What would you do? The opposite of redshirting

[Anonymous]

I am wondering if anyone has ever found themselves in this situation, and what you decided to do.

My son will be turning five on October 20th of this year. We know he's too late for K in Fairfax County, and we aren't questioning that.

For the last few years, he has been attending a very good bilingual preschool. He has completed their pre-K year curriculum successfully, can read and write in English very well (and in one more language) but is otherwise a typical boy. I don't want him to repeat the pre-K year because it is obvious to me he will be bored out of his skull. His attention span isn't the best, especially when he's bored, so I don't want to exacerbate this. So I am looking to enroll him in a private K program that accepts children born after the cut-off date.

My question is whether I will be able to enroll him in first grade in our neighborhood school when he completes the kindergarten year in private. I understand that no exceptions are granted for early enrollment in public K, but I *think* principals have discretion to evaluate children who graduated from private K for placement into first grade, even if their birthday falls after the cut-off date. Mind you, if after the private K year it becomes obvious that he isn't ready for 1st grade, I have no problem placing him in public K. I want him challenged but not miserable. But I want to have an option of placing him in first grade if he happens to be ready for it.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I figure I can't be the only parent with an October birthday boy. Who should I be contacting to figure that out?

[Anonymous]

I know a FCPS kid who placed into first grade.

My advice: don't do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a FCPS kid who placed into first grade.

My advice: don't do it.

How did he do it, and why do you think it's a bad idea?

[Anonymous]

His attention span isn't the best, especially when he's bored, so I don't want to exacerbate this.

This is exactly the reason he should wait to go to kindergarten. He might be able to read and write, but he has some maturing to do. This is very normal and the reason why there are age restrictions on going to kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

How did he do it, and why do you think it's a bad idea?

I don't know all the details. I do know the parents asked for it. The child took some tests and the principal approved it. Very bright child. This was done prior to enrollment when the child was slated to start public K.

I think it is a bad idea, because of what happens in high school. I've known kids who started early and it was a disadvantage later--in at least two cases that I know of, it was a very serious disadvantage--i.e. very, very bright kids who were not mature enough to socially handle high school. One was a girl and one was a boy.

I also taught K and 1, and would think long and hard before starting a child early. It is about a lot more than academics. Maturity is a difficult thing to measure--and, kids grow in spurts academically, physically, and socially. It is not just intelligence. In my opinion, if I had a K child with a September birthday (esp a boy) I would probably not start him. Starting one who is even younger brings even more issues.

You say you are worried about him being bored--that is not the issue.

[Anonymous]

Yes, my co-worker is doing this. Their dd has an October bday, and she did K at a preschool. They took their dd for testing at the public school, and she is going into 1st grade this year. IMO, it's not such a good idea. The girl is small for her age, and not as mature as a typical first grade student. And plus, K is the year that is the most fun for the kids. All the fun projects, stations, frogs, ants, all kinds of cool stuff to do.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why he was in Pre-K last year if he wasn't scheduled to go to K this year. He should be going to Pre-K this year. Why wasn't he in the same class as his same-year peers?

[Anonymous]

A kid should never be bored in a quality preschool program. Find a great play-based preschool and sign him up for their half-day Pre-K or Fours class, and then schedule some enrichment/activity classes for the afternoon. Then start him on-schedule with his age group.

[Anonymous]

Most regular middle class kids aren't particularly challenged academically by FCPS K classes, but they do have fun and seem to enjoy them. Find something for him to do next year and then start him on time. He will have plenty of other bright peers in K.

[Anonymous]

My parents did this with me. I graduated valedictorian, got a full merit scholarship to undergrad and a full ride plus stipend to grad school. Plus, I was younger than almost everyone in college and so did not take part in the "bar scene" and was a straight arrow.

I'm now in an executive role at my full-time job and have started a successful business that's on track to replace my regular career within 2-3 years.

Yes, I'm certain there are children for whom starting early is a bad idea, but the research supports starting as early as a child can -- if you look at the research into red-shirting, the older children initially have an advantage, but it deteriorates around middle school. Ironically, because they are academically bored and sexually more mature than their peers, they are the ones who tend to get into social trouble rather than younger peers (which one of the PPs claimed, anecdotally, was likely to happen -- the research doesn't bear that out).

My son is a late fall birthday and I also hope to send him early if circumstances allow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

How did he do it, and why do you think it's a bad idea?

