How old will your son be/was your son when he graduates/ed?

[justkeepswimming]

If I did the poll correctly, you should be able to vote more than once if you have/had more than one son graduating.

 

(edited because I have the information I need!)  Thank you! :)

 

[jewellsmommy]

On current track, 17. Ds would graduate in June and then turn 18 in July.

 

He is starting 6th grade (on paper anyway) in September. :001_smile:

 

 

[JenneinCA]

My older son has a birthday in October. If everything stays on the current plan, he will turn 18 during the first semester of his freshman year in college.

 

My younger son has a birthday in May. Again if everything stays on the current plan, he will turn 18 just as he graduates from high school.

[Pawz4me]

Both of mine have November birthdays and started (public) school on schedule for kindergarten.  So they will both turn 19 in November of their freshman year in college.

 

(I can't get it to let me vote more than once.  I think because I need to vote for the same age range twice.)

[creekland]

I had two who turned 18 their second semester of high school - prior to graduation - and one who turned 18 at the end of his first semester of high school.  It was just based upon when their birthdays fell.

 

None of mine would have wanted to have been held back a year, but each student is different.  Graduating at 19 is not unheard of, but it's also not the norm where I work (public high school) - except for those who fail classes along the way or have other special needs.  The majority start at 5 and keep right on going until they are finished.  Some start at 6 if they had late birthdays, so they may or may not (pending when that late birthday is) graduate at 19.

[Butter]

Son #1 has an October birthday.  He'll be 18 at high school graduation and turn 19 the first semester of college.

 

Sons #2 and 3 have June and July birthdays.  They'll be 17 at high school graduation and turn 18 just after graduation.

 

(Daughter has a February birthday and when she entered public school she skipped 8th grade.  She will turn 17 the beginning of the second semester of her senior year in high school.)

[Pawz4me]

I had two who turned 18 their second semester of high school - prior to graduation - and one who turned 18 at the end of his first semester of high school.  It was just based upon when their birthdays fell.

 

None of mine would have wanted to have been held back a year, but each student is different.  Graduating at 19 is not unheard of, but it's also not the norm where I work (public high school) - except for those who fail classes along the way or have other special needs.  The majority start at 5 and keep right on going until they are finished.  Some start at 6 if they had late birthdays, so they may or may not (pending when that late birthday is) graduate at 19.

 

That's the case at my oldest son's public high school.  As far as I know the kids who are older than what is considered normal (18 at time of graduation or shortly thereafter) have all failed a grade or have some sort of special need.  I hate to say it, but there seems to be a bit of a stigma attached to those kids.  It seems to be sort of the opposite of the younger-than-typical student who is almost always stereotyped as above average/gifted.

 

My youngest son is in an early college high school program.  None of those kids are older than the norm.

[MysteryJen]

Ds1 is 17, will turn 18 in the fall of his freshman year.

 

Ds2 will be 18 when he graduates (spring birthday)

 

Ds3 will be 17 when he graduates (summer birthday).

 

19 (when graduating) is definitely on the older side here. Most graduates seem to be 18.

[foxbridgeacademy]

My son and daughter will both graduate at 17 and turn 18 with in 1-2 months.  This is normal here where the cut off date has been moved to first day of school or even after if child attended Pre-Pre-K (that's for 3 y.olds).  I wouldn't hold him back, instead I would focus more on him and work through the summer to get him where he needs to be.

[wapiti]

Recent thread might help:  How old will your son(s) be when he/they graduate?

 

Two of my boys will turn 18 the February prior to graduating.  My other two boys will turn 18 in late May, probably just days after graduating.

 

You don't specify what struggles might be a problem *except* for the impact of your time being divided among siblings.  Maybe I've interpreted this incorrectly and I apologize for being blunt, but barring some sort of catastrophic life events, IMO the limits of your personal attention should have no bearing whatsoever on which year your son graduates, i.e., maybe you need to expand those limits.

[sassenach]

My son already thinks he's too old for his grade (he has a late aug birthday, he'll be 18 for all of his senior year). I think he'd fart a brick if he was 19 and graduating. I guess it depends on personality, but that wouldn't fly around here.

