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Old 01-13-2009, 05:10 PM
 
7 posts, read 91,634 times
Reputation: 19

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We're moving to the Seattle area soon and I did some research of some of the schools. It appears that your child has to be 5 by the end of August otherwise they are held back a year. Is there any way around this? We're from Canada and as long as the child is 5 by the end of the calender year then they are allowed to register. My older child was one of the youngest (Nov 24th) but also one of the smartest in her K class. I couldn't have imagined having to hold her back another year! So this brings us to our next child who is a December baby. I really don't want to hold her back another year (especially since we'll be moving back to Canada eventually and I'd like her to be in the same year as the kids her age) so is there any way around this?
Do private schools have this rule as well? Maybe putting her in private school for K and then moving her back to public school for Gr 1?
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Old 01-13-2009, 05:58 PM
 
1,169 posts, read 5,246,543 times
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If you would like to hear a different opinion read on.

I also was a December baby and was able to start school with the older kids. Being smart has almost nothing to do with whether it's a good idea or not. My nickname in my high school physics class was Spock, so the books weren't a problem. Being younger and smaller than all your classmates can make a big difference and being smart doesn't mitigate that at all.
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Old 01-13-2009, 08:44 PM
 
Location: Cosmic Consciousness
3,871 posts, read 17,047,446 times
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I agree completely with AzDreamer. I was always the smartest kid in the class even though my parents got me in just under the age-restriction wire so I was the youngest. In time, they all thought it was a terrific idea for me to skip the 6th grade. That made me a year younger, and in some cases almost two years younger, than my new classmates. Intellectual agility is irrelevant compared with emotional maturity. Inferiority complexes are unrelated to intelligence. It's only six months to a year now; it's the next 80+ years of their lives that will be affected.

You could give your children a magnificent gift that will last all their lives: letting them play, imagine, discover, learn patience and caring, learn about cooperation, negotiation and teamwork and practice them in real time on real terms, and hug them a million times a day, instead of perhaps forcing them into a school definition which doesn't fit them. Something to think about.....
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Old 01-13-2009, 09:00 PM
 
7 posts, read 91,634 times
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I agree a lot has to do with maturity and if my kids weren't ready I wouldn't force the issue. I have a friend who held her son back (born Dec 4) on purpose to give him and extra year of Kindergarten.
My older daughter is small for her grade, not only because she is born late, but because she is just built that way. She's in now in Grade 3 and size has NEVER been an issue. There are 22 kids in the class and 5 of them are around her size (including a Gr4).
As far as intelligence goes my daughter has had issues with not being challenged enough as it is and she's one of the youngest! She's not brilliant enough to skip a grade but she comes home and complains about how she's bored with a lot of the things they are teaching in class. She was starting to read basic sentences when she entered K and she was with kids who were just learning the alphabet! I couldn't imagine holding her back a year so that she was an avid reader (which she was by Gr1) and pushed in with kids who couldn't identify the letter j.
Who knows though as my younger daughter may not be ready by the time K rolls around but if she's anything like her sister then it would be extremely frustrating to hold her back because she was born 3.5 months late.
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Old 01-13-2009, 09:49 PM
 
Location: rain city
2,957 posts, read 12,678,877 times
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I would guess that the best way around this arbitrary cutoff date, is to enroll your child in private school for a year or two.

Say, If your child has records of successfully completing the years kindergarden and first grade, what basis would the public school system have to deny your child legitimate entry into the second grade? I wouldn't think they had a leg to stand on.

If it was my kid that's exactly what I would do.
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Old 01-13-2009, 11:14 PM
 
9,618 posts, read 27,226,083 times
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Seattle Public Schools has ( or had?) an early entrance kindergarten assessment. My son took the test( 24 years ago) and was not allowed to enter kindergarten "early". He's a September 20th birthday. It all worked out anyway.
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Old 01-13-2009, 11:34 PM
 
Location: Duvall, WA
1,677 posts, read 6,827,805 times
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I have to say, as one of the younger students in all my classes growing up, the students that were older got taunted and teased much worse than the students that were younger. I also went to college at 15 (after testing out of high school), and I didn't suffer an ill effects from that either (well, besides a lot of underage drinking). =)

I'm concerned about the age thing, too, as my son was born in October and my daughter was born in early December, and I really don't want them going to kindergarten when they're almost 6 years old.

Thanks for the tip Ira, I'll have to check into that early entrance assessment and see if it still exists.

V. =)
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Old 01-14-2009, 12:13 AM
 
Location: Born and bred in the UK, now in the PNW
44 posts, read 142,525 times
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I sympathize with your situation, as mine was similar. I moved from the UK where children can start school as young as 4, one of my biggest concerns was that I would have to hold my children back a year. We moved during the summer, so my eldest child had just finished 2nd grade and the youngest had completed kindergarten in the UK.

I had in the back of my mind that I would have to send them to private school, but the school was very accommodating of our situation. When meeting with the Principal of the school, I showed samples of the work they had completed and the types of books they had read in the UK. The Principal was very supportive and agreed with me to placed them a year ahead of their peers.

As regards to size and maturity, we have not encountered any problems in the 3 years that we have been here. They have both settled very well and have made lots of friends. Academically, they are holding their own and are in the top end of the class.

Also, before we made the move; I discussed the situation with various school districts (Lake Washington, Issaquah and Northshore). I was advised by all 3, that I could have my children tested academically by the district and a decision would be made on the results of that test.

I hope this information is useful. Good luck with your move.
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Old 01-14-2009, 12:16 AM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,374,410 times
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One of my colleagues was the youngest in her class and has always been a high achiever.

Her parents had her very late in life and her next oldest sibling is 13 years older. Her Mom changed her Birthday by one day to get her in... actually, she missed the cut-off by only a couple of hours being born early AM the following day.

Not legal or ethical... but her Mom said she wasn't going wait another year
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Old 01-14-2009, 02:44 AM
 
7 posts, read 91,634 times
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Thanks for letting me know about assessment testing! I'll make sure to talk to the school that my older daughter will be attending to see how they work.
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