How old was/is your dc when they entered 5th grade AND 2nd grade?

[HappyGrace]

Including months (like 10 years, 10 months or whatever). You can use different children for the two grades; just trying to get an average and figure out if my dc are old or young for their grades. Thanks!

[NanceXToo]

My daughter is a bit young for her grade. She will be starting our 5th grade homeschool curriculum right after Labor Day, which will be a few weeks before her 10th birthday.

 

She started out in public school when she went to Kindergarten, which, here, started at the end of August. It wasn't until October 1st of that year that she turned 5. At the time, our school's cutoff date was October 1st... so she was THE youngest in her class, still just 4 when she began.

 

As it turned out, the following year they revised the cutoff date to September 1st, so if she had started a year later, she wouldn't even have been allowed to start K as young as she had.

 

But since she did, she's just continued through the grades, and she's often nearly a year younger than many other kids in her class. Not that it matters now that she's homeschooled.

 

My son is only about to start K, homeschooled, and he'll be about where she was- it'll be a bit before he turns 5, too. But in this case I'm okay with it because the K I have planned for him will be MUCH less lengthy and academic than the K my daughter had to deal with. His will be like maybe an hour a day of hands-on, story and nature and music and craft based stuff that will really be more of a preschool curriculum than a K one (which I love about Oak Meadow)!

[Tree House Academy]

My older son was 9 years, 11 months when he started 5th grade. Younger ds is 6 years 11 months and we started 2nd grade two days ago. Both of mine are on the young side.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

My 7th grader is 12 years 4 months old, so when she went into 5th she was 10 years 4 months old. My now 3rd grader just turned 9 JUST 3 weeks ago so when she was going into 2nd she JUST turned 8. Mine are right on according to public school grades/ages (that is what we went by when starting school.) They were both to young to start a year earlier if they were public schooled so I waited to give them that extra year to just play :D)

 

 

My now kindegartner is 5 and will be 6 in October. I always recommend starting later so they can fully mature (for older grades) and emotionally as well as academically be ready for the harder, more advanced stuff.

Edited August 14, 2010 by wy_kid_wrangler04

[Alison in KY]

Mine are older. Son is 11 years 3 months starting 5th grade, and middle daughter started 2nd grade at 8. Most homeschoolers in our area start K at the age of 5, but it didn't work out so well with my 3, so I basically did a pre-k program at 5, then did K at 6.

 

Alison

[Homeschooling6]

My 5th grade dd will turn 11yrs old in Sept. so she'll start the first few weeks as a 10yr. old and then be 11 for the rest of the year:001_huh:

 

My 2nd grader will be 7.9yrs old. Although three of my 2nd graders were older because of their Sept./Oct. birthdays. I follow the public school cut off dates because it makes things so much easier for church or when people ask them what grade they are in (I don't like thie answer "I don't know, I'm homeschooled").

 

Most my dc started their K year at age 6 or just about to turn 6.

[JenneinCA]

My oldest (dd11) was 6 years 10 months when she started second grade and 9 years 10 months when she started fifth grade.

 

My middlest (ds9) was 6 years 11 months when he started second grade and will be 9 years 11 months when he starts fifth grade in a few weeks.

 

Both kids have October birthdays. Dd11 at the end of the month and ds9 at the beginning of the month. They are considered young for their grades, but meet the age/grade cut off in California. They did not meet the cut off in Arizona and that was a significant reason that we started homeschooling.

[meet me in paris]

Older was 5 years 3 months starting K, so 7 years 3 mos. starting 2nd.

 

Younger was 4 years 10 months starting K. Too young. We started hs'ing that year... she ended up doing 1st grade twice (we called it 1A and 1B ;)) because I didn't want her to have to test against kids that were a year older than her if we were ever required to (we're military and live in different states constantly). So she was 7 years 10 months going into 2nd. Best decision ever.

[Halcyon]

my eldest was 7 years and 3 months when he entered 2nd.

[Crimson Wife]

My oldest has a mid-October birthday and was 6 yrs 10 mos. when she started 2nd. She will be 9 yrs 10 mos when she starts 5th. Here in CA, the public schools have a cutoff of 12/2.

 

My 2nd has a mid-November birthday and is starting Kindergarten this year at 4 yrs 9 mos. It's still TBD whether he'll move on to 1st the following year or do a 2nd year of K. So in 2nd, he'll either be 6 yrs 9 mos or 7 yrs 9 mos.

[EKS]

Older:

 

2nd grade: 7 years 3 months

5th grade: 10 years 3 months

 

Younger:

 

2nd grade: 7 years 7 months

5th grade (when he gets there): 10 years 7 months

 

In our state (with a September 1 cutoff), the older one is considered young for his grade and the younger one is considered average.

