This age discrepancy due to "redshirting" is ridiculous

[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's hard to win both sides of that argument. I'm sure you could find a private school that would take your 4 yr old snowflake for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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's hard to win both sides of that argument. I'm sure you could find a private school that would take your 4 yr old snowflake for K.

Most private schools go by the same rules as the school district. We have the same issue, same birthday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

That assumes every parent has a sports priority. It may be an advantage, but my preference is academics first, then sports. Sports should be secondary to education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"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.

Good to hear this. We redshirted our middle child who has a mid-August birthday for academic and social reasons. The only issue I have now is that he is so tall, almost as tall as his 8 year old brother so he looks like a giant next to the little ones. His height makes him look so much older than everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Its not "holding back" a child who is too young for the age cutoff. She is still preschool-aged. Send her to a fun play-based preschool-that's what is appropriate for her regardless of her mad subtraction skills.

I suspect you really just wanted the free public babysitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Montgomery County is 9/1 as the cut off with testing. Its not about kids being special. Some kids thrive on academics and holding them back does more harm than good when most preschools are play based. We have a child who was reading at 3 and very clearly ready and we had to hold him back. We had to continue tutoring him which just put him further ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Say what?!? Have you read anything about child development?

Yes, I have. Why not get your child extra help if they are struggling with something. Kids get plenty of play time. Given how the brain works, better to get basics in early.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe someone actually wrote this. A 4 year old Sept. child is going on time if they start their kindergarten year. How dare you say they should stay more. The 7 year old is the one way out of place as is the 6 year old starting K. They need to deal with the 4 year old turning 5 in Sept. Not the other way around.

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:

Anonymous wrote:

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's hard to win both sides of that argument. I'm sure you could find a private school that would take your 4 yr old snowflake for K.

Most private schools go by the same rules as the school district. We have the same issue, same birthday.

Our Catholic school would take her at 4 with testing and recommendations.

[Anonymous]

The latest talk I hear from sports oriented parents is the agony of a freshman child not making Varsity their freshman year. Really? We should be reshirting sports oriented kids so that they make varsity their FRESHMAN year?? And then all the schools have to do all this extra testing for baseline concussions and we have to include payments for sports teams all in the budget since god forbid someone actually pay to have their kids on these teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Say what?!? Have you read anything about child development?

Yes, I have. Why not get your child extra help if they are struggling with something. Kids get plenty of play time. Given how the brain works, better to get basics in early.

Please cite one source that recommends that 3 year olds spend significant time sitting down (beyond a 5-10 min circle time) or for that matter even focus on "academics" at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe someone actually wrote this. A 4 year old Sept. child is going on time if they start their kindergarten year. How dare you say they should stay more. The 7 year old is the one way out of place as is the 6 year old starting K. They need to deal with the 4 year old turning 5 in Sept. Not the other way around.

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.

Well some school administrators find that 4 is too young for all day K curriculum. States changing the age cutoff are moving the date earlier, not later. I think Connecticut still may have a December cut off--why not check it out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Montgomery County is 9/1 as the cut off with testing. Its not about kids being special. Some kids thrive on academics and holding them back does more harm than good when most preschools are play based. We have a child who was reading at 3 and very clearly ready and we had to hold him back. We had to continue tutoring him which just put him further ahead.

1. The 4-year-old daughter of this poster would have made the cut-off in Montgomery County since she had an October birthday, as the poster mentioned.

2. Whether your child is reading at 3 years or 3 months gestation, they don't need to enter kindergarten before age 5. Some of the countries with the best educational systems won't even let kids start formalized schooling until age 6 or 7. AGAIN, WHAT IS THE FREAKING RUSH???? Kids have plenty of time to sit in desks, but not to play. Why do you feel you have to tutor your child? Why not just let him/her enjoy reading whatever? My son tested off the charts gifted and was not reading in kindergarten, nor was he doing math worksheets, thank God. Once he learned how though, he was far outpaced these early learners.

More and more as I read these forums I think some parents need to have a little more faith in their kids abilities/interests and in the educational process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Other countries send their kids to school at later ages and that works well. Is it possible that we are pushing academics down to earlier and earlier ages that are inappropriate for most kids?
K used to be all about play. Lots of people in their 50's and 60's are very successful in life, many of whom never even went to kindergarten. Are we shortchanging our kids in other areas by making K all about academics?

Answer: Absolutely yes!

My kids' K class was not all about academics at all. Sure they learn some words and numbers and handwriting, but mainly they are learning to socialize. They are still coloring, doing scavenger hunts, listening to stories, singing songs. they may do more academics then in the past, but after all the hype with K being hard core academics, I was surprised to find it was a lot like pre-k all over again with longer days.
I totally agree with the PP who said they should have to have a valid reason to hold kids back. The K teacher last year told us the hardest part of teaching is that some come in at 4 and others at 6 and that's a huge spread developmentally. The schools should just pick a date and stick to it unless there is some verifiable reason to hold them back or put them ahead a grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Montgomery County is 9/1 as the cut off with testing. Its not about kids being special. Some kids thrive on academics and holding them back does more harm than good when most preschools are play based. We have a child who was reading at 3 and very clearly ready and we had to hold him back. We had to continue tutoring him which just put him further ahead.

We aren't in Montgomery county, but my daughter's birthday is on 9-1. I really want to hold her back until she turns six because I do not think she is ready for a full day of KG. I am so conflicted.