I was 11 throughout 7th grade; I turned 12 the summer after. I was a year and a half younger than my best friend in HS because she had a December birthday and was at the other end of the spectrum. I did know one girl who turned 19 her senior year, but she was a total sweetheart, and anyone would have loved to have her as a classmate. If she had been male, it might have seemed different.
DS '04 "Boogaboo"
DD '08 "Lilybear"
This is ridiculous. I would be so annoyed. I expected more red shirting than I have found so far. I have a summer bday kid with a Sept 1 cut off. She is one of the youngest in her grade and I believe the youngest in her classroom. She still isn't being challenged as much as she wants at times, but it is fine. She loves school. I can't imagine how bored she would be if we held her back. However, as far as I know, almost no one is more than 13-14 months older than her and I don't actually know of any personally who were redshirted. [There is one kid who is much older in another class and the other kids think it is strange]. I know a lot of summer birthday kids my ODD's age and only three redshirted. One kid has a June birthday and his parents didn't want him to be the shortest (don't get me started). The other two have birthdays on the cut off date. My younger DD has three August birthdays in her class who are being redshirted. All three are boys and I get why all three are being redshirted. I am not sure I mind redshirting per se, and I definitely don't mind for the July and August kids and even some June. My ODD seems to be doing just fine with kids a year older than her. Many of her closest friends are 10 or 11 months older than her. I do have a problem, though, when redshirted parents complain that their kids are bored. Drives. Me. Nuts.
And Annie, it would really bother me to hear a school complain a kid is immature when their behavior is within the realm of normal. It is not good for a kids' confidence and confidence is so important for a kid's success.
OP, I hear you!!! We are in public school but similar situation. DS1 has an April 27 birthday, the statewide cut-off here is July 31, nearly all summer boys are held back and many girls also, making DS always one of the youngest but in some cases nearly 2 years younger then some of his classmates (he just turned 7 last week and quite a few will turn 8 already this summer!) His report card always has immaturity type issues as well but academically he is doing great so I just roll my eyes, talk to him about staying focused, and we move on.
Our state is super inflexible about letting in between birthdays go early. My friend has an August kid who was in daycare/preschool from the time he was 2 and was writing and basic reading by the time he was 4. Even though he was COMPLETELY ready for kindergarten and would have been fine, he had to do another year of preschool before kindergarten.
Angie
Mom to
DD- 9/09-9/09
DS- 2011 DS2- 2012 DS3- 2015 DD-2019
Well, Annie, fwiw, I wouldn't move her. I would just ignore the teacher's comments and get her some help/tutoring in reading comprehension. She can make great gains over the summer. In the end, it's how she progresses that matters, not how mature the other kids in her class are.
It's tough, ita. We've been there, done that before. DS2 is a spring birthday and in his small class, half were either redshirted or September birthdays so it skewed the entire pace of learning/comprehension/norm for everyone.
K
I have a DD who is in a very low percentile for height and weight. She is always going to be small. Add a handful of redshirted boys and she is absolutely dwarfed. I have often feared for her safety. She has been knocked down more than once by giants who just don’t pay attention to the other students around them. The parents don’t help either. They often don’t understand that by putting a physically large kid into the group, that kid needs to be taught to be more careful of their classmates.
I hear you. dd1 is a late Oct bday w/a Sept 1 cutoff. I had thought of sending her early - I could have done it by sending her to private school in K & 1 and she was totally ready but I feared putting her in HS with kids 2-3years older.
OTOH, I have a kid who turned 8 in early fall in my 1st grade class. Yes, he really needs to be in 1st - emotionally, behaviorally and cognitively but I do worry about having an 18yo in 11th grade down the line...
dd1 10/05
dd2 11/09
and ... a mini poodle!
When DC started K at age 5, there was a 4 year old in the class (who tested in to start early) along with some boys who were almost 7 (one was seven, but there were specific reasons why he started late). The spread was crazy... DC are Fall birthdays with a Sept. 1st cut off so it was never an issue for us. My thought was always about having a 14 year old girl in the same class as a 17 year old boy; makes me nervous...
Also, having a DC who was very tall in early elementary, the expectations of the teachers were very high; they would forget that DC's behavior was age appropriate since DC looked much older...