Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to add. There is a cut off date for a reason. Just because your child may be acedemically ready, doesn’t mean she is socially (and not just now, in future years) keep them little while you can!

Agree. My DD has an October 3 birthday. I'd rather have her be the oldest child in the class than the youngest in the class, especially during those middle and high school years.

Also - so sorry to post a repeat topic - I totally should have searched the topic before. I see now that there are a few threads on the topic.

Many thanks again!

Hello Everyone! OP here --- I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to post.

We literally just moved here from NYC where the cut off is December. This came up b/c I've been researching dates re: my 4 year old son.

I've recently be thinking about holding my 4 year old back (June baby) from entering kindergarten this Fall. In his current preschool (here in No VA) he's the youngest in his class where as in NYC he was in the middle and Ive noticed how much younger he behaves in class, so it's been stressful deciding if he's ready.

My daughter who is the Oct baby is only 2.5 at this point, and when I realized she would enter as a 5 almost 6 year old I was upset b/c I think she will be bored (opposite of my son) but guess there isn't much we can do.

Thanks again!!

Anonymous wrote:My fall birthday DD (started in another state with a later deadline) academically does fine but I sure didn’t like having a still 17 year old kid head off to college and getting hit on by 19 year old freshman!

So she'll turn 18 in the fall. And dating a 19 year old is not that odd at that age.....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many, many threads on this. You can put her in private kindergarten and move her to public in 1st grade in VA (and DC?) You can't move to public until 2nd grade in MoCo or you can try for early entrance to kindergarten for those born before October 15th (it's not automatic).

No, most (if not all) privated would not allow this. Any private worth it's salt would not.

You might, but IME, the private kindergartens are even less likely to let you start before the cutoff. My kid makes the cutoff in DC but not MD, and schools that used the MD cutoff told us not to apply. If you don't even make the DC/VA cutoff, I'm not sure what private kindergartens are going to accept you.

Anonymous wrote:My fall birthday DD (started in another state with a later deadline) academically does fine but I sure didn’t like having a still 17 year old kid head off to college and getting hit on by 19 year old freshman!

?? Who else is supposed to hit on her if not other freshmen? I bet there are like 14 months apart....

Anonymous wrote:Two kids with late August b-days. Really glad we sent them on time. Kid 1 ended up a Blair Magnet student...very capable academically from a young age. Kid 2 was a typical student but hit puberty in 6th grade..so glad he was not in 5th.

What does this have to do with the October birthday “dilemma”?

You had no choice to make, your kid was 5 by sept 1, no big deal.

Don’t put her early. When the cutoff is Sept 30, I’ve noticed that many August and Sept birthday kids get held back. Very few holding back July or June birthdays. My kids are teens now, so I’ve had years to notice.

She might seem socially ready now, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be socially ready when some are 13 and she’s 11 going on 12.

Anonymous wrote:If you are in VA, you can have her go to an accredited private kindergarten and then transfer to public school the next year for first grade.

This suggestion comes up a lot but I'm not sure why because it is pretty clear that OP is trying to avoid continuing preschool/daycare tuition by doing this. Private K costs money. My Nov 7 kid has to be in private K this year because she didn't make the cutoff for public. Another year of tuition but those are the breaks. Op is just trying to rush her kid into public K to reduce her childcare bill probably.

Op, your kid will be in private K and at the end of the year you can decide with her teacher is she ready for first or does she need to go into public as a kindergartener. But you're not weaseling past the cutoff date.

We did this with our October daughter in MD. She is now in 4th and it has been a good choice for us so far. Some things that affected our choice: she tested in and the teachers told us she was more than able to cope with the work, she is tall for her age and you would never know she is so young, and most importantly, we noticed how much happier she was in preschool when we moved her up into a class of slightly older children. She was dramatically happier and that was why we decided to get her tested.

The result is that even though she is very bright and is in the top math and reading groups, she loves school and has not yet been bored. She likes her classmates and they like her back. First grade was a little challenging for her, but that was, in our eyes, a benefit, since she learned to work hard to improve and is now a confident, self-reliant student. I am certain that she would have been miserable and unchallenged in school if we had not made this choice.

We will probably have other challenges over the years, but to date we do not regret early admission to K.
Make the best choice for your child, OP.

Anonymous wrote:Many, many threads on this. You can put her in private kindergarten and move her to public in 1st grade in VA (and DC?) You can't move to public until 2nd grade in MoCo or you can try for early entrance to kindergarten for those born before October 15th (it's not automatic).

No, most (if not all) privated would not allow this. Any private worth it's salt would not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to add. There is a cut off date for a reason. Just because your child may be acedemically ready, doesn’t mean she is socially (and not just now, in future years) keep them little while you can!

And in MoCo at least there is also a test in mechanism for a reason: some kids are ready and if op's kid were accepted through the normal channels, so be it.

+1

Mid-September baby here who started "early" -- I was perfectly fine, still advanced academically throughout school (and I shudder thinking about what it would've been like not being allowed to start early) and socially had no problems. Some kids are ready. Some aren't. Blanket statements are unhelpful.

+2. I had a pretty similar experience, also an early Oct. baby who started K at 4 (although school system had a Dec. cutoff).

Plus, I'm guessing that OP doesn't want to pay an extra 20K for daycare when her kid is so close to the cutoff.

I have a friend who insisted her DD be able to start early since they were moving from an area with a December cutoff. Her DD has an early October birthday. K went fine, but she started struggling in 1st grade and is really struggling in 2nd. She’s since been diagnosed with anxiety and it’s gotten harder for her socially in 2nd grade. My friend was sure her DD was ready to start and didn’t want to pay for another year of Pre-K. Now she wishes she had waited. You have to remember it’s not a decision that’s made just for K. It’s a domino effect. It works for some kids but really doesn’t for others and 4 is usually too early to tell.

It doesn't mean the relationship is causal. Anxiety disorders often run in families. She may have had anxiety even if sent on time instead of early.

My fall birthday DD (started in another state with a later deadline) academically does fine but I sure didn’t like having a still 17 year old kid head off to college and getting hit on by 19 year old freshman!

Two kids with late August b-days. Really glad we sent them on time. Kid 1 ended up a Blair Magnet student...very capable academically from a young age. Kid 2 was a typical student but hit puberty in 6th grade..so glad he was not in 5th.

If you are in VA, you can have her go to an accredited private kindergarten and then transfer to public school the next year for first grade.