[maize]

I have three sons with summer birthdays. For now, I have them placed in the lower grade (so graduating when they are not quite 19) but my plan is to allow them the flexibility to accelerate if they so choose at the junior high/high school level. I figure a child who is ready and eager to move forward will have no problem with moving through grades more quickly at that point, but one who is just not ready might still be reluctant to slow down or repeat a grade later on. They can choose to graduate whenever they have completed their high school work, whether that is the summer they turn 18, the summer they turn 19, the winter between those two (December graduation anyone?) or some other time. 

[justkeepswimming]

Thanks - this was very insightful! This was not something I'd seriously considered until talking to several moms who knew of/had several 19-year-old graduates who had had a gap year earlier (not held back due to learning differences or anything like that).  19 seemed old to me, as I'd stated in the OP, but a lot has changed since I was in school, so thought maybe it had become more commonplace than what I was thinking.  That doesn't seem to be the case, so we'll keep on keepin'-on.

 

@wapiti -  My limits are just fine - just exploring options, which is never a bad thing. Sure - we CAN have a freshman in school and a senior at home... but it'd be a heck of a lot easier to have an 8th grader and a senior at home, so I thought I'd ask some questions. :ph34r:

[Crimson Wife]

I don't see how someone turns 19 during senior year unless they repeated a grade. My DS is old-for-grade as he has a November birthday and did a year of "transition" between K & 1. He is on track to be 18 at graduation and turn 19 during his freshman year of college.

[bobbeym]

My oldest turned 18 in December of his senior year.  DS16 will be 18 in April of his senior year, if he stays on track to graduate in 2016.

[creekland]

Thanks - this was very insightful! This was not something I'd seriously considered until talking to several moms who knew of/had several 19-year-old graduates who had had a gap year earlier (not held back due to learning differences or anything like that). 

 

A gap year is totally different.  There are kids who choose to do things like be exchange students.  They graduate at 19 and no one blinks an eye.  That's different than being held back which is more likely to come with a stigma (but I doubt colleges would care - the kids just seem to care when they talk with each other).

[SukiAlice]

I don't know if you have a certain reason for having him switch in 9th, but maybe you could consider him doing that in 8th? Then when you deal with the majority of the entering stuff it'll be before you deal with your senior, and he'll have a year to get used to non homeschool that won't show up on transcripts.

[freesia]

My older son has a birthday in October. If everything stays on the current plan, he will turn 18 during the first semester of his freshman year in college.

 

My younger son has a birthday in May. Again if everything stays on the current plan, he will turn 18 just as he graduates from high school.

Same here, except November and May.

[justkeepswimming]

I don't know if you have a certain reason for having him switch in 9th, but maybe you could consider him doing that in 8th? Then when you deal with the majority of the entering stuff it'll be before you deal with your senior, and he'll have a year to get used to non homeschool that won't show up on transcripts.

 

Yes, this has been one of the options we have had on the table & is the current front-runner. I'd love to keep him (and his brother) home one more year, though, which is why, when I thought maybe 19-year-old seniors were becoming somewhat "commonplace," we should at least put that into the ring for consideration! :)

 

I'm sure that, by the time the boys are graduating at 18+ years old, I will laugh and laugh that I even briefly considered keeping them in high school until they were 19! lol  That teenage independent streak hasn't hit either of them yet, and it's easy to imagine them just-as-they-are in the future - all cuddly and sweet and dirt-and-Lego-obsessed. Logically, I know that the reality will be very different. :p

[regentrude]

 Sure - we CAN have a freshman in school and a senior at home... but it'd be a heck of a lot easier to have an 8th grader and a senior at home,

 

Why? I don't see such a dramatic difference between 8th and 9th grade that I would consider it a reason to hold back a student who is not struggling academically.

Just got done with DS=freshman/DD=senior. It's the senior's year  that's crazy; whether the younger sibling is in 8th or 9th grade does not really make a difference.

[justkeepswimming]

Why? I don't see such a dramatic difference between 8th and 9th grade that I would consider it a reason to hold back a student who is not struggling academically.

Just got done with DS=freshman/DD=senior. It's the senior's year  that's crazy; whether the younger sibling is in 8th or 9th grade does not really make a difference.

