Kindergarten ages

Mine are in pre k four turning 5 in oct after the cut off sept 1, so they will be in kinder next year and turn six in oct. The girls really needed pre k anyway. They are together but Jessy is still having trouble adjusting to the new people(teachers not kids).

 

All of mine went as 5yr olds turning 6 before end of school year.
Our cut off is Sept 1st. I know MANY people who had their kids tested up and sent them earlier.
M&M are starting next week (well Sept 2) and they will be 6 at the end of April. I think they will do fine, I worry about Mitchell socially more than McKenna but I am not really too concerned.

 

Redshirting is much more common nowadays. However, there are still a few people who will send their 4yos if they meet the cutoff. I will admit, when planning on public school, I was apprehensive about them being a year (or more!) younger than some of their classmates because the classmates had been redshirted. But, I reassured myself by remembering that they get along with the kids at church who are that age wonderfully. Also, my kids love learning and I don't want to hold them back at a time when their little brains are like sponges and they are eager to learn more and more.

I agree with others who have said that it completely depends on the individual child. But, the "trend" of redshirting solely based on the idea of "giving them an advantage" without any other reasons can cause problems. This is not based on anything I've read here, but rather conversations I've had IRL. For example, my DS's best friend (he is two days older than my twins) is being redshirted this year because his mom is afraid that, since "everyone else is redshirting," (quoting his mom) not doing so is going to cause him major problems. She shared with me that the same fear of classmates being so much older that I had has become the sole factor on which they are basing their decision. He is socially outgoing, not immature for his age, and on-target academically. I feel bad that this might be holding him back when he is ready to take off as far as learning is concerned.

However, I think that having a child start school just because they are the "right age" can be just as bad. If they struggle in the beginning, it will just get harder as more information is piled on.

Well, I'll stop now before I go on a tirade about how grade levels based solely on age and not a child's individual progression and abilities are arbitrary and cause many academic and school-social problems! :laughing:

 

Wow, that is interesting.

Although I will say that there is a gal in my twins club and she is from Pittsburgh and she said that she knew many people up there that would start their boys later like that so they were better off (and bigger) for the sports advantage.

 

Mine are going tomorrow. :cry: They are 5, but will be 6 in October, so this is the predetermined year for them to go in our district.

 

THANK YOU for this thread Rachel! :bow2: Mine are born ON the cutoff date of September 1st. :faint: This decision has been weighing heavily on my mind for about 2 years. I know that they will be tested and I will get opinions from their preschool teachers about whether or not to send them but really, it's something that I think about a lot. How do you know if you've made the right decision, KWIM?

So if they go "on time" (according to the rules) they will be 4 entering K, turning 5 just days after. I have serious reservations because of the way one of my girls learns. But, is it just how she is and when comparing her to her super-quick-to-pickup-everything sister it stands out in my mind? Who knows. I'm curious to find out.

I can't even tell you how many :huh: looks I've gotten because I didn't automatically make the decision to red-shirt them for this reason.

It does around here still, but it definitely becoming less of the "norm". I hate that it has to be so thought out now.

This (bolded part) is exactly what is starting to happen around here too. It's more the norm to redshirt them than to send them.

 

But this thread isn't really about redshirting of young Ks. It's about choosing to wait a whole other year so that the kids are 6, turning 7 in December of their K year. That is a step beyond redshirting. Mine are that exact age. 6 turning 7 in November. I can't imagine them just now starting K. They were more than ready last year. They are more than ready for 1st grade this year.

 

For KG here in MI, the cut off is Dec. 1st. They have to be 5 by then. My DD1 started KG at 5.5 yrs. old and turned 6 in Feb. The twins have a late Sept. birthday and I have opted to put them in Jr. K (a young 5's Kindergarten) this year. They will go 1/2 days and then do regular KG next year. They are old enough to do regular K, but I think Gabe in particular needs another year. He has no interest until just the last couple of weeks to even attmept to write his name, draw, color, etc. His interests lie in other things (science and math). To me, 7 seems really old to be in KG but maybe it's different from state to state and I think about the younger kids in the class being with older kids that could be 1.5 yrs. older than some of those younger ones. I don't know if it makes a big difference in KG, but I'm sure it will as the grades progress. Just my two cents.

