Do you have a fall baby? One of my three is, and undoubtedly her birthday has been the only one to cause me any concern! Born November 24th, who knew that a birthday in the late fall would mean a big deal in terms of how my daughter’s school years would progress.
You see, in our school district, the cut-off for children starting Kindergarten is a very odd date of October 31st. All children in Kindergarten must be 5 years old by Halloween or they can not start school that year. With a birthday 24 days later, this means my daughter doesn’t make the cut-off. For me, a mom at home, this doesn’t make a huge impact in my day-to-day life. However, I can see how this can make a huge financial difference for a family that has a child in full-time daycare. Yikes!
Author Malcolm Gladwell (whom I had the pleasure of meeting last summer) discusses his theory that children born at the beginning of the year have a higher chance of success (in school, sports, and otherwise) simply because they have the advantage of being the oldest kid in the group. His theories of course involve so much more than that and if the idea has piqued your interest (or ticked you off!) I’d suggest picking up one of his books, Outliers, to read.
After speaking with a school Superintendant, it was clear there was no way my daughter was going to jump the que and start Kindergarten this fall. The rules are the rules and they’re not going to be broken. My biggest concern right now is that, when we move within the next 5 years to a new district, their cut-off may mean that my daughter is a full-year behind children the same age as her in school.
Then I got thinking about Malcolm Gladwell and his theories on children being more successful because they have the advantage of being the oldest in their group.
While a child’s date of birth may still impact where they fall in terms of sports (for example, if a hockey team only has children born in 2004, for example, a child born late in the year would still be the smallest and the youngest), in terms of the educational system more and more parents and educators tell me that the advantage is in being the older student than the youngest.
Maybe I’ll stop whining about the injustice of my daughter not being able to start Kindergarten this fall with some of her friends. All along I’ve said that my main annoyance was that my choice was taken away. Now, given what I’ve learned from Gladwell’s theories and other parents and teachers…would I make the decision to send her this fall if I had the choice? I’m not sure.
What about you – does your school district have a different cut-off than you’d like? Do you think being the youngest child in a group, class, or team is a disadvantage? Or does jumping in early mean an advantage in terms of being ahead of one’s peers?
My last is born Dec 20. The cut-off for our school board is Dec 31. So she will be the youngest & smallest in her class (she`s already small to start with). That being said I`m not too worried about it. Her verbal skills are far above those of her 2 brothers at this age & she exerts way more independence than they did. In our board we have JK & SK (junior and senior kindergarten) so she will still be 3 when she starts! JK is optional here so if we see that it is too much for her when the time comes, we`ll simply pull her out for a year.
This is something I am struggling with right now. My son has a September 30 birthday (he will turn 5 this year). I just assumed he would be going to Kindergarten this year but am currently being advised against it. He is not at the same level as his peers. I am highly concerned over him being the oldest. I just wish someone could bring me the crystal ball and let me know everything will be OK whichever we choose.
My daughter was born on Dec.23, 2009. our cut-off is Dec.31! So we could send her to school while she is still 3 but that seems so young. she is also very petite. We may wait a year, although she may be be ready by that time! I was also 3 when I started JK, and don’t feel like I was behind.
-Melanie
My oldest was born Jan. 3rd. The cutoff where we lived when he started school was Dec 31st. So he didn’t go until the next year. The next year, the school district changed the cutoff date to March 1st. So after he turned 6, there were still 4 year olds in the classroom. :S All that aside, he has and does have friends in the grade ahead of him. It doesn’t seem to bother him too much. If anything, he likes that he has friends in an older grade. I would agree too, as a parent and an elementary school teacher, that being the oldest will only benefit your kids in the long run. (Just do the math and see how old they will be when they graduate!!)
Here in the US parents are notoriously holding “late” birthdays so their kids can be older and have whatever advantages that offers. The thing is, it’s NOT always the right thing for an individual kid. Kids who are ready to go but are held back frequently end up with both social and academic issues. Ask a few teachers and they will tell you that their biggest behavioral problems are the kids who are old for their grade. Plus, a kid who is bored will lose interest and often misbehave for that reason alone. It’s a hard decision but don’t fall into the American trap that it’s always better to start later — that’s a myth!
Our son is born January 8. Normally this would make the decision about when he’d start school pretty straight-forward, but here in Calgary the cut-off is February 28/29. He has a friend who just turned four at the end of January who’s starting kindergarten this fall, but we’re waiting until 2013. Our daughter’s birthday is at the end of November. We’re taking a wait-and-see approach with her. I wouldn’t mind having the kids a year apart in school even if they’re nearly two years apart in biological age and I was a November baby who started Kindergarten when I was four and seemed to do okay. On the other hand, if she doesn’t seem ready I won’t hesitate to hold her back. It really depends on the child.
Our cut off is Sept. 1 and my son that is born in January is going to be the oldest while my son born in June is going to be one of the youngest.
Our cut off is December 31st. Our daughter’s 4th birthday was January 7th and honestly I was disappointed that those 7 days held her back. Come September she will start Junior Kindergarten but she will be the oldest and already knows so much (counting, alphabet, writing her name) so hopefully she doesn’t become bored of learning the same skills at school. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Move to Ontario… Their date of cut off is December 31. Although… they start at 4, we’re special like that here. Lauren missed Ontario’s cut off by 20 days… I COULD have registered her early, if I felt she was ready. She definitely wasn’t. She needed that extra year (as did I) Jillian however… Will be starting school on her 4th birthday or there abouts. It’s a lot more complicated to get her ready and I’m already running into issues. Although JK isn’t mandatory, most of these kids are together from JK-high school (ish) depending on moving, and things like that. Soooo… Ontario has some cops (so I’ve heard) and that whole poutine restaurant. Totally win win. 😉
What a great topic, and what a weird cut off- October 31st??
My daughter’s birthday is December 19th, so she also started school when she was 3. (our cut off date is December 31)
I was concerned, because she still took naps, and she is just a wee little petite girl… but to my surprise there were 17 other December babies in this year’s kindergarten class, and she wasn’t so little afterall!
Junior kindergarten has been wonderful for our family, I think I would be annoyed if I were you too…. but that’s because I only know the benefits of starting so young.
I can tell you my own experience. I am born on October 6th and the cut off was September 30th. My mom is a school teacher so you can imagine that I was ready. When you are a kid the age difference doesn’t mean much. Meaning you have friends that are older or younger and you can play with them all the same. Also chances are you are not the only kid that is older in your class. I think it was an advantage for me. I was always in the first of the class because my brain was ready for all that new stuff. I think it’s a big ego booster. My 2 boys have learning problems and it’s not fun at all. If school is easy for your kids just be thankfull. As a funny note when I was a teenager and going to bars I was always the first one to show my id card since I was the only one that had the allowed age. I looked young for my age so they were not even looking at my friends id since they were looking older but were younger in age. 🙂