I don't know all the details. I do know the parents asked for it. The child took some tests and the principal approved it. Very bright child. This was done prior to enrollment when the child was slated to start public K.

I think it is a bad idea, because of what happens in high school. I've known kids who started early and it was a disadvantage later--in at least two cases that I know of, it was a very serious disadvantage--i.e. very, very bright kids who were not mature enough to socially handle high school. One was a girl and one was a boy.

I also taught K and 1, and would think long and hard before starting a child early. It is about a lot more than academics. Maturity is a difficult thing to measure--and, kids grow in spurts academically, physically, and socially. It is not just intelligence. In my opinion, if I had a K child with a September birthday (esp a boy) I would probably not start him. Starting one who is even younger brings even more issues.

You say you are worried about him being bored--that is not the issue.

This sounds like you are advocating for more mature children in K+1 because it's easier for teachers.

I taught middle and high school school. I guarantee you boredom is a huge issue in fomenting behavioral problems. Maybe you didn't see that because your experience was limited to young children and you, frankly, had an easier job the older and calmer children were. In my opinion, it's not a teacher's right to have an "easy" kindergarten class over a child's right to have an opportunity to be challenged and grow throughout the school year/their school career vs. stagnating at a later age because parents hear "friend of a friend" stories like yours -- second-hand scare tactics with no real information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents did this with me. I graduated valedictorian, got a full merit scholarship to undergrad and a full ride plus stipend to grad school. Plus, I was younger than almost everyone in college and so did not take part in the "bar scene" and was a straight arrow.

I'm now in an executive role at my full-time job and have started a successful business that's on track to replace my regular career within 2-3 years.

Yes, I'm certain there are children for whom starting early is a bad idea, but the research supports starting as early as a child can -- if you look at the research into red-shirting, the older children initially have an advantage, but it deteriorates around middle school. Ironically, because they are academically bored and sexually more mature than their peers, they are the ones who tend to get into social trouble rather than younger peers (which one of the PPs claimed, anecdotally, was likely to happen -- the research doesn't bear that out).

My son is a late fall birthday and I also hope to send him early if circumstances allow.

+1
I have 2 kids that are significantly younger than the others in their grade. Both are doing well academically, socially and emotionally (middle school). I'm convinced they are where they should be. It's always good to talk with teachers and others, but I find it ridiculous that, as a society, our default is to lean towards redshirting.

[Anonymous]

OP,

It looks as though you might not know whether you made the right decision for some years. Your child is bright but the attention is a red flag for ADHD. This means that wherever he ends up he might struggle with attention issues, and may need classroom accommodations for that - seating in front, not near a window or distracting element, frequent breaks or teacher reminders to stay on task, etc.

My son ended up doing two Kindergartens in two different schools. We had done this in part because of his perceived immaturity and attention span. Then we realized he had ADHD and it wasn't getting any better since he was bored out of his mind, so he skipped ahead a year. Now he's not bored as much, but he still has attention issues and has support at school for this.

Boredom is a totally valid concern, unlike what other PPs are saying. But you can always work out with the teacher what advanced work he could be doing in school. You can also challenge him outside of school. If he is skipped ahead, he might feel physically inadequate compared to other boys who will be up to 2 years older than he is (the redshirted ones!).

There is not one right answer, OP. What feels right in the moment might need to be tweaked later on. Good luck figuring everything out!

[Anonymous]

Good luck! I don't think its a bad idea. DS went in to kindergarten knowing most of the skills that would be taught but I thought he still needed to maturing and social aspects. Well, by December, he was much more mature and bored out of his mind. He had a teacher who had no idea how to differentiate, and the last few months were a complete nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents did this with me. I graduated valedictorian, got a full merit scholarship to undergrad and a full ride plus stipend to grad school. Plus, I was younger than almost everyone in college and so did not take part in the "bar scene" and was a straight arrow.

I'm now in an executive role at my full-time job and have started a successful business that's on track to replace my regular career within 2-3 years.

Yes, I'm certain there are children for whom starting early is a bad idea, but the research supports starting as early as a child can -- if you look at the research into red-shirting, the older children initially have an advantage, but it deteriorates around middle school. Ironically, because they are academically bored and sexually more mature than their peers, they are the ones who tend to get into social trouble rather than younger peers (which one of the PPs claimed, anecdotally, was likely to happen -- the research doesn't bear that out).

My son is a late fall birthday and I also hope to send him early if circumstances allow.

Are you in FCPS?