I’m going to send my May kid to kindergarten on time. It’ll certainly be a very different experience than what her older sister had but I figure this entire cohort will be in the same position. It will be unique but it will be theirs. And they are so young that any deficiencies in learning will be worked through over time.

I would not redshirt a March kid. I would look for non-public school opportunities or homeschool, if possible. There are church preschools that have K and even 1st grade classes and many of them are planning to open. You could ask around about Catholic schools too. If you do send to public, be prepared to supplement with lots of independent work on their days off and to look elsewhere for socializing.

We're sending our May birthday kid. If it doesn't work out, we'll do our best to catch him up during the later part of the year and summer holidays. I mean, how much do they possibly learn in K anyway? He can read and do basic math already (1+3, shapes, etc.). He cannot write to save his life, though... I was hoping he could practice in K, but if needed, we'll just do that on the weekends.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - i am leaning toward just starting her. Also her younger sister would only be one grade behind her if we opted to red shirt her (they are only 19 months apart) and I feel like two year spacing in school would benefit both of them. I am just sad she isn't going to get a traditional kindergarten experience. Also I have no idea how I will deal with 2-3 days of asynchronous distance learning and working from home (plus I have a 5 month old at home).

She's never been to kindergarten. She doesn't know. If your kid takes a ballet class once a week you don't say "I'm just sad she can't do ballet full time because she has so much fun."

Anonymous wrote:My son is a July baby, and uncoordinated and can’t say L or R to boot. But he is tall, he is social, he can read and write and do addition and subtraction in his head- what am I gonna do, not send him? I’m definitely sending him, and amazed that there might be kids who are 6 months OLDER than him in the grade behind him going forward.

It's a personal decision. OP should decide to send/not send her kid based on her kid, and not the fact that some stranger is amazed that there is an OLDER child in K. Gasp! It's not about you or your amazement.

I have a DD 5, with March birthday. I am sending her to Junior K/redshirting her. We did zero distance learning that her amazing Pre K-4 teacher had planned. I have friends who work for various schools, and have found out the media and schools aren’t telling us is that this plan is for ALL YEAR. The Junior K class will meet each day for a full day, it has strict health protocols and has been accredited as an essential care center if our state or county gets locked down again. I would rather have a kid that is oldest in the class than lagging behind academically.

My son is a July baby, and uncoordinated and can’t say L or R to boot. But he is tall, he is social, he can read and write and do addition and subtraction in his head- what am I gonna do, not send him? I’m definitely sending him, and amazed that there might be kids who are 6 months OLDER than him in the grade behind him going forward.

We are sending ours. I’m prob going to lose my job if we’re down to two partial days. Prefer not to do distance learning, but will work with it.


Into the blue again, after the money’s gone...

I have three kids and my youngest is a girl who is slated to start kindergarten in the fall. Her birthday is in December so I feel there’s no way I can hold her back. I am not looking forward to having this crazy mess of a kindergarten year for her but I think in the long run it would do her more of a disservice to be so much older for the grade for the rest of her school career. I think sending on time this year for my daughter is the lesser of two evils. Your mileage may vary and of course it depends on the kid. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - i am leaning toward just starting her. Also her younger sister would only be one grade behind her if we opted to red shirt her (they are only 19 months apart) and I feel like two year spacing in school would benefit both of them. I am just sad she isn't going to get a traditional kindergarten experience. Also I have no idea how I will deal with 2-3 days of asynchronous distance learning and working from home (plus I have a 5 month old at home).

Plus we will likely all be 100% DL come late fall/winter. I highly doubt they will be able to keep schools open all year.

OP here - i am leaning toward just starting her. Also her younger sister would only be one grade behind her if we opted to red shirt her (they are only 19 months apart) and I feel like two year spacing in school would benefit both of them. I am just sad she isn't going to get a traditional kindergarten experience. Also I have no idea how I will deal with 2-3 days of asynchronous distance learning and working from home (plus I have a 5 month old at home).

I wouldn't redshirt. I've got an upcoming K, too, and the situation next year absoutely sucks, no question about it. But I'm going to send her. She won't be alone in having a weird K year, and really, do we know what next year will be like for sure? I mean, did anyone in March really think we would be in this position right now?

I would not. 2 of mine were 6 at the very start of K because of how their birthdays landed, and both are the oldest in their classes. It's totally fine, but the difference between a young 5 year old and a 7 year old would be immense. I'd be sad my kid wasn't getting a traditional K experience, but I wouldn't red shirt because the impacts going forward would be too substantial, in my opinon.

March!!!??? NO.
Send her to school. She's going to be bored and really old for her class otherwise.

DD is suppose to start school in the fall. Given how insane everything looks should I just redshirt her? She was 5 in March so she would be pretty old if we redshirted her but I am worried about this whole 2 days a week thing or DL (which we wouldn't do). Anybody else thinking of doing this? That would mean she would turn 7 in K! That seems kind of old. I started K when I was 4!