Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi,
My son was born on December 4th and he would turn 5 by the end of 2018.
The school district I am in currently (East Rutherford) has a cutoff of 5 years old by October 1st for Kindergarten. I am open to relocate if I can find a school which has cutoff by 31st December. I looked for some schools in NY (this side of the Hudson) and they have a cutoff of December 1st. Please provide recommendations.
You would have to research the individual districts you are willing to move to in order to find what you are looking for, if it exists.
Personally? I wouldn't put a 4 year old who won't turn 5 until December in to Kindergarten. Too many parents "redshirt" their kids these days and your son might end up with a bunch of "already 6 and about to turn 7 years old" kids in his class, while he's only 4 years old & about to turn 5. You don't want to see him get left behind socially, emotionally & academically.
My youngest is a January baby. He started pre-k 4 closer to the age of 5 than 4. The majority of children in his class had turned 5 in the spring/summer. Closer to 6 years old than he was.
A few months & certainly an entire year + make a HUGE difference at that age.
There are a few threads about this in the Education forum.
Last edited by Informed Info; 01-28-2018 at 08:22 PM..
Hi,
My son was born on December 4th and he would turn 5 by the end of 2018.
The school district I am in currently (East Rutherford) has a cutoff of 5 years old by October 1st for Kindergarten. I am open to relocate if I can find a school which has cutoff by 31st December. I looked for some schools in NY (this side of the Hudson) and they have a cutoff of December 1st. Please provide recommendations.
Regards,
Sai
You do realize that this portion of the east coast already has some of the LATEST Kindergarten cutoffs in the country, yes? Natives or those whom have not lived elsewhere seem surprised by this or completely unaware.
By 2010, 45 states established a cutoff date, and 36 of those required that students must turn 5
by a certain date in September or earlier (80%). And that was 8 years ago and national trends are continuing toward September or earlier cutoffs.
And you are in the extreme of trying to push forward (based on your child's specific date) which educational research shows is categorically unwise for academic, social and emotional development both in elementary school and in middle and high school.
Further still, aside from the child is often considerably smaller than the rest of her/his peers now which can make a difference in team sports, they will develop much later than peers which can make a difference in overall well-being.
Last edited by Idlewile; 01-29-2018 at 08:04 AM..
Reason: added more info
The latest I've seen in NJ is Oct 15th, at one time you could work around this by sending child to catholic school if they had a kindergarten, now they follow the cut off the local school district sets
You would have to research the individual districts you are willing to move to in order to find what you are looking for, if it exists.
Personally? I wouldn't put a 4 year old who won't turn 5 until December in to Kindergarten. Too many parents "redshirt" their kids these days and your son might end up with a bunch of "already 6 and about to turn 7 years old" kids in his class, while he's only 4 years old & about to turn 5. You don't want to see him get left behind socially, emotionally & academically.
My youngest is a January baby. He started pre-k 4 closer to the age of 5 than 4. The majority of children in his class had turned 5 in the spring/summer. Closer to 6 years old than he was.
A few months & certainly an entire year + make a HUGE difference at that age.
There are a few threads about this in the Education forum.
I so agree with this! I have two boys; oldest's is June so that made him already one of the youngest kids in his classroom. Most of his male classmates have birthdays from Jan through April with couple few few months before like Oct/November. He is in 1st grade and already more than half of his class turned 7 with few more in spring before HE turns 7 in June, so the difference is already noticeable (to me) but isn't to rest cuz my son is one of the tallest kids for his age.
On other hand, my younger son's birthday is Jan, he won't turn 5 till next Jan 2019 and currently at his preschool, he is exactly right in the middle. Not one of the youngest or oldest. I would leave your kid well alone and let him go in Kindy in 2019 instead of 2018.
I so agree with this! I have two boys; oldest's is June so that made him already one of the youngest kids in his classroom. Most of his male classmates have birthdays from Jan through April with couple few few months before like Oct/November. He is in 1st grade and already more than half of his class turned 7 with few more in spring before HE turns 7 in June, so the difference is already noticeable (to me) but isn't to rest cuz my son is one of the tallest kids for his age.
On other hand, my younger son's birthday is Jan, he won't turn 5 till next Jan 2019 and currently at his preschool, he is exactly right in the middle. Not one of the youngest or oldest. I would leave your kid well alone and let him go in Kindy in 2019 instead of 2018.
Kindy? Isn't that cute.
My birthday is in late December. The school district I lived in had a 12/31 cutoff. I was 4 when I started and one of the youngest, if not the youngest, all through school. It caused me no harm. Actually, I was pretty far ahead of everybody academically. I think it depends on the child.
My husband's birthday is mid-October (same year as me), and he graduated high school a year later than me. His district had a 10/1 cutoff. However, all of this was well over 40 years ago.
The reason why I am trying to push him early is he would complete education one year earlier and that would give him that much more time to build his career.
From development perspective he is tall for his age and seems to grasp things quickly, however I agree its too early now to evaluate how he would be in higher education.
Redshirting (recently found out about this) is a new concept to me, I come from India and we try to start education at an earlier age. Although from this year Indian schools are also having a cutoff of 5 years on June 30th for Kindergarten. After reading some literature online I feel I should let him join Kindergarten in 2019 and not push him for few reasons:
1. He gets more time to learn in an informal hands on learning, which better prepares him for grade 1.
2. Will be better for physical development in team sports (if he is interested in sports)
3. Academically too he will be in better position to learn at a later point.
Regards,
Sai
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
