class, but the reasons are there.

[Anonymous]

I know of several kids who were held back (and yes, let's call it what it is) for competitive reasons.

How does it impact? Well, one very small example is the normal age kids who are aced out of starting or playing on a team because some college kid is still in high school.

[Anonymous]

Landon has a reputation for doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two children in two different privates schools and am fully immersed in the whole private school world in DC and I do not know of a single child who was held back for purely competitive reasons, so get some sort of edge. I am sure such families exist, but they must be awfully rare. I do know of children who were held back for reasons that are probably not apparent to the busy body parent of another child in their class, but the reasons are there.

And what were the reasons? Missed months of school after an accident or illness? I too am fully immersed in the DC private school world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I too am fully immersed in the DC private school world.

Sounds like the educational equivalent of waterboarding.

[Anonymous]

Another example is when children who are the right age for their grade (i.e. 5 years old in Kindergarten) are bullied by children who are too old for the grade (i.e. 7 years old in Kindergarten).

In addition, it skews the private school admissions process. Schools have a very limited amount of spots in Kindergarten and children should be competing against other children who are the same age, so that there is a level playing field. As parents, we know that there is a big difference in the confidence, intellectual ability and maturity of a 5 year old vs. a 7 year old. Of course an older child will come across as more mature in the admissions process, because they ARE more mature. Of course an older child will come across as more knowledgeable, because they ARE more knowledgeable. If schools don't rein in this practice, the older children will always have the advantage--not because they're smarter, but simply because they gamed the system.

Anonymous wrote:I know of several kids who were held back (and yes, let's call it what it is) for competitive reasons.

How does it impact? Well, one very small example is the normal age kids who are aced out of starting or playing on a team because some college kid is still in high school.

[Anonymous]

20:32 but what was the birthday spread? That's the issue here

Just got back to this. The second graders were 3-6 months older than she was, but a grade behind. They were 18 months older than their second grade peers. There were third graders who were 19 months older than she was.

[Anonymous]

I am the pp. I need to figure out the quotes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Of course an older child will come across as more mature in the admissions process, because they ARE more mature. Of course an older child will come across as more knowledgeable, because they ARE more knowledgeable.

I don't think this is necessarily true at all. Maturity and knowledge don't track age so precisely.

[Anonymous]

I have seen 18-19 month spreads in my children's school.

[Anonymous]

So, basically, the complaint is either about HS athletics or about PreK/K admissions. And the problem is someone else's kid got something my kid didn't and I choose to attribute that solely to the age difference.

And, no the 6 year old competing for admission to K (he won't be 7 until somewhere toward the middle of the next school year) isn't inherently more mature than the 5 year olds in the applicant pools. That's why the school is considering him this year for K. If he gets in, it's because he, like the younger kids admitted, is now sufficiently mature for K whereas a year ago they (school, parents) just weren't that sure he was ready.

The schools where PreK/K spots are most scarce relative to demand aren't looking to find the most mature kids. They are looking for kids that are exceptional and interesting in other ways. Maturity is more of a constraint (gotta be sufficiently mature to benefit from/contribute to the school) than a selling point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, basically, the complaint is either about HS athletics or about PreK/K admissions. And the problem is someone else's kid got something my kid didn't and I choose to attribute that solely to the age difference.

And, no the 6 year old competing for admission to K (he won't be 7 until somewhere toward the middle of the next school year) isn't inherently more mature than the 5 year olds in the applicant pools. That's why the school is considering him this year for K. If he gets in, it's because he, like the younger kids admitted, is now sufficiently mature for K whereas a year ago they (school, parents) just weren't that sure he was ready.

The schools where PreK/K spots are most scarce relative to demand aren't looking to find the most mature kids. They are looking for kids that are exceptional and interesting in other ways. Maturity is more of a constraint (gotta be sufficiently mature to benefit from/contribute to the school) than a selling point.

How old are your children? Why would any school go through these machinations for a child? Sibling? Legacy? Donor? Is this years applicant pool less full of those with an edge?

[Anonymous]

There is a 14 month spread at my child's prekindergarten class at GDS. No summer birthdays at all. The spread is from April - May.

[Anonymous]

My kid was a (new family) PreK admit at a Big 3 -- now in MS. I've seen sibs, legacies, donors, and kids from new families admitted to PreK and K with spring or summer bdays that would usually put them in the next grade. Basically they're compelling candidates for whatever other reasons but the school and parents have agreed that the best placement is in the earlier grade. It's a PreK-12 school, so that seems like a sensible perspective to me.

As I said before, I haven't seen a kid suffer (or have a negative impact on classmates) as a result of being older. I have seen a kid suffer (and be a problem) as the result of the parents decision not to wait a year. Great kid, but he's struggled -- and been a trial -- in ways he needn't have.

[Anonymous]

A Maret parent here. Its really not that bad at least in our class. There is a definite desire the school shows to hold back the late summer birthdays. But it is rare to see a spring birthday held back. So the spread tends to be 14 months or so rather than 18 or 19 months. Having said this, I disagree that parents do not want to give their kids a competitive advantage by being older. Its relatively mild, but most people acknowledge that "Susie will be a stronger candidate in a year". I know many of these kids very well and there is not a thing "wrong" with Susie other than she is a normally imperfect child. She may be a little shyer than average or may not write perfectly at age 5. And really nothing is being demanded of kids in kindergarten so its not because of crazy kindergarten demands. It is still a child's garden and very age appropriate, at least at Maret and other private schools. They do a lot of PE, recess, music, art.