What would you do? The opposite of redshirting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, everyone, for such great contributions. Lots of food for thought.

I don't want to make an impression that I am convinced he should go to first grade ahead of schedule. I will absolutely put him in kindergarten again if that's where he belongs after he completes his private K program. I simply want to know that IF he matures enough during that year, that there IS an option for him to go to first grade based on evaluations of academics and social skills.

To the posters who were concerned about being the smallest kid in class: it just so happens that he is VERY tall for his age so that is not a concern.

To someone who asked why he was put in the pre-K class: his preschool has two tracks - preschool and pre-K. He completed the preschool year and was obviously ready to transition to pre-K (not to mention way bigger than most of the preschool kids). It would have made zero sense to keep him in preschool track for another year.

His preschool is very good and offers a good mix of academics and play. But I do not want him to repeat their pre-K year again; it has nothing to do with the school, I just think that he doesn't need another year of the same.

The private K program I am considering is more structured but offers lots of enrichment activities, play time, two recesses a day, music etc. in addition to academics. It is also an immersion language school, one of the few in this area, so would give us a great opportunity to cement his grasp of his heritage language.

I may be a little biased because I was the youngest kid in my class too (late August bday) and ended up as not only the top student but also the tallest in class.

For those of you who say it can be done: is it, then, to the discretion of the principal of his base school? Or can you demand that he be evaluated for 1st grade placement? Meaning, can the principal decline to even evaluate him out of, well, principle?

How strange. Most preschools I've toured have it grouped by age and in accordance with the FCPS calendar. So a twos class, a threes class, a fours class, and maybe a pre-K for kids being red shirted. I've never seen a preschool that only had two classes, "generic preschool" and "pre-K". Weird.

The fours class is a pre-K class. What would be weird is keeping him with the threes class for the whole year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
+100. I've known a few people who skipped a grade or more and not a single one had a normal social life. Most had tiger parents (speaking of parenting style, not ethnicity) who focused on academic achievement above all else. Please don't do this to your child.

And as for how it fits with redshirting, there is a reason Maryland schools only allow early admittance to kids born in September and then, only after they pass a readiness test. If you know redshirting is the norm in your school, why would you want to move your child a grade ahead?

Because I don't want him to STILL spend his time with the classroom full of kids just learning their ABCs more than a year from now when he's already a good reader TODAY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, everyone, for such great contributions. Lots of food for thought.

I don't want to make an impression that I am convinced he should go to first grade ahead of schedule. I will absolutely put him in kindergarten again if that's where he belongs after he completes his private K program. I simply want to know that IF he matures enough during that year, that there IS an option for him to go to first grade based on evaluations of academics and social skills.

To the posters who were concerned about being the smallest kid in class: it just so happens that he is VERY tall for his age so that is not a concern.

To someone who asked why he was put in the pre-K class: his preschool has two tracks - preschool and pre-K. He completed the preschool year and was obviously ready to transition to pre-K (not to mention way bigger than most of the preschool kids). It would have made zero sense to keep him in preschool track for another year.

His preschool is very good and offers a good mix of academics and play. But I do not want him to repeat their pre-K year again; it has nothing to do with the school, I just think that he doesn't need another year of the same.

The private K program I am considering is more structured but offers lots of enrichment activities, play time, two recesses a day, music etc. in addition to academics. It is also an immersion language school, one of the few in this area, so would give us a great opportunity to cement his grasp of his heritage language.

I may be a little biased because I was the youngest kid in my class too (late August bday) and ended up as not only the top student but also the tallest in class.

For those of you who say it can be done: is it, then, to the discretion of the principal of his base school? Or can you demand that he be evaluated for 1st grade placement? Meaning, can the principal decline to even evaluate him out of, well, principle?

How strange. Most preschools I've toured have it grouped by age and in accordance with the FCPS calendar. So a twos class, a threes class, a fours class, and maybe a pre-K for kids being red shirted. I've never seen a preschool that only had two classes, "generic preschool" and "pre-K". Weird.

The fours class is a pre-K class. What would be weird is keeping him with the threes class for the whole year.

I don't understand this. For typical preschools, if you turn 3 by Sept 30, you are a student in the "Threes" class all year. Then the next school year, you move up to the "Fours" class. Typically kids then go to K. Some preschools have a "preK" or "junior K" class for kids who aren't quite ready for K. Why would a child move from the threes class to the fours class in the middle of the year? That is not his class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+100. I've known a few people who skipped a grade or more and not a single one had a normal social life. Most had tiger parents (speaking of parenting style, not ethnicity) who focused on academic achievement above all else. Please don't do this to your child.

And as for how it fits with redshirting, there is a reason Maryland schools only allow early admittance to kids born in September and then, only after they pass a readiness test. If you know redshirting is the norm in your school, why would you want to move your child a grade ahead?

Because I don't want him to STILL spend his time with the classroom full of kids just learning their ABCs more than a year from now when he's already a good reader TODAY.

Its not a race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+100. I've known a few people who skipped a grade or more and not a single one had a normal social life. Most had tiger parents (speaking of parenting style, not ethnicity) who focused on academic achievement above all else. Please don't do this to your child.

And as for how it fits with redshirting, there is a reason Maryland schools only allow early admittance to kids born in September and then, only after they pass a readiness test. If you know redshirting is the norm in your school, why would you want to move your child a grade ahead?

Because I don't want him to STILL spend his time with the classroom full of kids just learning their ABCs more than a year from now when he's already a good reader TODAY.

Why do you think there won't be other readers in his K class, if you start him on time? There is going to be a huge ability range in any public class (K, first grade and so on).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, everyone, for such great contributions. Lots of food for thought.

I don't want to make an impression that I am convinced he should go to first grade ahead of schedule. I will absolutely put him in kindergarten again if that's where he belongs after he completes his private K program. I simply want to know that IF he matures enough during that year, that there IS an option for him to go to first grade based on evaluations of academics and social skills.

To the posters who were concerned about being the smallest kid in class: it just so happens that he is VERY tall for his age so that is not a concern.

To someone who asked why he was put in the pre-K class: his preschool has two tracks - preschool and pre-K. He completed the preschool year and was obviously ready to transition to pre-K (not to mention way bigger than most of the preschool kids). It would have made zero sense to keep him in preschool track for another year.

His preschool is very good and offers a good mix of academics and play. But I do not want him to repeat their pre-K year again; it has nothing to do with the school, I just think that he doesn't need another year of the same.

The private K program I am considering is more structured but offers lots of enrichment activities, play time, two recesses a day, music etc. in addition to academics. It is also an immersion language school, one of the few in this area, so would give us a great opportunity to cement his grasp of his heritage language.

I may be a little biased because I was the youngest kid in my class too (late August bday) and ended up as not only the top student but also the tallest in class.

For those of you who say it can be done: is it, then, to the discretion of the principal of his base school? Or can you demand that he be evaluated for 1st grade placement? Meaning, can the principal decline to even evaluate him out of, well, principle?

How strange. Most preschools I've toured have it grouped by age and in accordance with the FCPS calendar. So a twos class, a threes class, a fours class, and maybe a pre-K for kids being red shirted. I've never seen a preschool that only had two classes, "generic preschool" and "pre-K". Weird.

The fours class is a pre-K class. What would be weird is keeping him with the threes class for the whole year.

How is it weird to keep him in the same class all year? That is the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. Putting aside whether it's a good idea or not for the moment, can anyone answer if it can be done and, if so, how? Thanks.

Yes I posted above about my co-worker's dd. It can be done. You contact the school, they will meet with your child and adminster testing and let you know if they think your child is academically ready for first grade. My co-worker and her dh couldn't decide what to do, so "'let the school decide."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Putting aside whether it's a good idea or not for the moment, can anyone answer if it can be done and, if so, how? Thanks.

Yes I posted above about my co-worker's dd. It can be done. You contact the school, they will meet with your child and adminster testing and let you know if they think your child is academically ready for first grade. My co-worker and her dh couldn't decide what to do, so "'let the school decide."

Thank you. Is this an entitlement (to be tested) or is it entirely up to the principal to decide whether they are even open to this, without seeing the child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+100. I've known a few people who skipped a grade or more and not a single one had a normal social life. Most had tiger parents (speaking of parenting style, not ethnicity) who focused on academic achievement above all else. Please don't do this to your child.