 

In Michigan a child must turn 5 by December 1 to begin school in September.

Annie (December birthday) was 5y 9mo. So most of the kids in her class were 2003 babies. She was 2002.
Joey (March birthday) starts this year and will be 5y 7mo.
Ellie (February birthday will start K in 2011 and will be 5y 6mo.

A redshirting story. There is a little boy who is Joey's age. He turned 5 in May. He's doing another year of preschool and will be in Ellie's class for PK, and therefore graduate with her. Most people in MI who wait a year for K have children with September - November birthdays. Not May. His preschool teacher this past year has no idea why he isn't starting K. She says he academically, socially, and emotionally where he needs to be, if not above. Could it be that his dad is the HS football coach?

 

As I said "I think their ages were perfect to start school at age 5." and I said it because of when their birthdays come (Nov., Dec.). IF I had a choice to start them at age 4 because they would turn 5 before years end I would not have taken the offer. Same at the end. If I had opportunity to hold them back a year and have them start at age 6 and be the oldest but possibly the same size I would not have taken that offer. My children were smaller than other children in their kindergarten class but oh well.
We did plan when we got pregnant but not for this reason. Ultimately I am very happy with the months when we got pregnant and had our children.

I did say "19 is too old to graduate". It just seems old. I graduated when I was 18. I stayed back in lower school and if I had not I would have been 17 when I graduated. There were a few kids that stayed back and they were 19 when they graduated. Thats 2 years older than some of the other students. They had almost no interest in the senior year. DH was 17 when he graduated HS and went active duty Air Force days before his graduation ceremony.

 

My two have a late June birthday so they don't have a birthday during the school year. They were 5 in K, 6 in 1st and will be 7 in 2nd. There aren't too many that are younger than them in their class but I don't know if that is because parents have chosen to hold the kids back a year or just not a lot of late summer birthdays in our area. The cutoff for school is Sept. 1st and has been for quite a while. I have a cousin who turned 5 on Sept. 2nd and had to wait an entire year to go into K.

I was 4 when I started K, turned 5 in October.

 

More 4YOs in kindergarten here... they turn 5 six weeks into the school year.


ETA: The cutoff here is 9/30. There was talk of moving it to 9/1 and I was freaking out because I can't imagine them waiting another year. They were just sooooooo ready.

 

My girls and Garrett were all 5 when starting kindergarten. Here in NV they have to turn 5 by sept 30th. I was also 19 when I graduated hugh school..so see nothing wrong with that..hahah. Brandy

 

My thing is what if you hold them back and then the school holds them back along the way? This would put the child at possibly 20 which is way too old.

 

Here the cutoff is Dec. 31st. A child must be 5 by Dec. 31st to start K. So, my kids were as follows:
Jennica - her first day of K was her 5th bday.
Joshua - end of April baby - he was 5yrs 4mths
Solomé and Danielle - Dec babies - they were 4yrs 9mths
Samara -end of April baby - she was 5yrs 4mths

All my kids did well in K at their ages. I think as parents, you will know whether or not your child/children is ready to go.

