IIRC NYC used to do rolling dates. Students would attend three out of four quarters a year, which meant that e.g. one could accelerate by a quarter, or repeat a quarter if they were having trouble. A child who repeated could potentially go to school an extra quarter in order to get back on track with his original cohort. Allowed for very efficient use of their school space, which was at a premium.

Anonymous wrote:You’re assuming that kids development is consistently tied to their ages.
I started one child when they were 6 because they were two months premature and hadn’t met milestones on time. Younger siblings was young for their grade.

But if they had the option to start at 5 3/4 or 5 1/2 instead of dead on 5 would they have been with developmental peer. In other words was being forced to wait until start the September they where 6 over doing it?

With a rolling start date you could have started your still 5 year old when they where developmentally ready. A lot happens in the 12 months between the 5th and 6th birthday.

Anonymous wrote:The used to do this back in the day. Some kids started school in January, and some started in the summer. Not sure why they stopped.

If you started in January did you still go to 1st the following September?

The used to do this back in the day. Some kids started school in January, and some started in the summer. Not sure why they stopped.

You’re assuming that kids development is consistently tied to their ages.
I started one child when they were 6 because they were two months premature and hadn’t met milestones on time. Younger siblings was young for their grade.

What happens when the kids get to first grade? I'm confused.

They actually do this in New Zealand. You enter school as you turn 5 or 6 -I can’t remember which age but the whole school year kids enter on their birthdays.

Oh, year round free childcare would be an easy sell to working parents.

My mother really struggled to juggle work around my school growing up. It’s a real mismatch. What full time job can you get when you have to be home for months out of the year?

Anonymous wrote:Easy. Have rolling dates for the entire k-12 system.

The adult workplace is year round, why not school too?

If you think that is easy, you must be new here.

Easy. Have rolling dates for the entire k-12 system.

The adult workplace is year round, why not school too?

You can't do that. You need a single start date, or you won't have enough time to cover material by the time 1st grade rolls around for the last 3 start dates.

Surely the answer to the redshirting issues around 4 and 6 year olds being in the same room and compared as peers would be solved by just putting them in separate classes.

Have 4 entry dates evenly spread throughout the year, say to match the seasons: September 1st, December 1st, March 1st, June 1st. Have a hard maximum age cut off so anyone who has had their 6th birthday will be denied entry.

It’s the most disadvantage kids that have to get that free childcare ASAP so their parents can bring in wages that are hurt by the current system that allows 4 year olds without preparation to be compared with middle class 6 year olds in early kindergarten, putting them on the dumb track when they have barely started.

This is from personal experience of family members with English as a second language.