What % of the class was held back/red-shirted?

[Anonymous]

I started my daughter on time in VA with September bday. She now goes to a DC/MD private so is actually past the cut off but in an older grade. I have met way more kids with August and September birthdays that are a full year older than year than ones that are her age. Now that’s she older I don’t rwally regret sending her because she is very mature for her age as well and seems to keep up academically but I also know that I probably wouldn’t have regretted holding her back.
I would suggest talking to the schools you are interested in for their opinion. Often they will tell you that they evaluate the children themselves and decide whether or not they are ready for kindergarten. Some of the privates absolutely do not want the young kids (Potomac and Maret come to mind). Some are more flexible.
If you’re thinking about holding back just do it. If you think your kid is ready then go for it. Kind of that simple.

[Anonymous]

My kids go to big 3. In one K class, there was one redshirted boy and a couple boys with April/May birthdays who started on time. There was also one redshirted girl. In my other kid's class there were two redshirted girls and no redshirted boys. In fact, there are several boys with late spring and summer birthdays. So, IME, redshirting is fairly uncommon and has little to no impact on class dynamics, especially as kids get older. The kids who mature the fastest are not necessarily the oldest. Instead, things like having older siblings,etc matter much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to big 3. In one K class, there was one redshirted boy and a couple boys with April/May birthdays who started on time. There was also one redshirted girl. In my other kid's class there were two redshirted girls and no redshirted boys. In fact, there are several boys with late spring and summer birthdays. So, IME, redshirting is fairly uncommon and has little to no impact on class dynamics, especially as kids get older. The kids who mature the fastest are not necessarily the oldest. Instead, things like having older siblings,etc matter much more.

If the ‘late’ birthdays in a class of 20+ kids are April/May, that tells you something about who gets in.

In a public school class of the same size, you would have a number of summer birthdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to big 3. In one K class, there was one redshirted boy and a couple boys with April/May birthdays who started on time. There was also one redshirted girl. In my other kid's class there were two redshirted girls and no redshirted boys. In fact, there are several boys with late spring and summer birthdays. So, IME, redshirting is fairly uncommon and has little to no impact on class dynamics, especially as kids get older. The kids who mature the fastest are not necessarily the oldest. Instead, things like having older siblings,etc matter much more.

Hey top of page 4 - looks like I’m not the only one noticing these things either...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One boy with a late Spring birthday started pk at 4
One boy with a late summer birthday, ie right before the 9/1 cut off, started pk at 5. Spring boy very tall for his age and is doing well in school summer boy average height but emotionally a bit young and is also doing very well in school. People should not be concerned about the age of other kids in the class. As long as your child is learning and thriving, what business is it of anyone how old another child is?

It is my business when my kid is being judged against kids 15 months older for sports teams, higher academic tracks, and social skills. My 11 year old was in class with 13 year olds last year. It is ridiculous.

This!

Hello, nonsensical hysterics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One boy with a late Spring birthday started pk at 4
One boy with a late summer birthday, ie right before the 9/1 cut off, started pk at 5. Spring boy very tall for his age and is doing well in school summer boy average height but emotionally a bit young and is also doing very well in school. People should not be concerned about the age of other kids in the class. As long as your child is learning and thriving, what business is it of anyone how old another child is?

It is my business when my kid is being judged against kids 15 months older for sports teams, higher academic tracks, and social skills. My 11 year old was in class with 13 year olds last year. It is ridiculous.

This!

Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this. Do not go to this private school. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One boy with a late Spring birthday started pk at 4
One boy with a late summer birthday, ie right before the 9/1 cut off, started pk at 5. Spring boy very tall for his age and is doing well in school summer boy average height but emotionally a bit young and is also doing very well in school. People should not be concerned about the age of other kids in the class. As long as your child is learning and thriving, what business is it of anyone how old another child is?

It is my business when my kid is being judged against kids 15 months older for sports teams, higher academic tracks, and social skills. My 11 year old was in class with 13 year olds last year. It is ridiculous.

This!

Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this. Do not go to this private school. Problem solved.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One boy with a late Spring birthday started pk at 4
One boy with a late summer birthday, ie right before the 9/1 cut off, started pk at 5. Spring boy very tall for his age and is doing well in school summer boy average height but emotionally a bit young and is also doing very well in school. People should not be concerned about the age of other kids in the class. As long as your child is learning and thriving, what business is it of anyone how old another child is?

It is my business when my kid is being judged against kids 15 months older for sports teams, higher academic tracks, and social skills. My 11 year old was in class with 13 year olds last year. It is ridiculous.