 

I was 5 and a half when I started K, graduated at 18. The cut off for entering the school year is July 31st (have to be 5 by then) here, there were people who were 19 who graduated with us it wasn't a big deal, it was more of a big deal to the 17 year olds who didn't turn 18 until this year where everyone else was able to do things, they weren't. I think children need to be in school before turning 7, as they need to develop with their peers, children learn by communicating with others and need the social benefits that school provides. Just my two cents

 

My DD starts K on Sept. 7th this fall. She just turned 5 August 1st and the bday cutoff for our district is August 31st. She will be young. We went thru all the school evaluations after her preschool teacher mentioned in Feb 2010 the possibility of Auditory processing disorder. One of my main questions for the school was if she was ready to go to K this year or would benefit from special education preschool for 1 more year. They strongly suggested going to K with an IEP rather than holding her out a year but that it was my descion. She has qualified for an inclusion classroom with 15 students and 1hr of fine motor OT a week. Since February I have been sending her to a sensory playgroup on Saturdays for social skills & sensory therapy. Her last day of preschool is Sept 1st. At the begining of the summer I still had concerns about readiness BUT she has matured SO MUCH over this summer. I think she is ready & she seems very excited, which is good cause she hates change. My twin sons have Oct birthdays so this won't be an issue. They will be 5 turning 6 shortly after K start.

 

We start school mid-July and kindergarteners must be five by July 30 so all three of my boys were one of the youngest (6/18 and 6/20 birthdays). If I could do it again I would definitely have held back my oldest son....he just wasn't ready at the time and also not mature enough. However, the twins did much better. I'm not sure if it was because they had each other (I kept them together for the first three years) or they were just more ready.

 

Lots and lots of people here hold their kids back for sports reasons. In fact, in one small town near us, a whole group of parents got together and held their boys back in 3rd grade so that the team could stay together and be bigger/stronger for football season. And that's just our kids' division, not even high school.

 

My oldest just turned 19 and he will be in 12th grade this year. Yes, he IS a lot older than most of his peers (not ALL though) but there's some situations that just can't be helped. Jeremy has been held back a few times and the fact that he is SO close to graduating is just very exciting for ALL of us !
I don't think you can ever be TOO old to accomplish anything in life .. especially such a BIG milestone. I think the fact that he stuck with it and didn't give up is as just valuable as the diploma he'll receive.

ETA ... Jeremy started school just weeks after turning 5. He got held back in 1st grade. I'm not sure what might have happened if I had kept him home until he was 6 ... but the school district thought sending him WAS the right thing to do since he was needing SPED and if I had kept him home he wouldn't have gotten it as soon as he did.

 

Mine are 5 and turn 6 in December.

 

All 3 of my boys have Feb 19th birthdays...so they were all 5 1/2 when they started Kinder. I did consider holding Grant back last year and not letting him start Kinder yet b/c after his beginning of the year testing I wasn't sure he was ready. But I am glad we went ahead and sent him...by the end of the year he was at grade level and ready to go on to first!! Megan will be turning 6 abt 2 months after she starts Kinder.

My bday is Aug 21st. I was always one of the youngest in my class. When I started Kinder, Mom said I had other kids leading me around and treating like a baby b/c I was ALOT smaller than the rest of them (I was abt the size of the avg 3 -4 yr old!). But I was VERY ready to start academically, socially, and emotionally!!

 

This will be my Abigail next year! She's tiny and even now in pre-school her brother (and all the other boys) protect her...

 

let me make myself VERY clear. I NEVER said a child is too old to accomplish something like this that is so very important. Your sons situation is not typical. It is GREAT that he stuck to continuing with getting his HS education and graduating. An older child graduating under these circumstances is not what I meant by "19 is too old to graduate". I meant setting up a child to graduate at age 19 is to old to graduate. The unfortunate circumstances that occurred with your son are precisely why I would, personally for my children not want to start them later or redshirt them. You never know what the school years will bring. btw I have never heard of the term redshirt before.
Your son should be very proud of himself. I am sure you are proud of him also. I would be proud if I were his parent.

 

I had never heard of redshirting before either. I think it's ridiculous to hold kids back in school for sports reasons. Just my opinion.

 

I know this is a ways away for us, but my boys have January birthdays so I assume we'll send them when they're 5.5. I actually see that as one advantage to having a January birthday; easier to choose when to send them and they'll be kind of in the middle, not the oldest or the youngest in the class.

