How do late birthday kids do in school? (Fairfax County)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am concerned about my DD whose December birthday puts her back a year. My good friend who is in guidance says the kids who start a year after at her school act out due to boredom and tend to struggle with having to re-do activities they have already learned. Any advice on this? Or how to make sure DD stays interested and challenged?

Dear OP,
Does your good friend who is in guidance work in Fairfax County? If she works elsewhere with another cutoff, perhaps she isn't familiar with this area. A December birthday is very average and normal around here.

Kids in Kindergarten do a lot of playing and social interacting. At the beginning of the school year studies may seem very elementary, but once teachers get to know the children studies are more closely matched to their level. It works. If you feel the teacher is missing something about your child's skills or educational level, you can address it with the teacher. Smart children will know how to entertain themselves.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone told OP that a lot of people red shirt their July, Aug and September kids. OP-meaning they hold them back one year. It seems to be a somewhat "normal" thing to do in this area. This is why you are hearing everyone tell you your Dec birthday daughter will be in the middle of the pack in terms of age. Socially each kid is different. I wouldn't uses age to determine if she will be at the same "social" stage. There will be enough kids in the class with varying social skills in K that I don't think you need to worry.

[Anonymous]

Why does this forum keep rising to the top? There is nothing more to say.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone told OP that a lot of people red shirt their July, Aug and September kids. OP-meaning they hold them back one year. It seems to be a somewhat "normal" thing to do in this area. This is why you are hearing everyone tell you your Dec birthday daughter will be in the middle of the pack in terms of age. Socially each kid is different. I wouldn't uses age to determine if she will be at the same "social" stage. There will be enough kids in the class with varying social skills in K that I don't think you need to worry.

December is fine anyway. I was in my 1st-graders classroom this morning & looked at their birthday chart on the wall. Eleven kids in the class have October or November birthdays. Even with no redshirting, more than a third of the class would be older than OP's December birthday kid. When you add in the redshirts (I don't know which kids in my DC's class were redshifted, if any, but there were several Aug & Sept birthdays) probably half the class would be older than OP's kid.