This!

Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this. Do not go to this private school. Problem solved.

+1

Of the four kids at DC's preschool who were redshirted, only one is in private--the other three are all in public. So it's definitely not an issue exclusive to privates. (Plus, sports teams are age-based anyway.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One boy with a late Spring birthday started pk at 4
One boy with a late summer birthday, ie right before the 9/1 cut off, started pk at 5. Spring boy very tall for his age and is doing well in school summer boy average height but emotionally a bit young and is also doing very well in school. People should not be concerned about the age of other kids in the class. As long as your child is learning and thriving, what business is it of anyone how old another child is?

It is my business when my kid is being judged against kids 15 months older for sports teams, higher academic tracks, and social skills. My 11 year old was in class with 13 year olds last year. It is ridiculous.

False claim. Most rec leagues and travel teams use age-based, not grade-based, criteria. For academic tracks, either your kid belongs on the track or not -- age has nothing to do with it. Social skills are something a parent teaches so you've either done a good job at it or not, PP. Sounds like you haven't done a good job of it if it is your concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One boy with a late Spring birthday started pk at 4
One boy with a late summer birthday, ie right before the 9/1 cut off, started pk at 5. Spring boy very tall for his age and is doing well in school summer boy average height but emotionally a bit young and is also doing very well in school. People should not be concerned about the age of other kids in the class. As long as your child is learning and thriving, what business is it of anyone how old another child is?

It is my business when my kid is being judged against kids 15 months older for sports teams, higher academic tracks, and social skills. My 11 year old was in class with 13 year olds last year. It is ridiculous.

This!

Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this. Do not go to this private school. Problem solved.

+1

Of the four kids at DC's preschool who were redshirted, only one is in private--the other three are all in public. So it's definitely not an issue exclusive to privates. (Plus, sports teams are age-based anyway.)

It’s MUCH more prevalent at DC privates. At least the good ones.

[Anonymous]

School sports teams are not age-based. But we all knew that already...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to big 3. In one K class, there was one redshirted boy and a couple boys with April/May birthdays who started on time. There was also one redshirted girl. In my other kid's class there were two redshirted girls and no redshirted boys. In fact, there are several boys with late spring and summer birthdays. So, IME, redshirting is fairly uncommon and has little to no impact on class dynamics, especially as kids get older. The kids who mature the fastest are not necessarily the oldest. Instead, things like having older siblings,etc matter much more.

If the ‘late’ birthdays in a class of 20+ kids are April/May, that tells you something about who gets in.

In a public school class of the same size, you would have a number of summer birthdays.

Just to be clear, in one kid's class, the latest birthdays of "on time" boys were April/May, but there were on time girls with summer birthdays. In the other kid's class, there are at least three on time boys with birthdays in July/Aug. So, despite what you think, there's simply not a ton of redshirting going on at least at our school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We want the scoop, not a scrubbed down non answer.

Better Q for the school is what do they and the teachers do to successfully manage a class range of 18 mos and challenge the redshirted and not demoralize the kids who started on time. I have faith and trust that a pricey school w real childhood development experts can handle all, just fine. Otherwise, why be there.

There is not the same range of kids, because schools will just reject the younger kids that will benefit from redshirting and tell parents to reapply in a year.

Most parents decide to redshirt their kid. They don't even entertain starting K at age 5/being on the younger side, and they thus apply for K when their kid will be 6 yo before sept 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:John Thomas Dye, the biggest feeder elementary school to Harvard Westlake (the best private high school in Los Angeles area) actually lists separate cut-offs for boys (June 1) and girls (September 1).

Would people around here prefer schools do that instead of having unofficial cut-offs?

Great school, if that resulted in a 12 month age range, or at least a tighter age range than what's going on around here, that would help the kids, teachers and parents know where things stand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to big 3. In one K class, there was one redshirted boy and a couple boys with April/May birthdays who started on time. There was also one redshirted girl. In my other kid's class there were two redshirted girls and no redshirted boys. In fact, there are several boys with late spring and summer birthdays. So, IME, redshirting is fairly uncommon and has little to no impact on class dynamics, especially as kids get older. The kids who mature the fastest are not necessarily the oldest. Instead, things like having older siblings,etc matter much more.

If the ‘late’ birthdays in a class of 20+ kids are April/May, that tells you something about who gets in.

In a public school class of the same size, you would have a number of summer birthdays.

I don't fully follow. Are there summer bdays of kids turning 5 or are those turning 6? april May should not be redshirted without some formal diagnosis or real concern.