Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

At least you are honest--you want someone else to have the youngest kid.

I actually have the youngest kid. Also, I was the youngest kid. Nothing bad has happened yet.

Your March birthday DC is the youngest child in his K class? I don't mind my fall on-time DS being the youngest, as long as he's not the youngest by 6 months.

No, my September birthday child is the youngest in the class. I don't know by how much, and even if I did know by how much, there wouldn't be anything I could do about it anyway. I can't make other parents send their children on time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a boy in one of my elective classes in middle school who had a similar age gap that OP is describing. He was learning to drive in 8th grade and had his license by 9th.

He must have been a driving prodigy, can't get a learner's permit until after age 16 in Maryland (think it is 16 and a half). OP's son will be entering his sophomore year by then.

Maybe the first PP grew up in Idaho. As I recall (from what somebody who lived in Idaho told me around 1982), you used to be able to get an unrestricted regular driver's license in Idaho at 14.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

At least you are honest--you want someone else to have the youngest kid.

I actually have the youngest kid. Also, I was the youngest kid. Nothing bad has happened yet.

Your March birthday DC is the youngest child in his K class? I don't mind my fall on-time DS being the youngest, as long as he's not the youngest by 6 months.

Anonymous wrote:

At least you are honest--you want someone else to have the youngest kid.

I actually have the youngest kid. Also, I was the youngest kid. Nothing bad has happened yet.

Anonymous wrote:There was a boy in one of my elective classes in middle school who had a similar age gap that OP is describing. He was learning to drive in 8th grade and had his license by 9th.

He must have been a driving prodigy, can't get a learner's permit until after age 16 in Maryland (think it is 16 and a half). OP's son will be entering his sophomore year by then.

Anonymous wrote:I hate this. Hate this hate this.

I should be able to send my March bday 5yo to kindergarten the following fall without being worried that he'll be toward the bottom of the pack in size, self-control, concentration etc. Full day mandatory kindergarten is bad enough. K should be centers and free play and recess and alphabets. Not worksheets and reading groups. He's a bright kid and will do just fine, but it shouldn't even be on my RADAR as a concern.

Put your kid in school!

At least you are honest--you want someone else to have the youngest kid.

There was a boy in one of my elective classes in middle school who had a similar age gap that OP is describing. He was learning to drive in 8th grade and had his license by 9th.

Anonymous wrote:I hate this. Hate this hate this.

I should be able to send my March bday 5yo to kindergarten the following fall without being worried that he'll be toward the bottom of the pack in size, self-control, concentration etc. Full day mandatory kindergarten is bad enough. K should be centers and free play and recess and alphabets. Not worksheets and reading groups. He's a bright kid and will do just fine, but it shouldn't even be on my RADAR as a concern.

Put your kid in school!

OP, here is my advice to you for when your child starts school: the earlier you come to terms with the following two ideas, the less stress you will have. Idea #1: Everybody makes decisions for their own children. Because parents are different, and children are different, some of those decisions may be different from the decisions you make for your child. Idea #2: You have no control over other people's decisions.

I hate this. Hate this hate this.

I should be able to send my March bday 5yo to kindergarten the following fall without being worried that he'll be toward the bottom of the pack in size, self-control, concentration etc. Full day mandatory kindergarten is bad enough. K should be centers and free play and recess and alphabets. Not worksheets and reading groups. He's a bright kid and will do just fine, but it shouldn't even be on my RADAR as a concern.

Put your kid in school!

Anonymous wrote:Your kid is 5, doing first grade work, and you are sending him to prek again? Yeah this sounds like a brilliant decision.

To the same preschool where children throw rocks at each other and cut each other's hair with scissors. I'd want my child out of there, but maybe OP is holding her DC back to allow those children to move forward out of her DC's class.

Your kid is 5, doing first grade work, and you are sending him to prek again? Yeah this sounds like a brilliant decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an early September baby and the cutoff is Sept. 30. He's not even near kindergarten, but I'm redshirting 100%. I can afford childcare and there's no reason for my child to be the smallest in their class. Plus, an extra year of childhood. If you want to start your 4-year-old in kindergarten I don't care, but many of us make a different choice.

Four year olds do not go to kindergarten.

Completely correct in Maryland.

NOT completely correct in Maryland. My four-year-old in Maryland went to kindergarten, via Early Entrance to Kindergarten. Also the cut-off in Maryland is September 1, and school starts before September 1.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an early September baby and the cutoff is Sept. 30. He's not even near kindergarten, but I'm redshirting 100%. I can afford childcare and there's no reason for my child to be the smallest in their class. Plus, an extra year of childhood. If you want to start your 4-year-old in kindergarten I don't care, but many of us make a different choice.

Four year olds do not go to kindergarten.

Completely correct in Maryland.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have a child with a July 22 birthday who entered kindergarten last fall shortly after she turned 5 and honestly, at this point I wish we would have held her back. 6-8 kids in her class were 11-14 months older than her. She passed all the kindergarten benchmarks, is reading at a level C but she is also at the bottom of her class.


Your problem is people like OP. Your July child should not be in a kindergarten with kids 11-14 months older. That is insane.

Parenting has gone off the rails.

But how do you know that she is at the bottom of the class because of her birthday? My son has a July birthday and is in the upper half of his K class. There is only one child who is younger than him, all the rest are older by a good deal. He is, however, more emotionally immature than a lot of the boys in his class. I would have liked to have held him back for that reason, but his preschool would not allow him to repeat, and I had noplace else to put him.

I know because that is what her teacher told us and she brought up the possibility of having her repeat kindergarten.

When my July birthday son was in kindergarten, I had several conversations with his teacher about being prepared for 1st grade. I thought there was a good chance she would recommend he repeat K because he progressed very little academically - I think he had just progressed to A level from AA at the end of the year. I was a bit surprised she never brought up the idea of repeating K but he went on to 1st grade as normal. Finishing 1st grade, he is now reading at an end of 2nd grade reading level. Socially it seemed as though he finally hit his stride near the end of the year but academically he has been performing as expected. I never considered asking to have him held back and/or starting late, it seemed like it would create social problems for him to be the oldest kid in his class and I didn't want to put him in that position.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, your reasons are not compelling to me. Academically he sounds ready. You mention a few bullies who were older. My child has been bullied by much younger kids. This won't solve your problem.

In my opinion, whenever I see a redshirted child, I assume s/he has learning or social issues. Of course, I would never say that to you but that's what I would think.

And... that makes you think less of a the kid? Because they have learning issues? Or does it make you think less of the parent?

Where did the PP say that?

Really- why are spending time thinking about anyone elses kid- but your own.

So when your did is having trouble with another kid at school and you're trying to help them, do you never consider that one possible factor (among others, such as misunderstandings or your own kid being a butthead in an interaction) that the other kid may be doing his or her best to behave properly but just can't?

My kids talk about the other kids in their classes when they're telling me about their days. Yours don't?