[JoyfulMama]

My daughter is a bit young for her grade. She will be starting our 5th grade homeschool curriculum right after Labor Day, which will be a few weeks before her 10th birthday.

 

 

Same here for my oldest, as she turns 10 during the first-half of Sept. Now, I knew she was ready for K when she was just turning 5. There are children older than she is in the grade below her at church.

My current 5 (turning 6 in Sept) is kind of K/1. Luckily I don't have to assign him to a grade, as I'm not yet sure where he fits best. Love the flexibility of homeschooling!

[MicheleinMN]

2nd Grade:

 

Ds #1: 7 years 7 months

Dd #1: 6 years 8 months

Ds #2: 8 years 0 months -- summer birthday

Ds #3: 8 years 0/1 month -- summer birthday

Dd #2: 7 years 6 months

Ds # 4: 8 years 0 months -- summer birthday

 

 

5th Grade:

 

Ds #1: 10 years 7 months

Dd #1: 9 years 8 months

Ds #2: 11 years 0 months

Ds #3: 11 years 0/1 months

Dd #2: 10 years 6 months

Edited August 14, 2010 by MicheleinMN

[OlgaLA]

We have a December cutoff,so my DD was 6 years 9 months when she started 2nd grade.

[Paintedlady]

DD was 7 yrs, 6 months going into 2nd and is 10 yrs, 6 months going into 5th.

 

DS was 7 yrs, 8 months going into 2nd and will be 10 yrs, 8 months going into 5th.

[Mandy in TN]

My oldest ds has an April birthday and we held him, so he turned 19yo a few weeks before he graduated this May.

 

My second ds has a fall birthday. He is beginning 11th grade and will turn 17yo in November.

 

My 5th grade extra student (friend's dd) will turn 11 in March.

 

My 2nd grade ds will turn 8yo in October.

 

Especially for boys, for maturity reasons, I am a big believer in not graduating them early. I would rather see an advanced student x grader than an immature, young, average x grader. It has been my experience that boys hit a period in puberty where their brains go into a fog. I would rather my sons be ahead and able to spend that fog time getting enough sleep and food rather than dealing with the time management tasks and social issues that come with college. Short term it may make a difference in scholarship money and the ability to handle all of college that isn't academic. Long term (from childhood throughout life) it may mean the difference in being a leader and being a follower or a loner.

 

Fortunately, being a homeschooler allows us the advantage of being able to challenge a child academically regardless of what grade they would be registered for if they attended ps.

 

*caveat* Obviously there are some students that are so incredibly gifted that their academic career will out of necessity take a different path, but for mildly gifted/ accelerated students maturity should also be taken into consideration.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[lotsofpumpkins]

I haven't had a 5th grader yet, but I've had 2 enter 2nd grade: 7 years 5 months and 6 years 10 months.

[amsunshine]

DD (elder): will be 9 yrs 11 mos when she goes into 5th gr

 

DD (younger): is 7 yrs, 4 mos entering 2nd gr.

 

My elder dd has a late Sept b-day. She has tested as gifted and we've considered having her skip a grade. However, at this time, we are probably not going to do that. As we homeschool, I love that we can have her work at her own pace and level, no matter what "grade" she is in on paper. :)

[HappyGrace]

Wow, all over the map! A lot more than I thought!

 

I guess we're about "average" then-10 yrs 8 mos for dd going into 5th and 7yrs 6 mos for ds going into 2nd.

 

Thanks, this is really helpful to see.

[DarlaS]

I have one of each of these grades this year. We start on 8/23 and their ages on that day are in parentheses.

 

DD (10 years 1 mo) is my fifth grader, and DS (6 years 10 mo) is my second grader.

Edited August 15, 2010 by darlasowders

[Nakia]

My girls are in 5th and 2nd grades this year. Anna (5th) is turning 10 this month, and Emma (2nd) is 7yrs 5 mos.

[Tidbits of Learning]

My oldest dd July b-day was 7yrs 1mo. starting 2nd and will be 10 yr. 1 mo. starting 5th.

My middle dd August b-day was 7 yrs. starting 2nd and will be 10 yrs. when she gets to 5th next year.

My oldest ds Dec. b-day will be 7 yrs. 8 mo. starting 2nd and will be 10 yrs. 8 mo. starting 5th quite a few yrs. down the road.

My youngest ds Dec. b-day will be the same as older ds.

