Reply to My son's kindergarten class has several 7 yr olds in it.

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "My son's kindergarten class has several 7 yr olds in it. "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DS was born first half of september, and misses the deadline  for maryland and for many private schools. So, if we just go ahead with the deadlines, he will be starting K when he is 5 years, 11 months, and 2 weeks. He will be 6 a couple of weeks after starting K, and will be finishing K almost 7. Am I thrilled about it? No. Will I try and get him a year earlier so that he is the smallest, just hitting 5 when others are 5.5 -6? probably not. So, Ds will be in your kids class and will be ALMOST 7 by end of K class, i.e. by June.[/quote]

No, he won't be ALMOST 7.  In June, he still has three months until he turns 7, in September.  And that is how it should be -- he will be the oldest.  And that means that for my April child, there is a kid 7 months older than him, as it should be.  There is supposed to be a TWELVE MONTH RANGE in every class.  That is how it has been for years.
By redshirting, hypercompetitive parents are extending this age range to 14, 16 or even 18 months.

And no, in response to a PP, I will not redshirt my April child!! Are you serious??  Luckily, he is also tall and smart and strong -- but what if he wasn't?  I would be forced to hold him back so that he wouldn't be classmates with your kid who you held back on purpose so that he could be the best basketball player? I don't think so.

[b]Look, this is more rampant than ever.  And that means that something that has gone a bit under the radar is now about to be on alot of people's agenda.  My son has two younger siblings.  And they may or may not be blessed with his height and intellect.  It's too soon to tell.  So being with bigger, older kids that should be in the grade above may indeed be damaging to them -- both by skewing the peer group and artificially setting the bar where it shouldn't be.  And if I find that redshirting is a problem at his school, I will be speaking up, and strongly encouraging others to do the same.  I think we all need to speak up.  We are NEVER going to convince these types of parents to look at the big picture.  The only hope is with the schools. [/b] [/quote]

Relax. It's not as bad as you perceive.  Of course the suggestion that you redshirt was made in jest.  You seem hyper-sensitive because your son has an April birthday -- the month that most schools/parents start to think about the redshirting issue. Much of it has to do with the opinion that at this age girls are 6 months more mature than boys.  So to level the girl/boy playing field, boys April - Sept could be redshirted.  As I've seen it, it's more June - Sept boys being redshirted.  Your son is tall and intelligent and born in April.  Great, off to K he goes at age 5 turning 6 in April.  There will likely be a couple boys in his class with summer birthdays turning 6.  Your son is not at risk of being damaged by a K boy  8-10 months older.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics