In Scotland the kids are enrolled by 6 month intervals.

Anonymous wrote:Here's something that will surprise you. In New Zealand where I grew up, you started school the week you turned five, whether this was in April, July (winter there) or October. I was the only new entrant in my class the week I started school.

That is interesting. There was a time when some schools in the US admitted kids in January--but there would be a whole class, not onesies.

Here's something that will surprise you. In New Zealand where I grew up, you started school the week you turned five, whether this was in April, July (winter there) or October. I was the only new entrant in my class the week I started school.

Anonymous wrote:We have an end of September boy, who wont be starting formal K until this fall. He will be starting at age 5 and turning 6. I am an educator and we did did not make this decision lightly. However, we felt our son needed more time to mature AND did not want to start him at age 4. Also, if we decide to move in the next 12 years, he will be with his same age peers more than likely...

Kindergarten Entrance Age: The date by which a student must be five years old in order to attend kindergarten.

Jul. 31 – Hawaii (effective 2014-15), Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota
Aug. 1 – Arkansas, Indiana
Aug. 15 – Tennessee (effective 2014-15)
Aug. 31 – Arizona, Delaware, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Washington
Sept. 1 – Alabama, Alaska, California (effective 2014-15), Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin (19 states)
Sept. 10 – Montana
Sept. 15 – Iowa, Wyoming
Sept. 30 – District of Columbia, Louisiana, Nevada, Virginia
Oct. 1 – Colorado, Kentucky (Aug. 1 in 2017-18), Michigan (effective 2014-2015)
Oct. 15 – Maine
Jan. 1 (of the school year) – Connecticut
Local education agencies decide (the state may set a date range) – Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Our daughter with a mid-September birthday started school in another state with a September 1 cut-off, then she entered APS in 5th grade. People probably thought she was "redshirted" when she was actually following the guidelines of her first school system. Looking at the list above, she will be in sync with kids from many other states when she goes to college, age wise.

Anonymous wrote:Ya, my husband was "redshirted" by my MIL back in the day. She (and everyone else in the family) says that he was "held back."

Similarly, my grandma was "held back" so that she could start school the same year as her younger sister (Irish twins) with the thought that it would be easier to have them in the same grade (1920s parenting, yay!).

"Held back" = old school lingo for "redshirting"

Personally, I would never hold a kid back, even a boy. I was always the youngest in my class (skipped a grade) and there is a lot to be gained by having appropriate challenges. I don't see how a regular Kindergarten curriculum could be at all challenging or engaging for a 6-7 year old. Kids rise to your expectations. Lift them up, rather than expecting so little of them. You will be amazed at what your kids are capable of.

They need a year to mature? So why stick them with a bunch of younger kids? Isn't it better for them to have more mature role models they can learn from? I really don't get it.

And I was a youngest (put ahead, actually, as I was a few days after the cutoff) who did extremely well with school but who struggled throughout socially, particularly in middle school. It was obvious enough that it had been the wrong decision that a few years later my parents refused to make the same decision for my younger sibling in the same situation, despite pressure from preschool teachers. My younger sibling did just as well academically but without nearly as much social struggles. I didn't get "lifted up" or whatever BS phrase you want to use to mask a blind, cookie-cutter approach to education.

You do you. I personally will never fault a parent for thinking their kid needs more time.

Anonymous wrote:We have an end of September boy, who wont be starting formal K until this fall. He will be starting at age 5 and turning 6. I am an educator and we did did not make this decision lightly. However, we felt our son needed more time to mature AND did not want to start him at age 4. Also, if we decide to move in the next 12 years, he will be with his same age peers more than likely...

Kindergarten Entrance Age: The date by which a student must be five years old in order to attend kindergarten.

Jul. 31 – Hawaii (effective 2014-15), Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota
Aug. 1 – Arkansas, Indiana
Aug. 15 – Tennessee (effective 2014-15)
Aug. 31 – Arizona, Delaware, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Washington
Sept. 1 – Alabama, Alaska, California (effective 2014-15), Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin (19 states)
Sept. 10 – Montana
Sept. 15 – Iowa, Wyoming
Sept. 30 – District of Columbia, Louisiana, Nevada, Virginia
Oct. 1 – Colorado, Kentucky (Aug. 1 in 2017-18), Michigan (effective 2014-2015)
Oct. 15 – Maine
Jan. 1 (of the school year) – Connecticut
Local education agencies decide (the state may set a date range) – Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Stop being so rational! We can't have that on DCUM redshirting threads!

Personally, I would never hold a kid back, even a boy. I was always the youngest in my class (skipped a grade) and there is a lot to be gained by having appropriate challenges. I don't see how a regular Kindergarten curriculum could be at all challenging or engaging for a 6-7 year old. Kids rise to your expectations. Lift them up, rather than expecting so little of them. You will be amazed at what your kids are capable of.