My oldest 3 started in ps and we went by the ps cutoff of Sept. 1. However, red shirting was so prevalent here that my girls were the youngest in their class often and the smallest. Classmates were 1 to 2 years older than them.

My son with the Dec b-day was about the same age as his classmates after his b-day.

[Ali in OR]

Hey, those are the grades my two younger are going into right now! Since we start up (at least a few subjects) on Monday, I can say their current ages:

 

5th grader: 10 y 1 m (young for her grade. Around here for public school you have to be 5 by Sept. 1 and dd's bday is just 6 weeks before that).

 

2nd grader: 7 y 8 m (older for her grade. December bday.)

[Mom22ns]

10 yrs 5 mos, 7 yrs 5 mos. Both my kids birthdays are in the same month, so they were both the same age starting each grade.

[MyLittleWonders]

We've already started school (we go year round), but based on when they'd start our local public schools, here's their ages:

 

Ds#1:

2nd Grade - 7 years, 2 months

5th Grade (next year) - 10 years, 2 months

 

Ds#2:

2nd Grade - 6 years, 10 months

5th Grade (in 3 years) - 9 years, 10 months

 

Our state's cut-off for first grade is 5 days after ds#2's birthday. We debated not putting him on our PSA last year for 1st grade, but technically he met the requirement for needing to be enrolled in school and I didn't feel comfortable putting him on our PSA as a K'er because K is not mandatory here. Academically, he's a solid second grader this year (and was a solid 1st grader last year). But, he's small for his age and in a school setting, would do better in a lower grade level. But academically, he'd be bored out of his mind.

[Mosaicmind]

The cut-off here is August 1st. Here is how it has worked out for us:

 

ds1: 2nd grade/7yrs 11 mo

 

ds2: 2nd grade/7yrs 5mo and 5th grade he will be 10yrs 5mo

 

ds3: 2nd grade/7yrs 7mo and 5th grade he was 10yrs 7mo

 

The others are all much older and it would take much brain power to figure it out right now. But that's the ages the 3 youngest were.

[Carrie12345]

Ds started (ps) 2nd about 2 weeks after his 7th birthday and 5th grade about a week after his 10th birthday. (August birthday)

 

Dd#1 started (hs) 2nd grade at 7y3m. (May birthday)

 

Dd#2 started (hs) 2nd grade this July, right after her 7th birthday. (July birthday)

[jewellsmommy]

entering 2nd grade: 7 yrs 2m

 

when we get to 5th, she'll be: 10 yrs 2m

 

In a classroom, she would be among the younger half because of where the cut off falls.

[Melissa B]

2nd grade

 

7 y 7 m

7 y 7 m

7 y 9 m

8 y 4 m

 

 

5th grade

 

10 y 7 m

10 y 7 m

10 y 9 m

11 y 4 m

[Closeacademy]

I have read that the idea age is:

 

1st--7 for most of the year

2nd--8 for most of the year

3rd--9

4th--10

5th--11

 

Now they may be a few months shy of that age when they start that grade but that is the ideal age for the child to be for the bulk of the year.:001_smile:

[Crimson Wife]

I have read that the idea age is:

 

1st--7 for most of the year

2nd--8 for most of the year

3rd--9

4th--10

5th--11

 

Now they may be a few months shy of that age when they start that grade but that is the ideal age for the child to be for the bulk of the year.:001_smile:

 

Seriously? That would put a kid graduating at close to age 19. Unless the student is a major "late bloomer" there is no reason IMHO to push it that far back.

 

To my mind, if a child is 6 by July 31st, they ought to start 1st unless there are some unusual circumstances. With August & September birthdays many girls (and some boys) will be ready, many boys (and some girls) will not. With October & November birthdays, most kids should probably be "red-shirted" but some will be ready.

[Mom0012]

Both my kids are on the older end of the age range for their grade level.

 

My son will be 10 years and 11 months when entering 5th. My son would have just made the cut off date by 2 weeks. He had developmental delays, so I decided to hold him a year so he wouldn't be the youngest in his grade. I've been very happy with that decision for him.

 

My daughter was 7 years and 9 3/4 months when entering 2nd. She has a November birthday and missed the cutoff date by about 5 weeks. I almost bumped her up a grade because she learns everything so easily, but now I'm glad I didn't rush her and just let her stay in the grade she was supposed to be.

 

Lisa

Edited August 14, 2010 by LisaTheresa

[sheryl]

Including months (like 10 years, 10 months or whatever). You can use different children for the two grades; just trying to get an average and figure out if my dc are old or young for their grades. Thanks!

