Re: study of red****rting (late entrance to kndergarten)

On Jul 18, 2:05 pm, "Donna Metler" <dmmet...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Nikki" <skavan...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:z-Cdnc7dmMLOTx3VnZ2dnUVZ_qTinZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > hschin...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
> > I agree.
>
> > The problem we are also dealing with is that when it becomes soooo
common
> > the typical age really is a young age.  My kid was born in April so
nearly
> > 5.5yo when he started kindy.  He was the youngest boy in the class. 
He
> > repeated a grade and he is the oldest of course but there are a few in
> > there with him.

Wow. Red****rting does not seem to be common here at all. DD1's
birthday is
in May and she was in the young half of her K class with a good number
of kids
younger than her. I think there was one boy who had a late August
birthday
and he started a year later (Sept 1 cut off). So he was marginally
older than
the kids that turned 6 in September. I know of another kid with an Aug
birthday
whose mom kept him in private K his kindergarten year thinking he
wasn't
ready for all day public K and she was going to evaluate him the next
year
to see if she would put him in public K or public 1st grade. When the
time
came she felt he had made great strides and opted for public first
grade -
he was ready and did fine.

>
> That's the thing. We're debating (and have my DD starting pre-K this
year,
> in part to see how she does and help make a decision) as to whether to
start
> my DD in K at almost 5, or wait until almost 6. She's only about 6 weeks
> past the cutoff-well in the range that private schools would let her
start
> early (and possibly, depending on the principal, that public schools
would.
> TN has no official early entry policy, but individual administrators
have
> been known to bend the rules).
>
> She's been very early on academics, gets along better with older kids
> socially, and at least on paper, would be one of the oldest in the
class,
> and, in the past, has not done particularly well when she's at the upper
end
> of an age group.  Fine motor is decent, (at 3 1/2, she can write her
name
> and some words, trace objects, color mostly in the lines if she agrees
to
> color, and draw pictures which are at least somewhat recognizable), and
> she's in the 75% for height (although since she's so thin, she still
looks
> small compared to many children her age from a distance). Looking at my
DD,
> it seems obvious that she'd probably do better entering at almost 5.

DD2 is just a bit younger than yours (she turns 4 at the end of this
month).
With our Sept. 1 cutoff, she'll be one of the youngest in her K class
next
year but I have no qualms about sending her to K next year. She'll be
more
than ready and she's not nearly as academically gifted as your
daughter.
In fact, in my experience, it  almost seem the opposite here. People
with
kids with a Sept or Oct birthday would prefer to start their kids
early but
the schools seem to be really strict on the Sept. 1 cut off.

Mary W.