Starting an August birthday (boy) in K in DCPS

[Anonymous]

I have an August birthday boy whom we were pretty set on starting on time in K this Fall. I'm starting to have second thoughts because he has difficultly focusing and has zero interest in reading and cannot sound out words to save his life. Now, I don't care that he isn't reading yet (I've read all the stuff on how early literacy can be harmful) but I wonder if this is a sign that he is not ready for K this Fall.

We are in-bounds for Janney, if that matters. By definition, he will be on the young side for K with an August birthday, but will he be THAT much younger that it will be hard for him to keep up? I worry that in such a large class, he will just get lost in the shuffle (and he's proven to be good at flying under the radar in his large Montessori preschool class). It just seems like he will be really old to start K as a 6 year old.

[Anonymous]

I would not worry that he cannot read yet or will not be ready academically. We are now well into the K year, and many kids in my son's class still cannot read. Do you feel he is ready socially?

[Anonymous]

Unless you have a real developmental delay, I would send him. The cutoffs are there for a reason.

Is he in PK anywhere? Can you talk to his teachers to get a sense of what they think?

[Anonymous]

I'm a Janney mom with a boy in K this year - he is a November birthday so I am lucky that he will be older in his class and I didn't have to think about weather redshirt him or not.

In his class there are 3 redshirted boys with Aug birthdays who started K at 6. They are at this point in time some of the best readers in the class and get pulled out for extra time to stimulate them. My son is obviously not that much younger than them and is definitely on the "average" side when it comes to reading. He isn't that into it. There is a lot of range in the class in both age and reading, but one doesn't necessarily correspond to the other.

Did you enter the PK lottery? Are you at another school now that you would stay at? I would talk to your current school and see what they think. You could also talk to the Janney principal. She is leaving, yes, but she might have some good advice for you.

Good luck !

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much everyone. My child is in a Montessori preschool where they want kids to stay for the "third year" so I don't think I will get an unbiased assessment of whether he should stay or go. (Meaning: they want all kids to stay another year.) I don't want him to stay as one of the only 5 year olds and then start him in first grade. If we kept him, it would be only because we thought he might not be ready for K and would start K as a 6 year old.

I am afraid that with the large K classes, he won't get enough personal attention and will just slide by. As it is, his preschool teachers have an assessment of his skills that do not correspond with what I have observed at all. They think he can blend letter sounds and when we do it together, he has no clue. I could go over it with him for 30 minutes and he still doesn't get it-- I can't imagine how it would work in a large class setting. Current Janney K parents-- I would love your feeback on whether my concern is misplaced!

[Anonymous]

I am the parent of a summer birthday child who is currently in kindergarten and am very glad we started him when we did. He was not nearly as far along as his sister was at the same age, but being in class gave him a boost and now he loves reading. (It still makes him really tired and is something he has to work at, so I don't want to overstate his progress, but it has been great to watch nevertheless).

[Anonymous]

I have a Janney second grader with a September birthday that we held back. In our grade I can think of 3 August birthdays that were held and sent at age 6. I can think of 7 September birthday kids that were held and sent at age 6 and only two that were sent at age 5 (this is just in the second grade). Also within the past 2 years there were at least 2 kids on the young side (in what now is the second grade) and then held back.

I don't think red shirting is common most DCPS (at all!) but it is common at Janney for Aug and especially Sept birthdays. If you send your Aug birthday there will be dozen kids who are 12 to 13 months older than he is.

[Anonymous]

Our PK class has four kids with Sept birthdays and three are boys. And no red shirts.

[Anonymous]

All the August boys I know were held back.

[Anonymous]

I did not realize that the public school, i.e., DCPS, allowed parents to pick and choose what grade their kids will be in.

Otherwise, all the parents of 34 month olds who miss the cut off would be starting their babies in formal all-day school "early," in order to realize the free childcare.

Or, parents could apply for preK 4 and K at the same time for an OOB school, the hedge their bets.

Or, parents of really athletic 8th graders could hold their sons back themselves, independent of academics, to game the playing time situation and be the biggest guy on the freshman team.

Are you really sure, OP, that DCPS won't just place your child in the appropriate grade?

[Anonymous]

Janney allows parents to hold their children back. I have held back 2 kids.

[Anonymous]

But there will be a new principal at Janney. So perhaps this changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize that the public school, i.e., DCPS, allowed parents to pick and choose what grade their kids will be in.

Otherwise, all the parents of 34 month olds who miss the cut off would be starting their babies in formal all-day school "early," in order to realize the free childcare.

Or, parents could apply for preK 4 and K at the same time for an OOB school, the hedge their bets.

Or, parents of really athletic 8th graders could hold their sons back themselves, independent of academics, to game the playing time situation and be the biggest guy on the freshman team.

Are you really sure, OP, that DCPS won't just place your child in the appropriate grade?

They do not admit to PK early. Holding back in K is different story.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I've responded to this sort of thread before, although I can't find the links right now--I looked into this given talk of redshirting on DCUM (had never heard of it before), and also because my 3yo has a September bday.

Anyway, I remember reading that the research doesn't really support redshirting. It basically said that the little bit of an edge redshirting give kids as far as academics and sports early on fades by the time they get to high school. Basically, these kids don't have to try as hard, because they're bigger and smarter and faster than their peers. However, if your kid is the one of youngest in the class, they'll have to try really hard to keep up with their older classmates--and they'll benefit cognitively from that in the long run.

One of the studies I can recall was by Stanford (of Stanford & Binet fame). They looked at kids who had IQs in the top 1% of the population. Kids who were young for their grade were over-represented in the sample.

There are more of these studies, along with a couple of NYT and other articles about the topic, if anyone else can find them (I just got home and have stuff to do).