And as for how it fits with redshirting, there is a reason Maryland schools only allow early admittance to kids born in September and then, only after they pass a readiness test. If you know redshirting is the norm in your school, why would you want to move your child a grade ahead?

Because I don't want him to STILL spend his time with the classroom full of kids just learning their ABCs more than a year from now when he's already a good reader TODAY.

Why do you think there won't be other readers in his K class, if you start him on time? There is going to be a huge ability range in any public class (K, first grade and so on).

I am sure they will be other readers in his K class but unless they are ALL readers, the teacher will have to teach ABCs because there is no expectation or requirement that kindergartners arrive at the school's doorstep able to read. The onus to teach them to read is on the school.

[Anonymous]

Op, we did this last year for our DD in FCPS (November born) , filled the forms and spoke to both the registrar and principal about placing in first grade so she didn't have to repeat K( moved here from a country where K starts at 4 and a child can start K in September as long as he or she turns 4 in the same year). she went in for a test and was offered a place in first grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, everyone, for such great contributions. Lots of food for thought.

I don't want to make an impression that I am convinced he should go to first grade ahead of schedule. I will absolutely put him in kindergarten again if that's where he belongs after he completes his private K program. I simply want to know that IF he matures enough during that year, that there IS an option for him to go to first grade based on evaluations of academics and social skills.

To the posters who were concerned about being the smallest kid in class: it just so happens that he is VERY tall for his age so that is not a concern.

To someone who asked why he was put in the pre-K class: his preschool has two tracks - preschool and pre-K. He completed the preschool year and was obviously ready to transition to pre-K (not to mention way bigger than most of the preschool kids). It would have made zero sense to keep him in preschool track for another year.

His preschool is very good and offers a good mix of academics and play. But I do not want him to repeat their pre-K year again; it has nothing to do with the school, I just think that he doesn't need another year of the same.

The private K program I am considering is more structured but offers lots of enrichment activities, play time, two recesses a day, music etc. in addition to academics. It is also an immersion language school, one of the few in this area, so would give us a great opportunity to cement his grasp of his heritage language.

I may be a little biased because I was the youngest kid in my class too (late August bday) and ended up as not only the top student but also the tallest in class.

For those of you who say it can be done: is it, then, to the discretion of the principal of his base school? Or can you demand that he be evaluated for 1st grade placement? Meaning, can the principal decline to even evaluate him out of, well, principle?

How strange. Most preschools I've toured have it grouped by age and in accordance with the FCPS calendar. So a twos class, a threes class, a fours class, and maybe a pre-K for kids being red shirted. I've never seen a preschool that only had two classes, "generic preschool" and "pre-K". Weird.

The fours class is a pre-K class. What would be weird is keeping him with the threes class for the whole year.

How is it weird to keep him in the same class all year? That is the norm.

There is more than one way to run preschools, isn't there?

There isn't a "threes" class in his preschool. They take kids starting at 30 months and they are in "preschool", when kids turn 4, they move to the preK classroom. That's how it is, and it served us well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+100. I've known a few people who skipped a grade or more and not a single one had a normal social life. Most had tiger parents (speaking of parenting style, not ethnicity) who focused on academic achievement above all else. Please don't do this to your child.

And as for how it fits with redshirting, there is a reason Maryland schools only allow early admittance to kids born in September and then, only after they pass a readiness test. If you know redshirting is the norm in your school, why would you want to move your child a grade ahead?

Because I don't want him to STILL spend his time with the classroom full of kids just learning their ABCs more than a year from now when he's already a good reader TODAY.

Why do you think there won't be other readers in his K class, if you start him on time? There is going to be a huge ability range in any public class (K, first grade and so on).

I am sure they will be other readers in his K class but unless they are ALL readers, the teacher will have to teach ABCs because there is no expectation or requirement that kindergartners arrive at the school's doorstep able to read. The onus to teach them to read is on the school.

The first graders won't all be readers, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, everyone, for such great contributions. Lots of food for thought.

