Starting an August birthday (boy) in K in DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Exactly. It is certainly there for a reason---but is that a good reason? Because applying a rigid cutoff seems to run counter to much of what we now know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Exactly. It is certainly there for a reason---but is that a good reason? Because applying a rigid cutoff seems to run counter to much of what we now know.

What do we "now know"? THat redshirting doesn't help normally developing kids and actually hurts some? THat redshirting forces teachers to contend with 15-month age spans among their students? THe research isn't on the side of redshirting.

[Anonymous]

I have an August boy at Janney.

I would have no concern that your child is going to be lost in the shuffle and not kept at grade level or above - absent learning disabilities, it just doesn't happen with the way teaching (and interventions and use of specialists) is structured at Janney.

And in our experience (grade), few August/September kids were held back, and the ones that were don't seem better off (certainly not socially or academically, not saying it wasn't the right call for them).

I would make your decision based on signs of kindergarten readiness (Google it or talk to the school). Look at cognitive ability, social ability, emotional maturity and perhaps physical size.

[Anonymous]

We attended 3 birthday partied for kids turning 4 last august in our JKLMM prek. (who will turn 5 this august)

Your kid will be FINE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I have noticed the same thing. My son is a December birthday,in the right grade, and the tallest in his grade. It is the smaller boys that tend to engage him physically (And sometimes really rough - shoving so he is falls on the ground, hitting with fists, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think more than anything you have to look at the culture of the particular school.
At Janney (the school in question), Aug/Sept birthdays are generally held back. Therefore, the entire grade cohort shifts to be 2 months older. Kids aren't bored because all their peers are older too.
At NW DC privates, the entire class is even older still (the private schools often hold back all summer birthdays and have a strict cut-off of Sept 1). Those kids aren't bored because all their peers are older too.
Comments from parents whose kids aren't at Janney aren't really that relevant since it seems like Janney is one of the very few (if not the only) DCPS or Charter win which Aug/Sept kids are commonly held back.

Interesting. I wonder how this plays out at Deal (if at all) since I know it's not as common at Lafayette.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think more than anything you have to look at the culture of the particular school.
At Janney (the school in question), Aug/Sept birthdays are generally held back. Therefore, the entire grade cohort shifts to be 2 months older. Kids aren't bored because all their peers are older too.
At NW DC privates, the entire class is even older still (the private schools often hold back all summer birthdays and have a strict cut-off of Sept 1). Those kids aren't bored because all their peers are older too.
Comments from parents whose kids aren't at Janney aren't really that relevant since it seems like Janney is one of the very few (if not the only) DCPS or Charter win which Aug/Sept kids are commonly held back.

Interesting. I wonder how this plays out at Deal (if at all) since I know it's not as common at Lafayette.

It sounds like J parents are again trying to pretend J is a private school!!

[Anonymous]

When parents choose to redshirt, it makes it difficult for the rest of us who send our kids to school when they (barring true special needs) are supposed to attend. My child has a mid-Sept birthday and began K at age 4 turning 5 two weeks into the school year. The cut off is 9/30 so child started at correct age. When folks hold their children back it results in a huge age gap in the classroom and skews the age demographics in the class. Please don't do this.

[Anonymous]

OP: send him, and then reassess at the end of the year if makes sens to repeat - and work with the teachers and admin to assess that, Do what's best for your kid, forget all the other BS here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's birthday is August 31. He is currently in k, and won't turn 6 until he starts first grade. I wouldn't even contemplate holding him back. He is very advanced academically. He's always done well socially but at the beginning of the year it was clear that some of the kids were at a different stage, socially (though others were not.) That gap seems to have lessened as the year has gone on.

OP, things can change very quickly. By Aug your son may be a very different child, both academically and socially.

This is not when you see the difference. The difference doesn't start to show up until 3 and 4th grade. Then you realize that you made a mistake by putting him in. We know this from experience. It has NOTHING to do with academics. It's all social and maturity.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but those differences wouldn't be as noticeable if folks didn't redshirt and create those age gaps in the class.

[Anonymous]

You may also want to see this thread on the general Ed forum

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/457305.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son's birthday is August 31. He is currently in k, and won't turn 6 until he starts first grade. I wouldn't even contemplate holding him back. He is very advanced academically. He's always done well socially but at the beginning of the year it was clear that some of the kids were at a different stage, socially (though others were not.) That gap seems to have lessened as the year has gone on.

OP, things can change very quickly. By Aug your son may be a very different child, both academically and socially.

This is not when you see the difference. The difference doesn't start to show up until 3 and 4th grade. Then you realize that you made a mistake by putting him in. We know this from experience. It has NOTHING to do with academics. It's all social and maturity.

My October on time kid is the second oldest and least mature kid in the whole 4th grade. Your experience is just that ... your experience.

[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!

How old you are in college has very little to do with whether or not redshirted. Many people take longer than 4 years to get their Bachelor's Degree, so someone who goes to college straight out of high school and graduates in 4 years is going to be among the last of their friends to turn 21, redshirted or not.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_326.10.asp

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2013/aug/11/ron-johnson/average-college-degree-takes-six-years-us-sen-ron-/

http://business.time.com/2013/01/10/the-myth-of-the-4-year-college-degree/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/education/most-college-students-dont-earn-degree-in-4-years-study-finds.html

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_104.20.asp

In-fact, if someone graduates college at 23 or 24, it's a lot more likely that it's because they took longer than 4 years to earn their degree rather than having been redshirted.

[Anonymous]

We have an august DD at a JKLM. There's at least 10 other kids in the class younger than her, and many many summer birthdays in general. I can only think of one kid who was held back and he's a bit of an odd duck.