Redshirting question

[Anonymous]

Good plan, op. I would say delay the decision. The only downside is many kids make good friends in K and if you have any suspicion at all of one of them being gifted or close to that level you must put them into first grade at a different school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If parents are just going to redshirt every kid born in Sept/Aug why not just make the cutoff July 30 instead of Sept 30? Same result.

States and school districts are increasingly moving the cutoff up to July 30th, especially as the trend is also for an earlier start to the school year. I’m sure a 9/30 cutoff made sense back when K was half-day and school started after Labor Day, and when 1st grade was when many kids learned to read, and when there was barely any standardized testing until middle school. But now maybe an earlier cutoff makes sense.

And no, it’s not “cheating” or whatever PP wants to say - it’s explicitly allowed by the public and private schools in this area.

So you see nothing wrong with 2 kids in the same grade being more than 365 days apart? It's perfectly okay with you if the youngest kid doesn't turn 5 before the oldest kid turns 6?

Np. I don't see anything wrong with it. DD is one of the youngest or maybe the youngest in her grade. Has lots of friends more than a year older and always has from the first day of K, and she's not one of those super mature girls either. She had the normal immaturity of a new kindergartener!

+1, I'd prefer not to have the age span but I'm not holding my kid back because you choose to hold yours back. Expecting maturity in a 4-5-6 year old is absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If parents are just going to redshirt every kid born in Sept/Aug why not just make the cutoff July 30 instead of Sept 30? Same result.

States and school districts are increasingly moving the cutoff up to July 30th, especially as the trend is also for an earlier start to the school year. I’m sure a 9/30 cutoff made sense back when K was half-day and school started after Labor Day, and when 1st grade was when many kids learned to read, and when there was barely any standardized testing until middle school. But now maybe an earlier cutoff makes sense.

And no, it’s not “cheating” or whatever PP wants to say - it’s explicitly allowed by the public and private schools in this area.

Went I went to K, it was always first day in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

So you see nothing wrong with 2 kids in the same grade being more than 365 days apart? It's perfectly okay with you if the youngest kid doesn't turn 5 before the oldest kid turns 6?

Yes. Huge difference between 365 and 375...…...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

+1, I'd prefer not to have the age span but I'm not holding my kid back because you choose to hold yours back. Expecting maturity in a 4-5-6 year old is absurd.

Yup. I sent my kids on time (all boys, all late summer birthdays), and I'm glad I did.

I do like OP's plan for a play-based kindergarten year; I'm concerned by how many schools have shifted to developmentally inappropriate expectations, especially in the early grades. It was getting pretty bad when my youngest started K, although we were lucky to get a teacher who pushed back against those expectations, and I assume it's even worse now, nearly a decade later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+1, I'd prefer not to have the age span but I'm not holding my kid back because you choose to hold yours back. Expecting maturity in a 4-5-6 year old is absurd.

Yup. I sent my kids on time (all boys, all late summer birthdays), and I'm glad I did.

I do like OP's plan for a play-based kindergarten year; I'm concerned by how many schools have shifted to developmentally inappropriate expectations, especially in the early grades. It was getting pretty bad when my youngest started K, although we were lucky to get a teacher who pushed back against those expectations, and I assume it's even worse now, nearly a decade later.

I think there's a bit of a swing away from the intensity of ten years ago because they've eased up on the accountability measures of NCLB. So you find more 'no hw in ES' policies and more play. OTH kids are often coming from a couple years of preschool and many enter K reading now so there may be more social comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+1, I'd prefer not to have the age span but I'm not holding my kid back because you choose to hold yours back. Expecting maturity in a 4-5-6 year old is absurd.

Yup. I sent my kids on time (all boys, all late summer birthdays), and I'm glad I did.

I do like OP's plan for a play-based kindergarten year; I'm concerned by how many schools have shifted to developmentally inappropriate expectations, especially in the early grades. It was getting pretty bad when my youngest started K, although we were lucky to get a teacher who pushed back against those expectations, and I assume it's even worse now, nearly a decade later.

Kids learning to read, write and do basic math at age five is developmentally appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I always tell parents is to set up an appt. at your local middle school and talk to the counselor(s) there. How are those younger kids doing as puberty hits?

August is on the line. But, with twins, unless genetics say and show that the kids are both going to be big, and advanced scholastically, there is zero reason to push ahead.

From your updates -- it would seem to be a no brainer to say: hold back. Again, what happens between first and second grade academically is of little importance. What happens in middle school and high school -- much bigger deal.

Now -- one proviso -- we held our daughter back for 2 years of kindergarten. That decision set off a little trend of kids from the group to also hold back (obviously they were already considering it -- we just like to say we must have started it. Still it is easier if more than one.) Anyway, one of the group went ahead to 1st grade and then repeated that with our group. One other girl coming from a neighboring district decided to repeat 2nd grade. In discussion things in retrospect -- we all think that it would have been better to just say, in advance, we are going to repeat 1st grade rather than kindergarten. Repeating first grade would have focused a bit more on reading in particular than kindergarten which was largely socialization.

Of that group of 6 heldback girls -- 3 played college soccer for 4 years, 1 is an RN now, 2 are in med school, 1 in law school, mine is in grad school now, and 1 just got her CPA. So far so good.

What were the birthday months of them all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Kids learning to read, write and do basic math at age five is developmentally appropriate.

It's within the realm of normal, but lots of kids who aren't reading by the end of K are fluent readers two years later.