Private school wants to move 4yr old to K

[Anonymous]

I was a November birthday in a place with a September cutoff and was >1 year younger than some classmates. It was never an issue for me socially or academically. My best friend from elementary school is my best friend today. I probably got lucky socially because there were some mean cliques in the grade below me. I also asked to skip a grade in elementary school and my parents refused for social reasons, partly because my older brother was one year up. I still had very close friends in that grade as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We said no to this with our precocious Fall birthday kids, and now as we approach sending a kid off to college, we are so, so, so glad we didn't cave and start school too early. I would not be happy with a 16YO high school senior in class with 18YO boys, or having a kid in college who is at risk for underaged drinking violations until second semester senior year.

If your school cannot differentiate instruction well, then you need a new school. Don't make your child the victim of the school's inability to teach to a range of students. Our kids were in a public school that did in class differentiation very well, so academic and social needs were met in the same place.

Where did your kid go to school where they were age grouped in high school? Other than home room it's mixed ages and 16 year olds an 18 year olds are often in class together.

And as for underage drinking, that's really up to your kid.

A 16 YO Senior. That is a 13 year old freshman in those mixed classes with 18 year old seniors.

I was the 13 yo freshman. I was also the 17 yo college freshman. I held my own, I can't say the same for the 14 -15 y.o. college freshmen and 18-19 your college freshmen, Talk to your kids, don't depend on their age as security.

The kid would be 17 as a senior or close to it. OP can do K this year and reevaluate next year to repeat or do 1st. Simple.

My child goes to camps that have huge age ranges for the campers 8-18 and has always been one of the younger ones and for the most part its never an issue. Generally the older kids are nice and look out for him. There are issues with appropriate language and behavior as what is ok at 14 is not ok 8-12 but we deal with it as it comes up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, and no offense to anyone who was bullied or not popular growing up. But I think it''s a mistake to assume that the only reason your child will be bullie or not , popular or not is due to their age.

No one said that.

What people ARE telling these stories about is that when they had social problems, they did not have the comparative maturity to handle it and deal with it effectively.

Will a kid have a social problem with other kids in their grade? No one knows. As pp mentioned above, some class years have mean cliques and some do not. I have seen this at my children's school. I was really relieved my dc was not in the next grade down because it was a mess at his school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We said no to this with our precocious Fall birthday kids, and now as we approach sending a kid off to college, we are so, so, so glad we didn't cave and start school too early. I would not be happy with a 16YO high school senior in class with 18YO boys, or having a kid in college who is at risk for underaged drinking violations until second semester senior year.

If your school cannot differentiate instruction well, then you need a new school. Don't make your child the victim of the school's inability to teach to a range of students. Our kids were in a public school that did in class differentiation very well, so academic and social needs were met in the same place.

Let me burst your bubble: there were 18yo senior boys in my 14yo daughter’s freshman art class.

How about 18/19yo in geometry with freshmen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We said no to this with our precocious Fall birthday kids, and now as we approach sending a kid off to college, we are so, so, so glad we didn't cave and start school too early. I would not be happy with a 16YO high school senior in class with 18YO boys, or having a kid in college who is at risk for underaged drinking violations until second semester senior year.

If your school cannot differentiate instruction well, then you need a new school. Don't make your child the victim of the school's inability to teach to a range of students. Our kids were in a public school that did in class differentiation very well, so academic and social needs were met in the same place.

Where did your kid go to school where they were age grouped in high school? Other than home room it's mixed ages and 16 year olds an 18 year olds are often in class together.

And as for underage drinking, that's really up to your kid.

A 16 YO Senior. That is a 13 year old freshman in those mixed classes with 18 year old seniors.

We had a kid who turned 16 two days into freshman year of college. It was the right thing for him.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do it. I was always the youngest in my class and I think it showed.

[Anonymous]

I have a second child that was born in November. She is super smart, but can’t read... nobody taught her. I think she would do fine in K. She relates to her older sister and her friends more than the younger kids... I wouldn’t do it for mine because I think it’s good (better) to be older from a self esteem perspective, but I think my DD would be totally fine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We said no to this with our precocious Fall birthday kids, and now as we approach sending a kid off to college, we are so, so, so glad we didn't cave and start school too early. I would not be happy with a 16YO high school senior in class with 18YO boys, or having a kid in college who is at risk for underaged drinking violations until second semester senior year.

If your school cannot differentiate instruction well, then you need a new school. Don't make your child the victim of the school's inability to teach to a range of students. Our kids were in a public school that did in class differentiation very well, so academic and social needs were met in the same place.

Let me burst your bubble: there were 18yo senior boys in my 14yo daughter’s freshman art class.

How about 18/19yo in geometry with freshmen?

That happens too. If you don’t like that send your kids to private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way, and I say this having an identified gifted Nov birthday DC who went to kindergarten at 5. No freaking way.

Just pushing gifted kids up a grade does not help them. Preschool should be about fun and open ended learning. I had my ds in a completely playbased preschool for this reason. No letter of the week BS. He played games he and his friends made up about Greek mythology. He built stuff, he climbed, he rode scooters.

One grade skip doesn't help gifted kids much at all but it does increase the social distance between them and their peers.

If the preschool program is so rigid I would keep her home this year (hello, PANDEMIC anyway) and read with her, play games with her, play math games with her, and then put her in K next year.

My yds is a younger sibling as well, and he is mature for his age. He is far better able to handle social issues than his brother was at the same grades, being 6 months younger.

That combination of younger and socially behind and gifted makes kids really struggle socially, especially when they get to middle school age.

This. I kind of had the reverse situation, but found parochial school KG way too rigid and academically focused for my anxious kid that was coming from a play-based preschool. In hindsight, the school should have had more than a clue after her performance on the assessment.

Parochials are all about the enrollment. I wouldn't trust this as having your child's best interests at heart.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do it. So many people hold their kids back. They would be significantly younger than many kids in the grade. Just see if they can maybe visit with the older class for reading. I did that in elementary school and was considered a few years ahead. By HS, I was on the honors/AP track but not particularly known for my grades or anything and maturity was in the middle or less mature because I was the youngest in my grade.