This age discrepancy due to "redshirting" is ridiculous

[Anonymous]

We are the parents of a boy with a 9/1 birthday, and we have no idea what to do. When I hear about 7 year olds in K this makes me nervous about starting him at age 4. Even if he is a bright and social kid. He is small, and that's more of an age gap than with his older sister!

[Anonymous]

Lots of parents red shirt their boys to give them an advantage in sports.

I have a July birthday boy who I did not redshirt. He's a super athlete and runs circles around boys who are older than him.

I can't imagine what he would have been like playing against kids a year younger than him. It would have been unfair.

We also don't believe in travel sports at such a young age. He'll be in 3rd grade next year and we won't have him try out.

[Anonymous]

I sent both of my boys - mid-August and late-September. They both perform well-above grade level and are AAP qualified. They both excel at sports. Just depends on the kids.

[Anonymous]

It often depends on the circle of people you're around. My oldest DS has a June birthday. At the time we lived somewhere else (but still in DC area) and my friends were astonished that we were going to send him to K on time. It did make me doubt myself a bit but DH and I reminded ourselves that he was ready and there was no reason to have him start school 3 months AFTER his 6th birthday. Still, he ended up one of the youngest (if not the youngest) in his class. Thankfully, it didn't work against him and hasn't yet (in 6th grade now)

We have since moved to another area within the DC region and find many parents sending their summer birthday boys to K on time at age 5. It's refreshing.

Either way, do what is best for your child. Don't make the others doubt you. When they end up in college, they're all basically the same age anyway!

[Anonymous]

My other favorite besides the parents who redshirt for sports are the parents who redshirt and then demand the teacher teach up a level to their "advanced" child.

[Anonymous]

DC just turned 5. She is classmates with a pair of twins who turned 6 recently. They will be starting K in Sept so they will turn 7 before 1st grade starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My other favorite besides the parents who redshirt for sports are the parents who redshirt and then demand the teacher teach up a level to their "advanced" child.

++1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Red-shirting" is not new. My brother started kindergarten late, and he's almost 50. It had nothing to do with academics; it was all about maturity.

I did the same for my August boy (oldest). Best decision I ever made. He never, ever socializes with kids who would have been in his grade, and he isn't even the most socially savvy of the kids who ARE currently in his grade. Academically, he does fine, but he's far from bored. It worked for us.

On the flip side, we chose to play him up in sports, so he competes with kids two years older in his league. So we couldn't care less about the sports piece.

Wow, that IS late. Not many 45 yos aren't mature enough for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm forced to hold DD back - her birthday is 10/15 and stupid ass FCPS won't let her test into kindergarten 2 weeks before she turns 5. Nope, let's waste an entire year and do NOTHING (with regard to her as she has to sit home for a whole year whereas in MOCO she'd be in K). Even if she reads, writes, adds, subtracts, they DON'T GIVE A F.

FCPS elementary school bureaucrats are the laziest bunch in the DC area I swear. God forbid they had to actually work a FULL 5-day workweek. God forbid they actually had to put some kind of effort into testing students to see if they are ready to enter kindergarten a couple weeks before their 5th birthday.

If you feel that strongly about it and can't face another year of preschool, why don't you send her to a private or move to Montgomery County? FCPS has to set a cutoff and if they continually make exceptions what would the point of a cut-off be? Particularly in an area where every parent thinks their kid is special and deserving of an exemption from the rules? The operative word here is PUBLIC school. If you don't like it, you can always try another option.

Otherwise, you might want to chill. Your daughter is 4 and you have a long way to in dealing with school bureaucracies. Best to save your energies for the battles that matter.

Montgomery County is 9/1 as the cut off with testing. Its not about kids being special. Some kids thrive on academics and holding them back does more harm than good when most preschools are play based. We have a child who was reading at 3 and very clearly ready and we had to hold him back. We had to continue tutoring him which just put him further ahead.

We aren't in Montgomery county, but my daughter's birthday is on 9-1. I really want to hold her back until she turns six because I do not think she is ready for a full day of KG. I am so conflicted.

you want to hold her back this year? or next year? If her birthday is a year away then I wouldn't worry about it yet because she will change so much. I know someone in Moco who started their kid on time and then they were told by the k teacher to pull him out and out him back in preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Red-shirting" is not new. My brother started kindergarten late, and he's almost 50. It had nothing to do with academics; it was all about maturity.

I did the same for my August boy (oldest). Best decision I ever made. He never, ever socializes with kids who would have been in his grade, and he isn't even the most socially savvy of the kids who ARE currently in his grade. Academically, he does fine, but he's far from bored. It worked for us.

On the flip side, we chose to play him up in sports, so he competes with kids two years older in his league. So we couldn't care less about the sports piece.

Wow, that IS late. Not many 45 yos aren't mature enough for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC just turned 5. She is classmates with a pair of twins who turned 6 recently. They will be starting K in Sept so they will turn 7 before 1st grade starts.

what is your point? isn't that typical for a summer kid who is redshirted? it's not like they are starting K at 7.

[Anonymous]

There seem to be a lot of MD parents on this thread. From talking to my MD friends, kindergarten in MD is more structured. Fairfax at least doesn't follow common core yet, and has a "playtime" during the day complete with dress up, kitchen, blocks, legos, etc. and have 2 recess periods. Also VA cutoff is Sept. 30, not Sept. 1. Around the country it seems the cutoffs for K range from Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. I haven't heard of any cutoffs earlier than Sept. 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC just turned 5. She is classmates with a pair of twins who turned 6 recently. They will be starting K in Sept so they will turn 7 before 1st grade starts.

what is your point? isn't that typical for a summer kid who is redshirted? it's not like they are starting K at 7.

see first post of thread

[Anonymous]

I thought ahead ~ about whether I wanted to be living with a 19 year old man who was still in high school.

[Anonymous]

You don't want to raise kids who know you have skewed/gamed the system on their behalf.