 

 

My dd has a late birthday. I'm assuming you're talking about a first week of Sept. start date for calculating? I'll do that, however, we h'teach year round. I've wondered this myself when I'm trying to "keep up" with what's normal or expected. But, then I remind myself what is normal for me may not be someone else's normal/expectation, etc. In other words, all kids learn differently and while one 2nd grader may excel in math another 2nd grader may found s/he doing 1st grade work. And vice versa.

 

PS. My dd is year behind in spelling. When I had her tested for her annual test, this was her STRONGEST weakness. So, one can't always go by "grade levels" but rather what they are learning, creating, remembering and applying. HTH. Sheryl <><

 

2nd = 7 years and 3.5 months

 

5th = 10 years and 3.5 months

 

let me rephrase to say that spelling was her strongest.period...

Edited August 14, 2010 by sheryl

[AngieW in Texas]

Oldest was 7y5m at the start of 2nd grade and 10y5m at the start of 5th grade.

Middle was 6y11m at the start of 2nd grade and 9y11m at the start of 5th grade.

Youngest was 7y3m at the start of 2nd grade and 10y3m at the start of 5th grade.

 

My middle actually misses the cutoff by 4 weeks, but I have her in the higher grade because that really is where she needs to be. Even at the higher grade, she's still above grade level. She would do really well with cc classes this year, but the rules where I live keep her from being able to take cc classes until after she completes 10th grade, so she has one more year to wait.

[Daisy]

My daughter was

 

6 years, 11 months when she started 2nd grade (early bday)

9 years, 11 months when she started 5th grade

 

My son was

 

7 years, 6 months when he started 2rd grade (late bday)

[Ravin]

Well, DD was 6 yrs 10 mo. when we started 2nd a couple of weeks ago, and she's young for the grade.

[Brenda in FL]

5th grade - 10 years 1 month and 10 years 2 month

 

2nd grade - 7 years 1 month, 7 years 2 month, 7 years 9 months (This one has a Dec. birthday - the other two have summer birthdays)

[Outdoorsy Type]

DS#1 - 7 years 0 months

 

DS#2 - will be 7 years 6 months

[LisaKinVA]

oldest was 9yrs. 11 mos starting 5th (6yrs 11 mos. starting 2nd)

DD was 7yrs 6 mos starting 2nd

DS#2 was 7yrs 1 mo. starting 2nd

DD #2 will be 7 yrs. 1 mo. starting 2nd grade

DD#3 will be 7 yrs. 6 mos. starting 2nd grade

 

There is a HUGE difference between my girls and boys (local cutoff here is 9/15).

 

While most of the early elementary work was very simple, my oldest son is experiencing difficulty with some of the "higher order" thinking (transitioning from spewing information to synthesizing the information to create more original thought). Personality plays into this as well, but my oldest is just not ready for something like VP Omnibus in 7th grade, although he seems to have a bit less trouble with math and science.

 

We will be "holding" my oldest son back...taking 2 years for 6th grade. He will then graduate at 18 yrs. 10 mos, and be 18 yrs. 11 mos when he leaves for college. We will probably do the same for my younger son, but will reserve final judgement until he hits about 11yo.

[kalanamak]

Including months (like 10 years, 10 months or whatever). You can use different children for the two grades; just trying to get an average and figure out if my dc are old or young for their grades. Thanks!

 

7 years and 3 days for the start of second grade. However, his summer-born peers going to public and private school (all boys) were held back a year.

[mom31257]

My dd was 7 years, 5 months.

My ds is 7 years, 3 months.

 

We've always kept our kids the grade they would be based on their age. Some of their materials may be slightly different grade levels, but we are not doing any skipping. We would hold back if it was necessary, but so far so good.

[LisaKinVA]

Seriously? That would put a kid graduating at close to age 19. Unless the student is a major "late bloomer" there is no reason IMHO to push it that far back.

 

To my mind, if a child is 6 by July 31st, they ought to start 1st unless there are some unusual circumstances. With August & September birthdays many girls (and some boys) will be ready, many boys (and some girls) will not. With October & November birthdays, most kids should probably be "red-shirted" but some will be ready.

 

I think there are three problems that are pushing "holding back"

 

1) more "rigor" expected of kindergärtners (able to read, sit still for long periods, etc.) that many (if not most) boys are simply not ready for;

 

2) the transition from Grammar stage into the Logic stage -- those late summer/early fall birthdays sometimes just aren't there yet, putting them at a bigger disadvantage as the work/thought expectations tend to rise dramatically in middle school; and

 

3) puberty. This is sort of the "cap" -- my oldest son (who is already highly sensitive) is just beginning to hit this. While most boys don't seem to be visibly entering puberty at 10.5, you know it with my kid. Not because he has fuzz on his upper lip, or his legs and arms are overly hairy (well, they are -- but that's pretty much always true), but because he is feeling more anxious, overwhelmed and *any* type of criticism puts him into an emotional puddle.