 

My girls will be 3 years old when they start school (just like Kendra said) they will turn 4 in Nov. of the year they start. That is a year away for us and even though at times my girls have been behind a bit, I think they are catching up and SOOOOOOOOoooooooo ready to start school in a year from now. They already can handle very long days of up to 3 days a week at daycare (we have them in extra days since we are moving). Heck, my baby at 15 months can handle 2 -3 days. I'm hoping to get my kids in a french immersion so at least in JK (junior kindergarten) they can learn a second language while they play and learn.

Here in Australia it is about 5 yrs old but most send them to prep but they have to pay for it (like daycare really). Five seems too old to me.

My girls will be 3 years old when they start school (just like Kendra said) they will turn 4 in Nov. of the year they start. That is a year away for us and even though at times my girls have been behind a bit, I think they are catching up and SOOOOOOOOoooooooo ready to start school in a year from now. They already can handle very long days of up to 3 days a week at daycare (we have them in extra days since we are moving). Heck, my baby at 15 months can handle 2 -3 days. I'm hoping to get my kids in a french immersion so at least in JK (junior kindergarten) they can learn a second language while they play and learn.

Here in Australia it is about 5 yrs old but most send them to prep but they have to pay for it (like daycare really). Five seems too old to me.

 

Heather, may I ask why 5 seems to old to you?

 

They call it "preschool" here and a great many people enroll their kids at age 3 or 4 and they go for one or two years. In my state, they also have a "preK" program similar to JK but it is not part of the FREE public school system unless you qualify for assistance or have a child considered "at risk" (my kids don't qualify). It's not kindergarten, though, and that's what the OP was referencing.

 

We have preschool here too for the year before JK. JK (and SK for that matter) isn't compulsory but 99% of people do use it. The curriculum is set for pre-reading, fine motor and self help skills(zippers, shoe tying) As I said in my previous post, some schools have separate JK/SK rooms and others have mixed.

One of the reasons given for starting a child later is that kindergarten has greater academic standards now than in the past. I believe one of the reasons the standards have gotten harder is because children are getting older and have more skills just as a fact of maturity than they did in days past when everyone started at 4/5. (I turned 5 2 weeks into kinder)

Here, you won't see a 6 year old entering the school system in September in kindergarten. That child would be placed in grade one. The only time you have a child more than a year older than some peers would be if they were held back and even then, its a very rare occurrence. I can't think of a single child over my 11 years working in elementary schools who had been held back.

 

When I found out I was pregnant with a July 26th due date, I knew I'd be sending my child to Kindergarten as a 6 year old, not a newly turned 5 year old. Yep, I made my decision up way back before he was even born. :tomato:

Of course, had he proven to be exceptionally emotionally mature, we would have reconsidered. But, we were pretty positive from the very beginning that we would "redshirt" him. Much of my perspective comes from my mom's experiences teaching Kindergarten for 39 years. She has said many times that, on average, the young kids have a more difficult time adjusting to school - and most often it is not that they are not academically ready, it is that they are emotionally immature. Of course, this is not a global statement - only her experiences overall.

That was enough for us, though. He started K this year, as a 6 year old, and has absolutely loved it and is thriving in the classroom.

 

NY Times article about redshirting - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/fashion/22Cultural.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1

 

My boys are June 27 birthdays. They're in 4-year-old preschool, and I guess I will make the decision mid-year about whether to send them on to K or keep them in preschool another year. This decision gives me SO much anxiety - I cannot even tell you.

 

Jorja and Jessica turned 4 in the june and started junior kindergarten that september and just turned 5 for senior kindergarten, it was alternate days though. Although this year at their school full time kindergarten is being offered a new program which the government has brought in

 

This is a fascinating discussion!

My boys start next week and will b 6 in April. They are generally the norm, maybe a bit young because it seems like quite a few of the kids that are starting K with them are 6 already.

They are VERY ready, though. Me, not so much. :FIFblush: