kindergarten age cutoff (Worcester, Brockton, Chelmsford: public schools, backyard, date)

[closure]

Originally Posted by bohemka

If it helps you resolve your issues about starting school late and fighting to catch up, I also have an August birthday. But I was the youngest of every class I was in. And I'm an absolute failure. I wonder how I'd've fared had I been a year more mature?

The only way I can see someone with an August birthday being the absolute youngest is if they started on time then skipped a grade. So they would be 10 for all of 6th grade, 11 for all of 7th grade, 12 for all of 8th grade, etc. This is because the cutoff is usually in December, which means that someone with an August birthday that was in their age-appropriate grade would be with kids up to 4 months younger than them. I'm not encouraging grade-skipping. I'm just encouraging not redshirting. There's a difference.

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by closure

This is because the cutoff is usually in December...

The kindergarten cutoff is now age 5 on or before September 1 in Massachusetts and most other states.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by closure

The only way I can see someone with an August birthday being the absolute youngest is if they started on time then skipped a grade. So they would be 10 for all of 6th grade, 11 for all of 7th grade, 12 for all of 8th grade, etc. This is because the cutoff is usually in December, which means that someone with an August birthday that was in their age-appropriate grade would be with kids up to 4 months younger than them. I'm not encouraging grade-skipping. I'm just encouraging not redshirting. There's a difference.

Originally Posted by gf2020

The kindergarten cutoff is now age 5 on or before September 1 in Massachusetts and most other states.

The cutoff has moved, in MANY places, from December 31 to September 1 (or thereabouts.) Trust me, I have thought about this issue extensively and read a lot about it for 12 years. Redshirting is so common in some areas that one woman I talked with had a daughter whose birthday was in MAY and she was the YOUNGEST in her class, despite the district having a cutoff of December 31. So some areas are completely insane.

I have a June birthday and my older son has a June birthday, and when I was a kid the cutoff was 12/31. I was pretty much right in the middle. And, when I was 18 I was SO ready to go to college. It came just in time - I didn't find high school particularly enjoyable, but I loved college. And I'd meet a few people who were my age but started a year later, because of cut-offs in their home school districts, and I always felt badly for them. But more commonly, I'd find people who were even born after the 12/31 cutoff but their schools allowed them to start anyway. People used to want to start their kids earlier, but back then preschool wasn't as common, and K wasn't as rigorous as it is today. However, my own personal bias is that I like the cutoff being 12/31, so everyone born in a certain year is in school together, and my thought is it is kind of a wasted year on the other end -- when you're 18 and still in high school.

Lots of people in my area, were shocked that I sent my kid with a June birthday to K when he was 5, even though the cut-off wasn't until September. (At that time, the cutoff was September 30, but it changed a couple years later to September 1.) This kid was totally ready for K, and even when he was 4, I thought that if K were to take place that year, he'd be ready. I never had any question whatsoever about sending him to K when he was 5.

Then a couple years later, I had my younger son. And his birthday is September 1.

I could get him in, "just under the wire," and he could have started K, which that year would have started a day or two before he turned 5. But he is a totally different kid than my older son. He really was not quite ready -- academically, yes, he'd be okay, but he was very socially and emotionally immature. I had him do K at the daycare he had been attending, and for the first few months, he had a crying fit every day when I'd bring him. I was so glad I hadn't put him in public K, because I honestly don't think he would have gotten on the bus. And the public school teachers can't be expected to deal with a crying kid every morning when they have 19 others to deal with.

So, after he completed K, I needed to figure out if I should put him in 1st grade or K at the public school. I hemmed and hawed, his teacher said he'd be okay -- it would be a rough start but eventually he'd be fine. he had the academic piece down cold, and was totally ready for first grade work, but his social skills and emotional maturity weren't quite there. So, I did put him in K, and he did great. Plus, we moved during the school year and the school district wouldn't let me enroll him for a few weeks, so he missed several weeks of school, but it was nice that I didn't have to worry too much about it, since he wasn't really missing too much academically, since he'd done K, and he was socially better to adjust. He did great.

I still don't know if I made the right decision, and already he sometimes indicates he'd prefer to be going into second grade, rather than first. And maybe he'll be pissed at me when he's 18, having to wait another year to go to college. But I think at the time it was the right thing to do. And I've never heard anyone who waited say they wish they hadn't. The downside is kind of "yeah, I guess we could have sent him a year earlier and he would have done fine." But if you make the wrong decision the other way, the downside can be terrible. You can have several years of a rough adjustment. And MANY people said that they started their kids early, and in elementary school it was fine, but once the kids got to middle school or high school, they regretted it. They were always about a year behind most of their friends - in both immediately tangible things, like being able to get a drivers' license, and in things like being interested in girls, etc.

The trend, across the country, is toward earlier cut-offs, rather than later. And you just don't see grade skipping in most places the way you used to. What's more likely is that the schools will put the kids in accelerated classes, sometimes even having them take classes at a local college if the school doesn't offer a high enough class. (Typically you see this in math.) While I was ready for college at 18, I would be hesitant to send a kid much younger than that. Years ago there would be a small, but not-insignificant number of kids who'd graduate high school at 16. I really wouldn't want to send a kid to college these days at 16.

