DD has an October 1st birthday and she is one of the oldest in her class. She's now a senior at TC. It has been nothing but a benefit all the way along. And she usually drives; she doesn't have to ride with some other teenager whose driving skills are unknown to us.

I used to teach Montessori kindergarten. We had many parents who would get upset when FCPS wouldn't admit their kids to first grade even after completing a kindergarten year privately. We would tell them they would probably have to repeat K, but they tried anyhow. It would vary from school to school, but usually they would have to repeat.

When I started school, 40+ years ago, my Dec birthday allowed me to start K at 4 yrs 9 months.

I was not emotionally ready, and ended being kept back in te 2nd grade. That was quite traumatic. It would ave been much better to have started k one year later

My brother and my son have mid-October birthdays (9 and 13). They both started private K just before they turned 5 and private 1st just before they turned 6. They were both very smart, gifted kids, but truthfully, they weren't mature enough to be in that grade level yet. It wasn't a question of the work; that was easy. It was a question of social-skills and maturity. They would have been much better off if they had been started a year later.

Not that you asked, but what the heck...

My daughter's birthday is the end of September, so she is starting kindergarten now, a month before her 5th birthday. She's tall for her age, she's already reading, and still, I feel as if she's not ready. The day is too long for her, she's more emotionally fragile than her classmates. Also, her classmates talk like kids, and my daughter still sounds a little like a toddler (though she's very articulate and has a good vocabulary).

I think she'll be fine in the long run, but if I had to choose, I might have had her wait a year...

My DD also has a mid-October birthday and was almost six when she started K in Alexandria. Had a great year, did very well academically and adapted well to the larger school, mean kids, etc. Some of the really young kids (Aug and Sept) birthdays in her class really struggled, especially socially.

No experience with Alex. schools specifically, but find out whether this is state law (and I believe it is) or school district policy. State laws generally can't be messed with.

my question is, why would you do this? Is she big for her age as well? Excellent at EVERYTHING? (Social skills? athletics? Math?) It's not just reading that matters.

My DS also has an Oct birthday. When he was 5 I thought he was "ready" and was bummed that he missed the cutoff by only a few days. I'm SO glad we didn't really have the option, he matured so much in that extra year. He was able to sit still more, read more, know more, just was generally more mature.

if you are concerned about daycare costs, consider it an extra year to save for college. you are doing that, right?????

Anonymous wrote:If she is over 5, enroll her in private, and then ACPS will take her as a lateral. Otherwise, state law (not ACPS policy) prohibits public enrollment before age 6 at 9/30.

is it guaranteed? do you happen to know...

Dear Daughter

If she is over 5, enroll her in private, and then ACPS will take her as a lateral. Otherwise, state law (not ACPS policy) prohibits public enrollment before age 6 at 9/30.

What's a DD?

I don't know about alexandria schools, but in FCPS you can send your Oct kid to private school for kindergarten, and then talk to the public school. In many cases they will accept a kid into first grade who completed private kindergarten and did really well in kindergarten, even if they are too young.

If the school systems were lenient on this they would have a huge amount of folks trying to get their Oct., Nov., Dec. kids in. Especially in an area where everyone is "gifted."

My DD was born Oct. 15th - can I get her into Alexandria City Kindergarten just before her 5th birthday? I know the deadline is Sept. 30th, but is there any leeway with that if she is reading books already?