Brentwood redshirting (Franklin: credit, public school, moving)

[Anony-Momma]

Originally Posted by septimus

our principal put it in her newsletter last year. I think she was trying encourage people to send their kids to K on time becuase "not everyone is redshirting" but I interpreted it to mean basically every kid with a summer birthday must be being redshirted (assuming an even distribution of birthdates throughout the calendar year)

Ah. Thank you. I suspect that the percentage is higher at our school. My kids are in a huge minority of having started kindy at 5 (not here but in a region of the country where most people do not hold back a year at kindy). For one of them, the difference in ages is a problem.

[brentwoodgirl]

I have a friend who called the office of their zoned school and asked about this. The office took her child's birthday and then saw where it would fall in the current K class (i.e., if he were in our Kindergarten this year, there would be 120 older than him and 25 younger than him). Obviously that won't tell you what next year's make up would be, but it was still helpful for her to decide.
OP- You could do that with the schools you are targeting. Since those kids will all be moving up the next year, that would be much more helpful to you. You could also ask if they will tell you how many of the children would be more than a year older than your child.
I can't promise every office staff would be willing to do that, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

[AlfieGeorge]

septimus, do you mind telling me which school your kids attend?

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by libertyme

Of course, homeschooling or private school give you much more options as a parent than the public school system, which is most certainly one size fits all.

This is not true at all.

The majority of teachers we've had in our 13 years of public school here have been quite good at tailoring instruction to fit each child's ability level. '

At most schools we've attended, the students are grouped by level. But there also is peer tutoring, FLIP tutoring with volunteers, gifted instruction, you name it. Lesson plans are organized to be of benefit to auditory, visual and tactile learners.

The only time I've encountered a gap is when a student has cognitive difficulties but is not officially diagnosed with a learning disability, ADHD or a spectrum disorder that requires an Individualized Education Program.

My advice to the OP is to hold your son back at this grade level. It will be a good time, with the moving transition. It does sound like he needs to mature. Some issues, like the bathroom issue, may never resolve themselves. I had a neighbor whose kid NEVER used the school bathroom and held it till he came home every single day.

[AlfieGeorge]

Hi again septimus. Can you tell me any more about the Montessori Academy? I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that MA isn't considered true Montessori since I would actually prefer somewhat of a balance between that approach and Montessori. I called the Franklin montessori school but it seems that there weren't many kids beyond lower elementary and I thought it would help to have a bit larger selection of kids to form friendships with. I have a friend whose kids attend a smaller school and she had issues when she didn't really click with the few other girls. I've never heard of Akiva but will check it out.

Thanks again, this really helps.

[AlfieGeorge]

Thanks much Brentwood Girl. I will certainly try to see if the office will accomodate that!

[ExIslander]

I have to be honest -- I didn't know until after mine started school years ago that this was even allowed. I mean, with private schools and homeschooling and such, I knew not everyone went to public-school kindergarten when it was time, but I just assumed that those who started late would merge in with their age group when they did start school. I didn't know that parents could delay their kids' kindergarten for however long they felt like it. Not that I would have anyway, ours are on the older end of their grade, but still.

I guess I don't mind when a parent is doing it because of a perceived need for catching up; it does annoy me a little when they're doing it purely as a means of getting an edge for sports and such.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by ExIslander

I have to be honest -- I didn't know until after mine started school years ago that this was even allowed. I mean, with private schools and homeschooling and such, I knew not everyone went to public-school kindergarten when it was time, but I just assumed that those who started late would merge in with their age group when they did start school. I didn't know that parents could delay their kids' kindergarten for however long they felt like it. Not that I would have anyway, ours are on the older end of their grade, but still.

I guess I don't mind when a parent is doing it because of a perceived need for catching up; it does annoy me a little when they're doing it purely as a means of getting an edge for sports and such.

some parts of the country have started fighting back against it. If you don't show up for K because your parents held you back then you go straight to 1st grade when you register based on age.

The state moved back the cut off date from Sept 30 to eventually July 15 to supposedly stop some of the redshirting (K teachers complained there was too big of an age gap in the classroom) but they didn't put anything in place to stop people from redshirting so all it means now is more kids with Feb/March birthdays will be redshirted.

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by septimus

some parts of the country have started fighting back against it. If you don't show up for K because your parents held you back then you go straight to 1st grade when you register based on age.

The state moved back the cut off date from Sept 30 to eventually July 15 to supposedly stop some of the redshirting (K teachers complained there was too big of an age gap in the classroom) but they didn't put anything in place to stop people from redshirting so all it means now is more kids with Feb/March birthdays will be redshirted.

That's my concern too. I'm worried that my youngest will be the absolute youngest in the grade because parents will hold back even earlier.

[Anony-Momma]

Originally Posted by brentwoodgirl

That's my concern too. I'm worried that my youngest will be the absolute youngest in the grade because parents will hold back even earlier.

At least you know about it and have the option (is your instinct saying "hold back"?)- we moved in with older kids and were completely unaware that this was common practice. We moved from a state with a very late start date where few held back - and for one of my children, the age and maturity difference in the grade is h u g e.

It was so uncommon in the area that we LEFT that the question never once crossed my mind as we prepared to move South. Wish I had known that.