 

My son is in the same "class" as 3 good friends and one cousin, all who were born 15-20 days after he was (and therefore missed the cut-off and are turning 12 in less than a month, but all technically in the same grade as my son). You not only SEE it physically, you see it emotionally, and mentally. Academically -- you only really notice it if he's asked to formulate his own opinions...or do anything other than answer the obvious questions.

 

While these issues will probably all resolve themselves by the time he is a junior/senior in high school -- the ramifications for 7-10th grades are HUGE, putting my son (imho), at a big disadvantage.

 

Now, if my son hits age 15-16 and decides he wants to cram to finish up in 2017 instead of 2018, I won't hold him back. But, at this point -- he is content to take his time.

[Mandy in TN]

To my mind, if a child is 6 by July 31st, they ought to start 1st unless there are some unusual circumstances. With August & September birthdays many girls (and some boys) will be ready, many boys (and some girls) will not. With October & November birthdays, most kids should probably be "red-shirted" but some will be ready.

I only know one person IRL that has a boy with a May, June, July birthday that let their son begin K just after turning 5yo- and that person wishes that she had held hers. This isn't just about being academically ready for K.

 

When my oldest ds entered first grade at the local Lutheran school, he was the youngest boy out of 4 first grade classrooms and was by far the smallest boy in the grade. His birthday is mid-April. While we could quibble that these boys could have started school, the reality is that they didn't. These are the young men with whom my ds went through school, played sports, and ultimately competed with for scholarship money.

 

Now my oldest is mildly gifted and mildly dyslexic. At Christmas of 1st grade I put him back in K. This is not a decision I regret. Ds is starting Berea College next week where all students are given full tuition scholarships.

 

My cousin's dh's parents held him and first grade and he is thankful for their decision. He said he went from feeling stupid to feeling smart. With the added year emotional maturity, he did well. He is now a attorney.

 

Unless he was amazingly academically gifted, I would not register a boy for first who turned 6 in May, June, or July and even an April birthday would give me pause. That doesn't mean that I would hold him back academically. I just would want him attain a certainly level of emotional maturity to put him in a place to thrive at leadership opportunities in college.

 

I primarily speak of boys, because I have no daughters. I have three sons and was raised with a brother and three step-brothers.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[rafiki]

.

[Crimson Wife]

I only know one person IRL that has a boy with a May, June, July birthday that let their son begin K just after turning 5yo- and that person wishes that she had held hers. This isn't just about being academically ready for K....

 

Unless he was amazingly academically gifted, I would not register a boy for first who turned 6 in May, June, or July and even an April birthday would give me pause. That doesn't mean that I would hold him back academically. I just would want him attain a certainly level of emotional maturity to put him in a place to thrive at leadership opportunities in college.

 

But SOMEBODY is going to have to be the youngest kid in the class by definition. First it was the late fall birthday kids being "red shirted" (as most probably should be). Then the early fall birthday kids started doing it. Then the summer birthday kids. Now you're telling me the spring birthday kids are doing it? Where does the insanity end? :confused:

 

Perhaps it's time to re-organize schools such that the cohort of winter & spring birthday kids start in the fall semester and the cohort of summer & fall birthday kids start in the spring semester. No more "red shirting" unless there's a legitimate reason like a disability.

[Pretty in Pink]

Uh...

 

DS1 has a September birthday and we start in September, so he was just turning 7 going into 2nd and just turning 10 going into 5th.

 

DS2 has an August birthday. He just turned 7 and officially begins 2nd in September.

[Capt_Uhura]

My oldest will be 10yrs3mths when school starts in September and is in 5th grade.

 

My middle will be 7yrs4months when school starts in Sept and is in 2nd grade.

[laurad1125]

I have one of each this year.

 

2nd grader - 7 yrs 3 mos

5th grader - 11 yrs 9 mos he was 7 yrs 9 mos starting 2nd grade

[HappyGrace]

Wow, I had not heard of this "red-shirting" before. Sounds like it is pretty pervasive in ps!

 

All I did was wait til the latest possible date (locally) I could to report to the district, and started them in 1st grade that year. Of course we pay no attention to any of that for our curric though!

[Pink Fairy]

My 5th grader is 10years and 3 months.

 

My now 3rd grader started 2nd grade last year at 7 years and 5 months.