What's not fair is sending a 4 yr old to full day kindergarten.

Ugh. I agree that parents should have some leeway to decide what is best for their individual child, BUT when people hold back spring birthdays, it makes my 4 yo who I am sending on time look VERY young in comparison and That's not fair to him. If there is a real reason fine, but the schools do not require some evaluation or reason for not starting K on time. I think (just picking a month) for say June and earlier birthdays some sort of evaluation should be done so parents can't just willy nilly hold their kid back so he is bigger and stronger. My 4 yo is just your average 4 year old and he is most certainly ready for K, but comparing him against kids 1 1/2 years older than him is not fair (unless obvious the older child has some extenuating circumstances- but I know people who held a May back for sports reasons... )

That is why I would not want to put a four year old in K.

Anonymous wrote:So, testing into AAP is confirmation that she is A=ok?

I question this too as maturity levels exacerbated by age differences show up again in MS and HS and again in college.

So, testing into AAP is confirmation that she is A=ok?

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone know of any kid who has skipped K in FCPS in this century?

Yes, a good friend kept her older daughter with grandma watching her for another year (grandma is a retired music teacher). The girl started 1st grade, and has now tested into AAP, so skipping K did not hurt her any.

Repeating a grade when transferring from public to private is very common and does not usually mean that the child has problems.

A child who was redshirted and then repeated a grade has far more problems than being old for the grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Do you really want your child to 1.)not have the option of staying back later, when it matters and 2.)not have the option of graduating at 19 instead of 17 or 18 - when historically intended?

this is a good point. Many private schools will have a new student repeat a year to ensure the student is able to perform. That would really suck if the child were already old for the year.

That's why there's one child in my child's class who should be 2 years ahead. The parents decided to redshirt the child, and then the child repeated a grade when transferred to a private school a couple years later. This is just in elementary school. I suspect, while the numbers of children 2 years behind will remain small, those numbers will slowly increase when school transfers become more common in middle and high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Maturity is relative and develops at a different pace in different children. So, two five year olds may have been born on the same day but could have drastically different levels of maturity. Some August and September birthday children may be quite mature and ready for school, some are less mature for their age and would benefit from another year before beginning formal schooling. Kids are different, and we live in a society that takes that into account.

Exactly

A child who is not ready is not done any favor by starting K at four. A child who is not ready but in school anyway will likely be unhappy and will develop bad feelings toward school and what goes on there.

Whether we agree or not that this is a good or bad thing, K has become much more like first grade used to be, including being a full day. It is not at all surprising that some children are not ready for a first-grade-like experience when they are still four.

Most of the four-year-olds will only be four for a matter of days or weeks before they turn five. I don't think we're really dickering over individual children who were born in September, but rather over the trend of a) automatically redshirting August and September boys and b) redshirting summer and even SPRING birthdays. I agree with a PP who said that teachers who allow redshirting without extenuating circumstances are complicit in creating a culture where nobody wants their child to be the youngest in the class. If kindergarten is too academic for the range of average kids who are between 4.75 and 6 years old, then we are all complicit.

Anonymous wrote:

Maturity is relative and develops at a different pace in different children. So, two five year olds may have been born on the same day but could have drastically different levels of maturity. Some August and September birthday children may be quite mature and ready for school, some are less mature for their age and would benefit from another year before beginning formal schooling. Kids are different, and we live in a society that takes that into account.

Exactly

A child who is not ready is not done any favor by starting K at four. A child who is not ready but in school anyway will likely be unhappy and will develop bad feelings toward school and what goes on there.

Whether we agree or not that this is a good or bad thing, K has become much more like first grade used to be, including being a full day. It is not at all surprising that some children are not ready for a first-grade-like experience when they are still four.

Nobody would say a kid who repeated a grade as having 'failed'. THAT is a harsh term.

That's a pretty naïve statement. Do you know any fifth grade kids?

I was a teacher. We frequently have used the term "holding back" in recommending whether or not to have a child repeat a grade.

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Do you really want your child to 1.)not have the option of staying back later, when it matters and 2.)not have the option of graduating at 19 instead of 17 or 18 - when historically intended?

this is a good point. Many private schools will have a new student repeat a year to ensure the student is able to perform. That would really suck if the child were already old for the year.

Anonymous wrote:"Holding them back" is normally used when a child repeats a grade. It's kinder than saying he failed.

No ' holding them back' means you aren't sending your kid on time for kindergarten. Nobody would say a kid who repeated a grade as having 'failed'. THAT is a harsh term.