Would you redshirt this child??

[Anonymous]

DS is a third child of five and has a September 12th birthday. Our school year starts the second week of August, but the age cut off is September 30th. So, DS would start K at age 4, but would turn 5 about a month into school. He is bright (just an average kid), but he is young. He knows his ABCs, counts well, is an emergent reader (knows several sight words and it starting to sound out more and more), sits and listens well. He is shy and sensitive, but a really good kid. Easy going. Gets along well with others. His only weakness is his fine motor skills. They are catching up, but I know its hard for him. He can now hold his pencil correctly and cut well enough. But, he has always struggled a bit here, and his handwriting has come a long way this year. But, I see that he does tire easily.

His preschool now has a "bridge" class for kids like him that could have gone on. Of course his preschool teacher thinks he should stay back. Putting her opinion aside, what would you do? I have asked dozens of btdt parents and teachers, and overwhelmingly the response is "absolutely hold back." If we send him on time, he would start his senior year of high school as a SIXTEEN year old! That seems crazy to me. I feel like holding back makes the most sense for him long term, but it's hard to swallow when he seems to ready now....

[Anonymous]

I would send him either to the bridge program or private kindergarten and/or first, then switch back to public and repeat the year. If you repeat the year, I personally would tell him that he is so adorable that both schools wanted him with them for a year.

[Anonymous]

I would redshirt him without question.

[Anonymous]

Hold back. The extra time cannot possibly hurt and you say in your post "I know its hard for him." "He has always struggled a bit." "He does tire easily." "Holding back makes the most sense for him long term."
You've answered your own question and have asked many others who all overwhelmingly say the same thing, including the professional who works with him daily in ways you do not. Isn't the long term what we are all working for here?

[Anonymous]

I would send the kid on time. He's similar to my kid, who also has an early September bday and started K at age 4. She's done really well over the years (now in 2nd).

I also had a fall bday and started senior year at 16. It had absolutely no effect on my life. I did well in school and never even thought of myself as younger than my classmates.

[Anonymous]

Im going to differ. He seems ready to me. He has MONTHS before fine motor skills are an issue, and the fact that he’ll be a Young senior is really moot. The start of K Is 6 months away!

But hey, you lready have your answer “overwhelmingly”.

[Anonymous]

Send him.

[Anonymous]

Send him. My first grader (late June birthday) was having fine motor issues at the beginning of the year and has made massive improvements. His Kindergarten teacher had identified the issue in Kindergarten as well but that was pretty much the only area he lagged. Your son sounds similar to mine, except mine was 5 at the start of the year. He did fine in Kindergarten and is doing just fine in first grade. The fine motor skills will come as he grows and the teachers all know that.

[Anonymous]

I think he would perfectly fine either way.

If he has a nice preschool program I’d consider it - more time outside, independent play. Otherwise just send on time if it’s a ho-hum academic-style preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Send him. My first grader (late June birthday) was having fine motor issues at the beginning of the year and has made massive improvements. His Kindergarten teacher had identified the issue in Kindergarten as well but that was pretty much the only area he lagged. Your son sounds similar to mine, except mine was 5 at the start of the year. He did fine in Kindergarten and is doing just fine in first grade. The fine motor skills will come as he grows and the teachers all know that.

+1. The fine motor skills will improve with practice during the school year.

[Anonymous]

With older siblings to learn from, I would lean toward start on time. Kids with older siblings tend to be better about starting school as older 4 or young 5 year olds as they are already trying to keep up with big kids.

However, if K is full day where you are and he’s never been in full day school/day care, I might do a private K program if possible and see what happens - he may be ok to advance to 1st, or he may be better off repeating K at the public school. I’ve found that many (not all but many!) private K’s have smaller class sizes and more down time than public K, which may be an easier transition for a “young for grade” kid.

[Anonymous]

I was 16 for the first three months of my senior year and my sister was 16 until a week after graduation. It's fine! He won't be the only one, so don't let that determine your decision.

I think he sounds ready for K. My kids had zero sight words at the start of K and are both strong readers now.

[Anonymous]

Send. He won't be the youngest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would send him either to the bridge program or private kindergarten and/or first, then switch back to public and repeat the year. If you repeat the year, I personally would tell him that he is so adorable that both schools wanted him with them for a year.

My goodness, you Americans are ridiculous. Big little lies raising gigantic egos.

[Anonymous]

My sister has a son with a Sept. 15 birthday and the school district cut off of Sept. 30 as well. What she did was what the PP above suggested... she sent him to a private K with the plans of transferring him to a public K to repeat if he struggled. He was almost exactly like your child and ended up doing very well in K. His fine motor skills really flourished once in K.

This would be the path I would take.

I have a DD with an Oct. 2 birthday who was 100% ready for K at 4. We could have tested her and let her attend but my spouse was against that (was pushed too hard in school by parents) so we waited and she went to a PK2 school. She was terribly bored in K because her PK2 class essentially taught her everything that they were doing. She was able to write decently at 4 and knew about 20 words by sight. We ended up getting a call from the teacher to have her tested for ADD and began that process. The result was that she was bored not ADD. They started supplementing with different work and the teacher said it was like she did a 180. I really wish I'd pushed harder to let her be tested to start K at 4.