Have you ever taught school? I have. Some kids need another year. I taught First Grade back in the time when most kids learned to read in first instead of K. I taught MANY kids who could not read a word in September and were reading above grade level in May. Frequently, some of those did not "click" until January or February. Sure, most kids who pick up reading early remain good readers. But, there is a difference between those who are trained to read and those who learn to read. This may not make sense to you, but most teachers know exactly what I mean. I had a handful of students who had been "trained" to read early. Those were the ones who lacked comprehension skills. In fact, they lacked critical thinking skills that might have better developed had they been allowed to develop instead of being placed in a drill, drill, drill situation.

The K curriculum these days is not geared to the kid who is just not "ready" to read. And, you can spend a year of drudgery and repetition training a kid to read, when, if you wait a year, he will pick it up quickly. Meanwhile, he is being allowed to learn important concepts through play.

Is it any wonder these days why "resilience" is so lacking in our school students and young adults?

So, if you want your child to be placed in the deep water before he has learned to swim, okay. Just don't think that every parent wants that.

What I don't understand in all of this is the nuance in perceived readiness based on cutoff and people's very strong opinions on it. My older child has a birthday at the end of Sept. so DC1 makes the cutoff for Alexandria schools by just a few days. DC2 was born in the first week of October and misses the cutoff by just a few days. Seems no big deal to ever hold a child back for a year but if I ever say I wish there was a way to have DC2 enter 'early', everyone seems up in arms even though we only miss the cutoff by a week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya, my husband was "redshirted" by my MIL back in the day. She (and everyone else in the family) says that he was "held back."

Similarly, my grandma was "held back" so that she could start school the same year as her younger sister (Irish twins) with the thought that it would be easier to have them in the same grade (1920s parenting, yay!).

"Held back" = old school lingo for "redshirting"

Personally, I would never hold a kid back, even a boy. I was always the youngest in my class (skipped a grade) and there is a lot to be gained by having appropriate challenges. I don't see how a regular Kindergarten curriculum could be at all challenging or engaging for a 6-7 year old. Kids rise to your expectations. Lift them up, rather than expecting so little of them. You will be amazed at what your kids are capable of.

They need a year to mature? So why stick them with a bunch of younger kids? Isn't it better for them to have more mature role models they can learn from? I really don't get it.

You don’t get it because you don’t have a child who would benefit from being the oldest rather than the youngest. This isn’t an easy decision to make. Unless you are in someone’s shoes you cannot comment. When my son was born I was thrilled that he made the cutoff(barely), that he wouldn’t lose a year because of his birthdate. But when the timecame for making the decision we decided to redshirt him. It wasn’t an easy decision at all! We consulted his teachers and thought long and hard about it.
My daughter on the other hand was perfectly ready to go on time!

Also I want to add that his classmates are not that much younger. Many of them are younger by only a month!

Anonymous wrote:Ya, my husband was "redshirted" by my MIL back in the day. She (and everyone else in the family) says that he was "held back."

Similarly, my grandma was "held back" so that she could start school the same year as her younger sister (Irish twins) with the thought that it would be easier to have them in the same grade (1920s parenting, yay!).

"Held back" = old school lingo for "redshirting"

Personally, I would never hold a kid back, even a boy. I was always the youngest in my class (skipped a grade) and there is a lot to be gained by having appropriate challenges. I don't see how a regular Kindergarten curriculum could be at all challenging or engaging for a 6-7 year old. Kids rise to your expectations. Lift them up, rather than expecting so little of them. You will be amazed at what your kids are capable of.

They need a year to mature? So why stick them with a bunch of younger kids? Isn't it better for them to have more mature role models they can learn from? I really don't get it.

You don’t get it because you don’t have a child who would benefit from being the oldest rather than the youngest. This isn’t an easy decision to make. Unless you are in someone’s shoes you cannot comment. When my son was born I was thrilled that he made the cutoff(barely), that he wouldn’t lose a year because of his birthdate. But when the timecame for making the decision we decided to redshirt him. It wasn’t an easy decision at all! We consulted his teachers and thought long and hard about it.
My daughter on the other hand was perfectly ready to go on time!

Anonymous wrote:I’m honestly a little confused and my baby is nowhere near school yet, and I don’t completely understand the guidelines and what constitutes redshirting.

The FCPS website says “A child may enter kindergarten if he or she turns five on or before September 30 of the year he or she enters school.“ If that was the only rule, a kid who turns 5 on October 1 will be the oldest and a kid who turns 5 on September 30 will be the youngest.

However, it also says “A child who will be six years old on or before September 30 must attend school.“ So that means actually that everyone has a choice, right? Even October 1 kid? Doesn’t this naturally mean there’s a two year range?

I’m new to this, can you tell?

You are correct. People just like to complain.

Kids rise to your expectations. Lift them up, rather than expecting so little of them. You will be amazed at what your kids are capable of.

So, you are telling me that you potty trained your six month old?