What age for entering Ker (or whatever grade) in your district?

[Kay in Cal]

I'm always intrigued by threads about trying to figure what "grade" kids are in. It seems to me that the cutoff dates are so different across the nation!

 

Here (Los Angeles Unified School District) kindergarteners begin if they turn 5 years old on or before December 2nd.

so...

K -- 5 years old on or before December 2nd

1 -- 6 yo by December 2nd

2 -- 7 yo by December 2nd

3 -- 8 yo by December 2nd

4 -- 9 yo by December 2nd

5 -- 10 yo by December 2nd

etc.

 

I'm getting the feeling from the boards that we have a late cutoff date... is that the case? I realize it doesn't really matter as homeschoolers (and we ignore the date anyhow), but I'm just curious!

[Marie in Oh]

I think it is more of a free daycare issue there. Not trying to start controversey, but with so many two income homes, it is obviously cheaper for families to send their child who is truning five sometime in the fall to all day K instead of paying for another year of daycar/preschool.

 

Here in my district it is the latest cutoff in the county-- 5 by August 1st. And they DO NOT BEND. No testing, nothing. If you miss you miss even if your kid's b-day is August 2nd. Most of the rest of the districts in the county the cutoff is Sept. 30th. Oh, and K is still half day here.

[Kay in Cal]

OK... so they have to be 5 by the previous summer... so it's the earliest cutoff, not the latest, right?

[TracyR]

That is late. I think ours is like sometime in the last week of August . But really when it comes to kindergarten in the B&M schools the later the better . I know a friend of mine here son started kindergarten when he just turned 5 . I mean he just turned 5 . He was not ready at all ( she assumed the schools were going to teach him everything he needed . All the poor kid did was wonder around all day long and come over our house to play with my girls ) . So of course he had to repeat K because there was just so much he didnot accomplish before entering ( there are things that the schools really would prefer parents to teach their children before entering K ) . Plus he was very speech delayed as well so that didn't help the matter.

 

But its a theme that I've noticed . Even at our preschool I know a mom who is going to keep her son in prek one more year.

In our state under the homeschooling laws you don't have to do kindergarten because its not considered a grade and 8yrs old is the age where you have to sign up with the school district if you are homeschooling . Of course you are in charge of their education up until that point and so many families don't realize this in thinking they HAVE to sign them up for kindergarten .

 

Half day kindergarten doesnot exist here in our area anymore . I think that's due to so many 2 parent working families .

[Lynn in WI]

Yes. You have a late cut-off date. WI is Sept. 1.

 

I don't understand this either. For my first-born had we stayed in CA he would be finishing his sixth grade year and going into seventh. In WI, he's just finishing his fifth grade year. It seems this would affect standardized tests, college admissions and general education statistics across the nation.

 

I don't get it.

[Carmen_and_Company]

Here, in Minnesota, children do not have to begin school until the September after they turn 7 years old. With that said, a child must turn 5 on or before September 1, in order to begin kindergarten.

[Marie in Oh]

OK... so they have to be 5 by the following summer, that is? Wow! So most Kers there are 4, not 5.... interesting. Thanks!

 

 

There are alot of 4 yos going to K in CA who are 4-- you absolutely can not be 4 in our district and attend. They have to be 5 three weeks before the school year begins. In CA they can be 4 for 3 months and still go to K. Does that make more sense?

 

In aaddition, many people wait here to send their kids to school so there are many, many 6 year olds, or turning 6 in the fall just starting K. They are a whole year and a half older than some kids in CA starting K. It's kind of crazy.

[iquilt]

School in our district is not required until age 7, but K'er starts if they are 5 by Sept. 30th. I have a November girl who could (and will) easily do K'er level work next year, but if we did public school would have to wait a whole year to start. She does have to be the oldest at all of her classes at church as they follow those same guidelines, but that's not nearly as critical. Someone will always be the oldest (or the youngest). I am one of those controversial kids myself, I started K in MT when the date was Sept. 20th and my bday is the 18th. The next year they changed the date to Sept. 10th and wanted to hold me back in K another year simply because they changed the date, not because I couldn't hack it in 1st grade. By the way, my mother fought for me and I did just fine :)

[EKS]

I think it is more of a free daycare issue there. Not trying to start controversey, but with so many two income homes, it is obviously cheaper for families to send their child who is truning five sometime in the fall to all day K instead of paying for another year of daycar/preschool.