[Bruins3445]

This is an old thread but I remember seeing it's more recent replies last month. This topic came up tonight at a BBQ and many are strongly against the age cutoff being September 1st which I thought was interesting.

I'm wondering. If a MA resident lives in a district that allows children to enroll if they turn five before December 31, and said child does fine and goes on to first and then second grade... But parents move to a new district where the age cutoff would have been age 5 by September 1, what happens? Will the child be forced to be held back a grade?

Very interested in responses. One of the mothers I spoke to said she will not leave Worcester because she has heard her kids will be forced to be held back should she move to another town/school district. Her two sons have October and November birthdays. They're both bright kids, socially adjusted, doing fine in school.

Is MA really that strict? I can't imagine a school telling a 4th grader and 3rd grader that they need to repeat the school year because of their age when they've been proven to succeed despite not meeting the kindergarten age cut off years ago.

Then the discussion amongst everyone digressed to homeschooling if that were to happen, which was also interesting but irrelevant to this thread. So can anyone chime in? Would that really happen if she were to leave Worcester?

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by Bruins3445

This is an old thread but I remember seeing it's more recent replies last month. This topic came up tonight at a BBQ and many are strongly against the age cutoff being September 1st which I thought was interesting.

I'm wondering. If a MA resident lives in a district that allows children to enroll if they turn five before December 31, and said child does fine and goes on to first and then second grade... But parents move to a new district where the age cutoff would have been age 5 by September 1, what happens? Will the child be forced to be held back a grade?

Very interested in responses. One of the mothers I spoke to said she will not leave Worcester because she has heard her kids will be forced to be held back should she move to another town/school district. Her two sons have October and November birthdays. They're both bright kids, socially adjusted, doing fine in school.

Is MA really that strict? I can't imagine a school telling a 4th grader and 3rd grader that they need to repeat the school year because of their age when they've been proven to succeed despite not meeting the kindergarten age cut off years ago.

Then the discussion amongst everyone digressed to homeschooling if that were to happen, which was also interesting but irrelevant to this thread. So can anyone chime in? Would that really happen if she were to leave Worcester?

It would probably be handled on a case by case basis, especially if the kids are way beyond 1st grade.

[TownShopping]

I can't speak for other towns, but in Stoughton they are very strict about the cutoff until the child completes first grade. If a child enters the district for second grade, they would not be forced to repeat. Prior to that, it appears that there is zero flexibility.

[gf2020]

I think your backyard BBQ question has already been covered in this thread.

Every community in MA has the September 1 cutoff date.

No community in MA would make a student repeat second grade or higher due to age. First grade is another matter.

[ECPCVC]

Originally Posted by gf2020

I think your backyard BBQ question has already been covered in this thread.

Every community in MA has the September 1 cutoff date.

No community in MA would make a student repeat second grade or higher due to age. First grade is another matter.

Not to be a stickler, but Sudbury is Oct 1

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by ECPCVC

Not to be a stickler, but Sudbury is Oct 1

Kindergarten Entry Age - Full-Day Kindergarten

Clearly not every district uses September 1 but the vast majority use August 31 or September 1 as the cut off.

I grew up in an area with a 12/31 cut off and have a November birthday. I never even knew this was an issue and FWIW I was always one of the biggest kids in my class despite being one of the youngest.

[chicagoliz]

I personally hate the cutoff being September 1. (Especially since my son's birthday is September 1). I don't necessarily have a great argument against it, other than the fact that when I was a kid, the cutoff where I lived was 12/31. I'd prefer a 12/31 cutoff date.

However, the HUGE trend, nationwide, is toward earlier cutoffs, typically 8/31 or 9/1. Some may even be earlier, where many schools start at the beginning of August. Educators heavily favor the children being 5 years old by the time school starts. Apparently, they have seen over and over again that the emotional immaturity of the younger kids really hampers the classroom experience overall, and is not good for the kids, either.

And then you have all the people who want their kid to start school as late as possible for perceived advantages, typically in either the athletic arena or in the academic arena. With the academics, any additional preparation for K that gives an advantage fades by the third grade. But there is an advantage or certain kids, especially those who are playing very physical competitive sports, where size confers a large benefit, if they are 1-2 years older than the other kids who are on these athletic teams.

Part of the issue now is that there are so many people who intentionally start their kids late that if your kid is near the cutoff, he could be in a class with kids who are not just one, but nearly TWO years older. And that discrepancy comes into play later on, too -- many parents started kids young and they did okay in elementary school (sometimes after a rough start), but by the time they got to middle school and high school, the disparity with their peers was really evident. They are a year behind their friends in learning to drive, and being interested in dating, etc.

I personally like a later cutoff. I feel like it's a wasted year on the other end -- having to wait to start college until 19, rather than 18. I was so ready for the next step when I was 18. But, there are many kids who are not ready and will benefit from the extra year.

Basically, the downside of sending young is that the kid may be behind peers in many ways, even if he/she does fine academically. And in a worst case, a kid might have to repeat a grade, which is pretty traumatizing. But the downside of waiting is just kind of realizing, "yeah, I guess I could have started him early and he'd be fine." The downside of sending early is much worse than the downside of sending late.