I don't want to make an impression that I am convinced he should go to first grade ahead of schedule. I will absolutely put him in kindergarten again if that's where he belongs after he completes his private K program. I simply want to know that IF he matures enough during that year, that there IS an option for him to go to first grade based on evaluations of academics and social skills.

To the posters who were concerned about being the smallest kid in class: it just so happens that he is VERY tall for his age so that is not a concern.

To someone who asked why he was put in the pre-K class: his preschool has two tracks - preschool and pre-K. He completed the preschool year and was obviously ready to transition to pre-K (not to mention way bigger than most of the preschool kids). It would have made zero sense to keep him in preschool track for another year.

His preschool is very good and offers a good mix of academics and play. But I do not want him to repeat their pre-K year again; it has nothing to do with the school, I just think that he doesn't need another year of the same.

The private K program I am considering is more structured but offers lots of enrichment activities, play time, two recesses a day, music etc. in addition to academics. It is also an immersion language school, one of the few in this area, so would give us a great opportunity to cement his grasp of his heritage language.

I may be a little biased because I was the youngest kid in my class too (late August bday) and ended up as not only the top student but also the tallest in class.

For those of you who say it can be done: is it, then, to the discretion of the principal of his base school? Or can you demand that he be evaluated for 1st grade placement? Meaning, can the principal decline to even evaluate him out of, well, principle?

How strange. Most preschools I've toured have it grouped by age and in accordance with the FCPS calendar. So a twos class, a threes class, a fours class, and maybe a pre-K for kids being red shirted. I've never seen a preschool that only had two classes, "generic preschool" and "pre-K". Weird.

The fours class is a pre-K class. What would be weird is keeping him with the threes class for the whole year.

How is it weird to keep him in the same class all year? That is the norm.

There is more than one way to run preschools, isn't there?

There isn't a "threes" class in his preschool. They take kids starting at 30 months and they are in "preschool", when kids turn 4, they move to the preK classroom. That's how it is, and it served us well.

Sounds like a daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, everyone, for such great contributions. Lots of food for thought.

I don't want to make an impression that I am convinced he should go to first grade ahead of schedule. I will absolutely put him in kindergarten again if that's where he belongs after he completes his private K program. I simply want to know that IF he matures enough during that year, that there IS an option for him to go to first grade based on evaluations of academics and social skills.

To the posters who were concerned about being the smallest kid in class: it just so happens that he is VERY tall for his age so that is not a concern.

To someone who asked why he was put in the pre-K class: his preschool has two tracks - preschool and pre-K. He completed the preschool year and was obviously ready to transition to pre-K (not to mention way bigger than most of the preschool kids). It would have made zero sense to keep him in preschool track for another year.

His preschool is very good and offers a good mix of academics and play. But I do not want him to repeat their pre-K year again; it has nothing to do with the school, I just think that he doesn't need another year of the same.

The private K program I am considering is more structured but offers lots of enrichment activities, play time, two recesses a day, music etc. in addition to academics. It is also an immersion language school, one of the few in this area, so would give us a great opportunity to cement his grasp of his heritage language.

I may be a little biased because I was the youngest kid in my class too (late August bday) and ended up as not only the top student but also the tallest in class.

For those of you who say it can be done: is it, then, to the discretion of the principal of his base school? Or can you demand that he be evaluated for 1st grade placement? Meaning, can the principal decline to even evaluate him out of, well, principle?

How strange. Most preschools I've toured have it grouped by age and in accordance with the FCPS calendar. So a twos class, a threes class, a fours class, and maybe a pre-K for kids being red shirted. I've never seen a preschool that only had two classes, "generic preschool" and "pre-K". Weird.

The fours class is a pre-K class. What would be weird is keeping him with the threes class for the whole year.

How is it weird to keep him in the same class all year? That is the norm.

There is more than one way to run preschools, isn't there?

There isn't a "threes" class in his preschool. They take kids starting at 30 months and they are in "preschool", when kids turn 4, they move to the preK classroom. That's how it is, and it served us well.

Except, it hasn't. Because you are in here wondering why you have no class for your kid next year, who isn't old enough for K.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand. There is a preschool class of three year olds, and when they each turn 4, they switch to another class? That is bizarre. And random 2 1/2 year olds show up to take their place, all year long?