Anonymous
Post 01/26/2023 18:03     Subject: Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Most people do this.


I don’t think so. There are a lot of properly placed August and September birthdays in schools these days. I am a teacher and it’s not as common as you think.

Are people here actually successful in this for prek3? Or are they just commenting because they did it elsewhere and had a good experience? I know one person who repeated prek3 but they had a pretty good reason and full support from the school. I am not saying your reason isn’t valid, but the admin will likely not be concerned about your desire to not send your child to college at 17.

I have 2 kids with September birthdays and would consider a gap year for them if they don’t seem ready. They are fine so far.
I'm thinking seriously about having my Sept baby repeat 8th grade (in a parochial school). She doesn't seem ready for high school. She's solid academically, but probably could be a star, and shaky socially and emotionally. Most of her friends are younger than she is. I don't want her stressed out at JR or Walls.
Anonymous
Post 01/26/2023 16:55     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't want to get mired in a debate over redshirting, but since this is a DC public school specific thread:

Redshirting is very uncommon in DCPS because it is almost never allowed. The only kids I've known who were in their redshirt year (as opposed to the year they "should" be in based on birth date) were kids who transferred into DCPS, because schools will not force a child who has just finished 1st grade at another school to enter 3rd grade in DCPS, for obvious reasons. But that's relatively rare. I could see a school making an exception for a child with developmental delays, but they would need to be unusual delays, not within the standard range.

BUT the good news about this is that this means a lot of the fears that parents have about sending their kids whose birthdays are just before the cut off "on time" just don't exist in DC. As other posters have attested, it is typical for classes to have a bunch of summer and September birthdays, which means your child who you think is "not ready" may not even be the youngest or second youngest kid in his grade.

When redshirting is common, this is harder because so many parents with kids on the cusp redshirt and then you risk your kid being an outlier. In DCPS, a child on the younger end of a grade cohort will not be an outlier, they will just be on the younger end of the range. Depending on class composition, it may be the older kids who are outlier because sometimes the birthdays for a given grade cluster more in the spring and summer.

So in 99.9% of cases, I'd say no, you will not be able to start PK late and also that it won't have a negative impact at all because no one else will be able to either.


DCPS won't let the parent make the decision. But if the teacher feels a student is lagging academically they can recommend that the student repeat a grade. This is not uncommon in early elementary and common at 9th grade.


Sure. That is not redshirting, and the students most likely to be held back are unlikely to have parents who would consider redshirting.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2023 18:29     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:I don't want to get mired in a debate over redshirting, but since this is a DC public school specific thread:

Redshirting is very uncommon in DCPS because it is almost never allowed. The only kids I've known who were in their redshirt year (as opposed to the year they "should" be in based on birth date) were kids who transferred into DCPS, because schools will not force a child who has just finished 1st grade at another school to enter 3rd grade in DCPS, for obvious reasons. But that's relatively rare. I could see a school making an exception for a child with developmental delays, but they would need to be unusual delays, not within the standard range.

BUT the good news about this is that this means a lot of the fears that parents have about sending their kids whose birthdays are just before the cut off "on time" just don't exist in DC. As other posters have attested, it is typical for classes to have a bunch of summer and September birthdays, which means your child who you think is "not ready" may not even be the youngest or second youngest kid in his grade.

When redshirting is common, this is harder because so many parents with kids on the cusp redshirt and then you risk your kid being an outlier. In DCPS, a child on the younger end of a grade cohort will not be an outlier, they will just be on the younger end of the range. Depending on class composition, it may be the older kids who are outlier because sometimes the birthdays for a given grade cluster more in the spring and summer.

So in 99.9% of cases, I'd say no, you will not be able to start PK late and also that it won't have a negative impact at all because no one else will be able to either.


DCPS won't let the parent make the decision. But if the teacher feels a student is lagging academically they can recommend that the student repeat a grade. This is not uncommon in early elementary and common at 9th grade.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2023 15:31     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:I don't want to get mired in a debate over redshirting, but since this is a DC public school specific thread:

Redshirting is very uncommon in DCPS because it is almost never allowed. The only kids I've known who were in their redshirt year (as opposed to the year they "should" be in based on birth date) were kids who transferred into DCPS, because schools will not force a child who has just finished 1st grade at another school to enter 3rd grade in DCPS, for obvious reasons. But that's relatively rare. I could see a school making an exception for a child with developmental delays, but they would need to be unusual delays, not within the standard range.

BUT the good news about this is that this means a lot of the fears that parents have about sending their kids whose birthdays are just before the cut off "on time" just don't exist in DC. As other posters have attested, it is typical for classes to have a bunch of summer and September birthdays, which means your child who you think is "not ready" may not even be the youngest or second youngest kid in his grade.

When redshirting is common, this is harder because so many parents with kids on the cusp redshirt and then you risk your kid being an outlier. In DCPS, a child on the younger end of a grade cohort will not be an outlier, they will just be on the younger end of the range. Depending on class composition, it may be the older kids who are outlier because sometimes the birthdays for a given grade cluster more in the spring and summer.

So in 99.9% of cases, I'd say no, you will not be able to start PK late and also that it won't have a negative impact at all because no one else will be able to either.