 

Actually, California had the Dec. 2 cutoff date since I was in kindergarten in 1971, and I don't think daycare was the issue back then. And I'm pretty sure it was the same in the 1930s when my father entered kindergarten (in California) as his birthday is in October.

 

Here in Washington, the cutoff is Sep. 1.

[elegantlion]

In Missouri for our private school they had to be 5 by July. My ds turned 6 right after starting Kind.

[rafiki]

n/t

[Plaid Dad]

Our state default is that you enter first grade in September of the calendar year in which you turn 6. By that standard, a child would turned 6 on December 31st would enter first grade the previous September, which s/he was still 5.

 

But the local district can set the cut-off date earlier. Ours is (iirc) August 31st.

[Marie in Oh]

Actually, California had the Dec. 2 cutoff date since I was in kindergarten in 1971, and I don't think daycare was the issue back then. And I'm pretty sure it was the same in the 1930s when my father entered kindergarten (in California) as his birthday is in October.

 

That is interesting. . .there were lots 2 parent working families when I was in K in the 70's. Isn't that the era that latch key kids came from?

 

And I didn't think they even had Kindergarten before the 1950's. I have older brothers much older than me-- in their 50's and none of them went to Kindergarten, there was no such animal. They all started 1st grade when they were 6. This was in Arizona though, not CA.

 

All I am saying is the December 2 cut off goes against all educational experts' conventional wisdom, yet it still remains. CA is supposed to be progressive, but in this area it is so backward in my opinion. There is not a 4 yo on the planet that needs all day kindergarten-- unless the alternative is something worse. Which is possible. That is why I support head start programs. Not because I think there should be public preschool, but becasue for some children, public preschool is better than home.

 

I hope I am making sense. If that cut off did exist in the 70's or earlier, then maybe it didn't used to be a daycare issue. But it remains in existence because it would financially strap millions of Californians to have to pay for another year of private preschool. I lived in CA for 8 years and very few people keep their kids home an extra year like they do here unless the mother is a SAHM. Just my experience.

[Andie]

WV, state-wide: 5 on or before 9/1.

 

Our county board of ed will give a readiness test to parents who wish their child to start earlier but miss the cut off by a number of weeks.

 

Here's a link that might be helpful: http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=32

[JenneinCA]

Here the cut off date is August 31, but some school districts are flexible and if there is seat space they will let a child with a birthday between September 1 and December 31 have the seat.

 

My older kids have October birthdays. My daughter is a nine year old fourth grader, she will turn ten part way into her fifth grade year. My son is a seven year old second grader, he will turn eight part way into his third grade year. Both would be the youngest in their grade if we had gotten them in. Both were the youngest in their Sunday School classes. Both are the youngest in their scout groups.

 

My youngest has a May birthday. He should be in the middle for age/grade issues. So far he isn't grouped by age so it hasn't been important.

[MelissaMinNC]

I just looked it up for NC and found that it is still 5 by Oct 16. I was double-checking because I was sure it had been changed to an earlier cut-off, but couldn't remember if it was Aug 1 or Aug 31. Apparently, it's neither, LOL.

 

:)

Melissa

[SkateLeft]

My kids' birthdays are in July, June, August and January, respectively. My oldest daughter was grade skipped in kindergarten, so although she would be a young 6th grader this year, instead she's a very young 7th grader. It's strange to think that there are states where she would have been a 5th grader!!

 

Although California does have a late cutoff, kindergarten is not mandatory, so the child doesn't have to be legally accounted for until they are 6 (by Dec. 2nd).

