Reply to Do private school families start their kids a year later?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a kid I went to Potomac (and am now a 40 year old man).  I transferred into Potomac from a McLean elementary school, and a requirement for me gaining acceptance was to repeat the 3rd grade at Potomac.  I did.  And it was a blessing.  I went from being one of the 'dummies' to being on par with the class.  I went to a great college and am a physician (who obviously doesn't have any patients this afternoon--hence wasting time on DCUM) with a great practice.  My daughter is supposed to start at a public KG this year, but we are sending her to a private school, and , are going to keep her back a year as well.  I think that the kids are more mature and better to handle school if they are a little older.[/quote]

This is why schools need to have a cut of on age starting. It isn't fair to hold your kid back for an edge, no matter what it is.  Height, maturity, sports, etc...  It is given your child a better advantage over everyone else. I am not talking about a just turning 5yr old boy in Aug who still can't sit still in a circle. I am talking about parents that just decide to do it for ANY advantage.

I know MCPS have ages with sports but it still gives a child a whole year advantage if they wish. But yes there should be a minimum/maximum window for every year and only if you have to repeat a grade due to grades can it be broken. [/quote]

Who told you that life was going to be fair?  If they have a hard and fast cut off date, there are still going to be kids that are almost 12 months older than others.  In the book Outliers, Gladwell says 40% of professional hockey players are born in the early months of the year (Jan. through March, I think).  Why?  Canadian hockey leagues base their teams on a child's age as of Jan. 1.  The kids that are born in the early months of the year start out with an advantage that holds for the rest of their careers.  It's not "fair," but what are you going to do about it?

By the way, my dc has an early fall birthday, so she would benefit from a "hard and fast" cut off date.  I just think it's silly to expect children to all develop at the same rate and to try to force kids into a mold, whether they fit into it or not.  [/quote]

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