+1 to this. My kid actually IS the youngest in her class, but by a few days, and there are several September birthdays, as well as July and August. So she's not an outlier, and we've had no problems. And there arent any redshirted kids in her class, either.
If it turns out that a gap year would be appropriate, we can cross that bridge when we get there. But right now, it's not.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2023 15:27     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
I don't want to get mired in a debate over redshirting, but since this is a DC public school specific thread:

Redshirting is very uncommon in DCPS because it is almost never allowed. The only kids I've known who were in their redshirt year (as opposed to the year they "should" be in based on birth date) were kids who transferred into DCPS, because schools will not force a child who has just finished 1st grade at another school to enter 3rd grade in DCPS, for obvious reasons. But that's relatively rare. I could see a school making an exception for a child with developmental delays, but they would need to be unusual delays, not within the standard range.

BUT the good news about this is that this means a lot of the fears that parents have about sending their kids whose birthdays are just before the cut off "on time" just don't exist in DC. As other posters have attested, it is typical for classes to have a bunch of summer and September birthdays, which means your child who you think is "not ready" may not even be the youngest or second youngest kid in his grade.

When redshirting is common, this is harder because so many parents with kids on the cusp redshirt and then you risk your kid being an outlier. In DCPS, a child on the younger end of a grade cohort will not be an outlier, they will just be on the younger end of the range. Depending on class composition, it may be the older kids who are outlier because sometimes the birthdays for a given grade cluster more in the spring and summer.

So in 99.9% of cases, I'd say no, you will not be able to start PK late and also that it won't have a negative impact at all because no one else will be able to either.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2023 13:05     Subject: Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:We did this for Seiptember birthday twins. it was a difficult decision at the time but I have not regretted it for a minute and my twins (now in high school) thank me.


I'm a twin too, December birthday born back in the day when December 31 was the cutoff. I was always the youngest kid in my class. Twins mature more slowly than singletons, so I was always the smallest boy in my class, even though as an adult I'm slightly larger than average. It wasn't really an issue for most of school, but I remember feeling really young when I started college at 17. A gap year would have done me a lot of good, but it wasn't really a thing back then.

Talking to parents who redshirted, one thing you'll hear is that by the time kids get to be 18 they're ready to leave their parents' house. Having the kid at home for that extra year can be torture for everyone. My recommendation would be to enroll normally, follow their progress, and be prepared either to repeat a grade somewhere along the way or do a gap year before college.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2023 09:59     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
^^ Obviously math isn't my strong point (like I said my H did better than me!), but I meant 12-13 years in the future.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2023 09:58     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
My son has a very late August birthday and started PK4 on time. In fact he was 3 when he started. When he was in K there were actually 4-5 boys in his class with September birthdays. He is now in fifth grade and doing fine both academically and socially, and we believe he would have been bored if we started him a year later.

My husband didn't turn 18 until after his first semester of college. He did great, better than me LOL. I can understand not starting your child on time if there are current issues, but I don't quite understand not starting your child on time now because of something 17-18 years in the future. Like PPs suggested, you can always do a gap year.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2023 09:43     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I can see the advantages of this, but wow, I can't imagine having enough money that I would sign up for another year of childcare at $2k a month, minimum. That's $24k!!


(I am pro redshirting) This is why it was a hard decision for us. We can afford to make the best decision for our son, but poor families can't. I think most summer kids would benefit from being held back. I think that as long as their birthdays are July, Aug or Sept, it should be up to parents. We sent one kid on time and held the other back.


I don’t agree that most kids would benefit. I had a Sept bday and was not held back. School was easy and I would have been bored and miserable if it was any easier. Although young, I was at/near top of the class.

My DS has an even later September bday and I sent him on time. Doing fine and well academically. No issues with maturity, etc…


It's less about academics and more social-emotional readiness. But I don't think anyone (or very few) will admit to possibly benefitting from being the oldest. Everyone always says well I did fine and....
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2023 23:26     Subject: Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:Most people do this.


Most of America doesn't because outside of the DMV, NYC, and a few other places, Labor Day or earlier is the traditional school cutoff. That is why almost all Americans are surprised to find a 17-year old college freshman who didn't skip a year - they assume all are 18 years old.

And American U.S. curriculum schools overseas for expats and military also adhere to a variation of the Labor Day or late August early September cutoff. For them, redshirting means keeping at home a kid born in May or over the summer, not a September 1-30 birth date. That's just normal for most of the country.
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2023 22:17     Subject: Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
My kid with a September bday has always had at least 2 other September bday kids in their class. (in upper elementary at a charter)
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2023 22:07     Subject: Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
None of my 3 kids in DCPS has ever had a single redshirted kid in their class, so if it’s common, it’s definitely a school by school thing.
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2023 21:08     Subject: Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:Most people do this.


Are you kidding? Most people can't afford to do this.
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2023 21:04     Subject: Re:Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I can see the advantages of this, but wow, I can't imagine having enough money that I would sign up for another year of childcare at $2k a month, minimum. That's $24k!!


(I am pro redshirting) This is why it was a hard decision for us. We can afford to make the best decision for our son, but poor families can't. I think most summer kids would benefit from being held back. I think that as long as their birthdays are July, Aug or Sept, it should be up to parents. We sent one kid on time and held the other back.


I don’t agree that most kids would benefit. I had a Sept bday and was not held back. School was easy and I would have been bored and miserable if it was any easier. Although young, I was at/near top of the class.

My DS has an even later September bday and I sent him on time. Doing fine and well academically. No issues with maturity, etc…
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2023 20:04     Subject: Starting PK a year late for a Sept baby
Anonymous wrote:Most people do this.


There are actually a lot of September babies in my kid's class (they're also a September b-day). Seems maybe less common in DCPS? I'd rather have them take a gap year if needed than hold them back -- they were academically and socially ready.