How are you getting to "redshirt" from "apply next year"? Obviously the kid can apply next year for the next grade (i.e., my preKer wasn't admitted, but we can apply for K next year). I think you are leaping to conclusions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should add - I don't know the family, so I'm not being nosy (I could care less!) I was just surprised to hear about it even being a possibility.

You are being nosy. You are putting this out in a public forum and too much of a coward to directly ask. MYOB--I can assure you that no one is holding back a Dec birthday because everything is going great.

How could I ask - I don't know the parents or kid in question! The mom who told me about the situation is on a sports team with the kid's older sibling so I'm not sure she even knows the family well enough to ask. Perhaps I should have just posed it as a hypothetical - I'm really just asking because my toddler daughter will be going to school at some point and I'm wondering if it is really possible she could have kids 18 months older than her in the class. seems nuts to me.

Anonymous wrote:I should add - I don't know the family, so I'm not being nosy (I could care less!) I was just surprised to hear about it even being a possibility.

You are being nosy. You are putting this out in a public forum and too much of a coward to directly ask. MYOB--I can assure you that no one is holding back a Dec birthday because everything is going great.

Anonymous wrote:There has to be some underlying reason for them to red-shirt the child that we don't know about. If not, it is ridiculous to do that for a child who is at grade level. Then again, it is a private school and they can do as they please as far as admissions is concerned.

I agree there can be lots of reasons to hold a child back that we may not appreciate. I know a few children whose parents have held them back a year, and in almost every case the child is physically far smaller than his/her classmates, and also was not developmentally ready to start school on time. In each of the cases where I know the family and the child well, I completely understand and agree that the parents' decision to hold back was a wise one. For many of the parents, it's a really hard decision too because they don't want to hold the child back, but ultimately realize holding back is the best course.

As far as whatever school was at issue here, it sounds like the school did not think the child was a good fit, even after the child was held back. That's got to be hard for parents to hear. Indeed, it might make them wonder whether they were right to hold their child back in the first place, which would be a very stressful worry since the decision has been made and will be hard to undo.

I empathize.

There has to be some underlying reason for them to red-shirt the child that we don't know about. If not, it is ridiculous to do that for a child who is at grade level. Then again, it is a private school and they can do as they please as far as admissions is concerned.

I must be slow, because I'm still not following. I think all the discussion of grades and deferrals is confusing me. Is this what you're saying? ...

Child is currently 5. Applied to PK, and if admitted would have entered PK at age 5, and would have turned 6 in December of PK year. But child not admitted to PK, and was encouraged to apply next year for K. If admitted to K next year, he will enter K at 6, and turn 7 during December of his K year.

It seems the real key nugget is that it's a December birthday child who has been held back a year at a very young age. Is that correct?

If this is for PreK, presumably the kids start the year out at 4, turn 5 during the year, then go onto KG, right? So if the kid isn't a good fit this year, do they mean just apply as a normal KG next year when he's 5 or do they mean have him do PreK when he's 5, move onto KG when he's 6?

If it's the later, that's a horrible idea IMO but I went to a private school that routinely had any non-gifted children do a year of pre-K when they were already 5. My younger siblings were subjected to this and it demoralized them for the entirety of their elementary school educations - the curriculum was not challenging enough, they were bored, disciplined for doodling and otherwise trying to entertain themselves while bored, and they were obviously too old for their class. Of course the kid knows something's off when they're 8 and their classmates are 6.5. I would never do that to my kids. Just let them start school at the proper age and if it's a problem, deal with it as it comes. Don't start off assuming your kid can't handle it - they'll know why you did it and they'll internalize the lack of confidence you have in them.

Anonymous wrote:Exactly - entering K at 6 and turning 7 that december...so a full year older than what used to be the old kids in the class.

So they want to hold back a kid who would be considered "older" for 1st grade with a December birthday turning 7 yrs old and have him enter K?!? Ridiculous... and embarrassing for that child.

Any idea why?

Of course we don't know if this kid has some kind of special need. This was all second hand.

WTF? That's flat-out ridiculous.

Exactly - entering K at 6 and turning 7 that december...so a full year older than what used to be the old kids in the class.

I'm not following. If the age cut off is in September and the boy wouldn't be the correct age, that isn't red-shirting (i.e., wouldn't be 5 in September for K, so would enter K at 5), right? Or, are you saying he'd be entering K at 6 and turning 7 that December?

I should add - I don't know the family, so I'm not being nosy (I could care less!) I was just surprised to hear about it even being a possibility.

MYOB

I recently heard (totally second-hand) of a sibling at a big 3 type school who wasn't admitted for Pre K. The family was told to reapply next year and maybe the kid would be a better fit. I had heard of redshirting Spring birthday (may/June) and think it is a bit ridiculous, but I'm shocked to hear that a school would consider a December birthday hold-back. At that point wouldn't the school just say the kid isnt' a good fit rather than shove him in to a class full of kids almost all a year younger or more? Or is this just the school's polite way to let the family down easy and send a subtle message that the school isn't the right fit.