 

I have no idea whether or not daycare plays a role. I do know that what is the norm varies depending on the community. When we lived in Davis, CA, the norm was for people to keep their children out of school until 6, when they would start kindergarten. I was in the minority, putting my daughter in K at just-turned-5 when most of her friends were heading into a third year at preschool. Where we are now, in a less affluent Sacramento area school district, there is a much higher percentage of kids attending kindergarten at 5, possibly because the parents need to work and can't afford to pay daycare.

 

My youngest son just misses the cutoff, so although it seems to me that he'll be starting late, compared with the rest of the country, he'll probably be right on target. :)

[Heather in VA]

I know people from all over the country and I am pretty sure California is the latest of all states. There may be a few close but it's very late for the 'average' state.

 

Here in VA you must be 5 by Sept 30 for public schools and some private schools have an earlier requirement.

 

Heather

[linders]

In Washington, Sept 1 is the magic cutoff date, BUT...

 

Anymore, our school district strongly urges parents to carefully evaluate summer birthdays to decide whether a child who does turn 5 in the summer should really enter K, because K is more like 1st grade used to be. The average age entering K in our district last year was 5 years 10 months.

 

And with that, classes all the way up tend to be "older" than they used to be. Teachers are seeing an issue at the junior high level, especially, where some of the kids who "just barely" met the cutoff way back are now a year or more younger (and less mature than) the others.

 

One of the (many) reasons we chose to homeschool was because my DS has a July 26th bday. He would have been capable of K-level work at 5 (and we ended up doing that at home) but he is somewhat immature, even for his age, and I couldn't see him put in with kids a year older and evaluated against them. At 7-1/2 now, we call him 1st grade for purposes of Sunday School, Cub Scouts, etc, even though he does 2nd grade work.

 

The range of cutoffs around the country must make it hard for families that need to move!

[Mommy22alyns]

Ours is Sept. 30. For some reason I thought it was Sept. 1, though it doesn't change anything for us either way.

[EKS]

My father went to kindergarten in California in 1935. I know this for a fact because we had a discussion about it recently. Kindergarten was not available for my mother in New York in 1942. So it was probably spotty around the country.

 

Interestingly, my father's brother, who has an April birthday, was allowed to start school mid-year, the January before he turned 5.

[Mosaicmind]

Here it used to be June 30th, then July 15th, now it is August 1st. There are exceptions if a child is tested and is allowed to start K if they aren't 5 by August 1st.

 

December seems a bit late to me, but that's me. I started one of my sons in a K curriculum in August after he turned 5 in May, it was too early for him. He now is 13 soon to be 14 and finishing up 7th grade, which is a good fit for him.

 

I think it all depends on the child.

[Wee Pip]

Ours (Michigan) is 5 by Jan 1st. So a 4yo could technically be in K for 3-4 months before turning 5. Its crazy. The latest you can wait, legally, to enter K is the school year that you turn 6. So there is a wide range of ages in K (4.5-6.5yos).

[Sue G in PA]

In MD the cut-off used to be Dec. 30 (5 by Dec. 30 of the current school year). That was 6 years ago when my dd entered K as a 4yo b/c her bday was Nov. 22. She was ready, so it was a good thing for her. After that year, the cut-off went back one month each year until it was Sept. 1 (that's what I think it is now). So, when my ds8 was starting PreK at a MD Christian School...he had to wait to start class until he actually turned 5 at the end of Oct. I think here in PA the cutoff is Sept. 1 as well. Basically a child must be 5 before starting K. PA also does not have all day K in all districts. PA compulsory school age is 9yrs so a child doesn't even have to attend school until they are 9 OR reg. to hs until they are 9 (same cutoff...Sept. 1). That is the ONE thing I like about schooling in PA. Oh, that is unless the dc has already been registered in a public or private school for K or up. So, b/c my ds8 had already been registered in cyber school as a Ker and 1st grader...I had to report him this year. :glare: Okay more info than you asked for...sorry!

[Hillcrest Academy]

Here in MA, compulsory school age is that you are 6 by Dec 31 of that school year. You have to have turned 6 by Aug 31 to get into K.