 

:D  I only asked the question based upon some new information I've recently been told by several people that peaked my interest... got the input here that I needed... and within hours scratched that off the list as an option... simple as that! :) DS will be entering the public or private school system in 8th or 9th grade - the school is across town and dds senior year is going to be a scheduling nightmare due to many factors I'm not going to get into... so the thought of navigating a school system for the first time ever, fitting in all of ds's extracurriculars (that we can now schedule around his schoolwork), plus helping dd maneuver all she will be juggling her senior year is daunting, to say the least.

 

So... I briefly thought, maybe, there was a way to push the pause button on the boys - NOT holding them back academically (still doing the-next-thing courses-wise), but yes, holding them back grade-wise... the older son has a list 8 miles long of things he wants to accomplish and that year would have given him more breathing room in which to accomplish at least some of those things.

 

But, I get it - it's a bad idea!!  okay, okay! :smash:  :tongue_smilie: Uncle!  Both boys will graduate at 18! Promise!  :D 

:biggrinjester:

[Lori D.]

Graduating DSs a little older worked VERY well for their specific needs:

 

DS#1

(late bloomer in maturing emotionally and physically)

18yo for all of senior year, turned 19 three weeks before graduation

 

DS#2

(mild learning issues)

18yo for all of second semester senior year

 

While our state does have minimum age cut-offs, our state is NOT aggressive about the school starting age, and the school districts tend to promote starting boys a little bit later to give them a little more time to mature before hitting the classroom.

 

 

ETA: Once again, in viewing all the different responses, I am struck by how there is NO "one size fits all" when it comes to age for starting school or graduating from school. WAAYYY too many variables in the students' physical / emotional / academic development, circumstances, schooling options, and possible gifted/delayed needs. SO grateful we can all make these decisions for our DC based on their uniqueness! :)

[jetzmama]

ds should be 18 when he graduates, but we are leaning strongly toward putting him in ps in the fall for myriad reasons.  To do so would mean repeating 9th grade b/c our state does not recognize homeschool high school credits (never mind the test scores showing he is college level in nearly every subject). :confused1:   :cursing:  :confused1: Since ps means repeating 9th grade, his graduation will be delayed until he is 19 if we go this route.

[bluedarling]

ds 1 will graduate at 20 (May birthday...will have just turned 20)

   repeated 8th, and now repeating 10th so he'll be ready for dual enrollment as junior....his math in particular is holding him back, as he's in Algebra at 17yo, but part of it was also my inexperience in teaching high school. He had to repeat French because I couldn't teach it, e.g.

 

ds 2 will graduate at 17 if all goes well (though executive function skills may mean holding him back a year too!)

[Ivey]

My oldest finished high school at 17 and turned 18 in November of his freshman year of college. He started elementary school in Canada, where the kindergarten cut-off is December 31st. 

 

Ds15, Ds11 and Ds9 all have winter birthdays and will graduate at 18. 

 

Ds16 (17 in July) has Aspergers syndrome and severe dyslexia. He did not learn to read until he was 10 and is still "behind" in most areas, so he won't graduate until a month or so before he turns 19. Dh and I are both a little uncomfortable with having him graduate this late, but I can't imagine how he would be ready, academically or socially, to start college any earlier. 

 

Fwiw, I can't imagine my 19-year-old still being in high school. He's 6'3" with a full beard, and could probably pass as a teacher easier than he could a high school student. :)

[angela in ohio]

I chose the first option. Ds will graduate at 18 and turn 19 at the end of June, unless he goes to college before that.

[NoseInABook]

Both sons will be 17 when they graduate. My husband was as well. September birthdays and Kindergarten starts at 5 normally. 

 

My daughters will be 16 because they started kindergarten at 4. I wasn't going to do that with my youngest daughter but she was looking over her brother's Kindergarten work and answering before he could. ;) 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

If I did the poll correctly, you should be able to vote more than once if you have/had more than one son graduating.

 

(edited because I have the information I need!)  Thank you! :)

 

One will be 18.

Two will be 17.

 

I have two September kids. In some of the places we've lived, they would not have started school until a year later.

[retiredHSmom]

My son will be 18.5.  He has a November birthday and started school at exactly the time allowed by our age cutoff.