[Sasharowan]

Here in FL, it is turns 5 on or before Sept. 1st., so my daughter, with a Sept. 13 birthday, will be 9 soon after entering 3rd grade. Because she was a couple weeks from turning 6 upon entering Kindergarten. Even though we homeschooled the entire time, I figured it was better to enroll by the books and let her work ahead of grade, that way there is no problems later if she needs catchup time for anything.

[Malenki]

Our local classical academy (with the huge wait list) has an earlier date: June 1st. That is, the child has to already be 5 by June 1st.

[Krista in LA]

In our parish in LA, you have to be 5 by Sept 30. My dd was born in Oct. If your child is gifted, they might let them enter a year early. However, I had my dd tested at 4 yrs and 4 mos. She tested like an average 6 year old, but that wasn't good enough to start K 6 months later when she would be 4 yrs 10 mos. After talking to enough people, I realized that it didn't really matter how well she tested, they weren't going to let her start early. And that is why we started homeschooling.

[neesek]

In our district, a child must be 5 by September 30 to start. They are going to all day kindergarten next year. I personally cannot imagine sending a 4 yo to K all day. I am sure it works out for some, but I don't think my older two would have done well with that.

 

OTOH, I am not sure if it is still that way or not, but in Indiana, my niece and nephew had June and July birthdays. At the time, their cutoff was June 1, so both of them were 6 when they started K.

[kimmyandgracie]

I think in our area the cutoff date is sometime in the beginning of October. To me that seems young. My dd4 will be 5 in June, and lately I have been seriously considering waiting another year to consider her in Kindergarten in our homeschool. She is very bright intellectually, but emotionally I think she would benefit by starting a year later. I still plan to teach her on whatever level she can handle, but my goal is to ultimately delay high school graduation by a year and give her that extra edge in maturity.

[momofkhm]

I just looked it up for NC and found that it is still 5 by Oct 16. I was double-checking because I was sure it had been changed to an earlier cut-off, but couldn't remember if it was Aug 1 or Aug 31. Apparently, it's neither, LOL.

 

I think it changes for the 2009/2010 school year.

 

For the OP: They use the NC cut-off for placing kids into age appropriate classes. It works well for most kids. I did have a mom in one of my classes who was holding her child back due to social issues. (Child not ready.) But he was "forced" to endure the switch from preschool program to school age program. They switched him back after 4 weeks. Then there is my ds who is advanced and is going into 3rd next fall but according to co-op cut-off will still be 2nd. OH! And my oldest wasn't ready for K, started in a private school. Her friends are mostly grade level. But starting in the fall her birthday puts her into high school when in actuality she is doing middle school work.

 

So even though we can ignore the cut-off in most instances, there are issues that still crop up.

[Lolly]

There was no public kindergarten program when I was 5 in 1970. My youngest brother attended the first public K year in AL in the late 70's . My age group almost exclusively had stay at home moms. His age group was about 90% working mothers.

[...................]

but all the signs at the schools say,

"Kindergarten Round-UP: Bring your 4 1/2 year olds"

 

I guess parents are too dumb to figure out if their kid can attend based on a cutoff date so they'll just have to weed through all the 4.5 year olds to find out which ones get in by the cutoff date.

 

I get so mad about such little kids going to school. I was one month shy of 6 when i started school, and it was half day. Nowadays they go at 4, for a full day plus aftercare.

 

 

:confused:

[skimerinkydo]

We have the Dec 2 cut-off here. I have put my kids in Kinder on a child by child basis. My oldest was socially immature and has a November birthday so I held her back...she was reading cat in the hat by the time she started kindergarten. She now tells me she was bored in first grade...but she is glad I held her back. For her the social experience at ps in those younger grades is what she needed (Due to dh's wishes I only hs one child). My youngest child has a September birthday but I started her "on time" so she was still 4 years old for a few weeks. However, she is more socially mature, already knew all her letter sounds and was anxious to get to go to school. She is now reading and I wonder if she will get bored in first grade. By the way, kindergarten is still half day here. My youngest found that hard at first. If we only had full day then I would not have sent her. Every child is different and we as mom's must be in tune with their needs.