My quasi-niece and her husband adopted a baby in July. He’s a beautiful boy. Huzzah, huzzah!
And I guess they were so overjoyed about their new baby that they celebrated. And the result of their celebration is scheduled to make his debut in April. More joy!
It just occurred to me that I hoped they don’t end up in the same grade. I think it would be weird for non-twin siblings to be in the same grade. Maybe it’s just me.
So, I’m wondering, what month in your school district is the birthday/grade cut off? I went to a grade school where the cut off was November 30. That is, if your 10th birthday was before December, you were in 5th grade and if it was after November you were in the 4th grade.
Where I live it is Nov. 1, but they’re flexible. Lots of kids kept out to get a little more mature.
When I was a kid, in one school district it was Aug. 15, and in another it was Sept. 30. But obviously if your birthday was between those dates and you started in the on where the cutoff was later, you continued right along with your grade.
If things go normally your nephews or whatever they are will be in different grades.
But it’s not all that weird. A friend of mine was in the same grade as her non-twin older brother (parents decided he was not quite kindergarten-ready and held him back). For convenience they often did tell people they were twins, but he was born mid-August one year and she was born late July the next.
Also know of a kid born early in Nov. and then his little sister born the next fall, and they were in the same class until little sis got to skip a grade. (The actual truth is: he failed 5th grade. The family story is different and requires that he have a different age than his actual one, but they held to it for years.)
In our district it is September 1. The kids probably won’t be in the same grade, but a July boy is often held back for a year.
My daughter was in school with two boys who were also non-twins. The older was adopted and the younger wasn’t, and the parents just requested that they be put in different classrooms.
Spain, cutoff date is December 31st. I had a pair of sisters in my grade who were Irish twins; they looked very similar, so people were always surprised to find out that they were not twins. While our groups were made alphabetically, they were in the same class; once we got to choose “tracks”, well, they chose the same one, so they still were in the same class.
When I was growing up, our cutoff date was sometime in November, but there was some flexibility in it. If your child was born around that time you could choose to hold them back until the next year before they started kindergarten.
I don’t think I ever knew the exact cutoff date back in West Texas, but it was sometime in late summer. Was never an issue for me since I was born during the month of June.
I had two year-apart sisters in my year level, last two years of high school.
It was slightly more embarassing for the older of the two of them than in your possible case, because she’d started ahead, then been held back a year in Year 11. She rolled with it pretty well though.
In Puerto Rico it varies by school. I think in the public school system, the cutoff is December 31st. Private schools vary, some have a cutoff like that, some have it earlier. For example, I have a cousin born that date, and she started kindergarten on August when she was around 4 years, 8 months old. She didn’t turn five until the first semester was over, and she returned the second semester as a 5 year old. Yes, she graduated high school at 17, and turned 18 on December 31st of her graduation year.
OTOH, another HS classmate of mine was born that date and likely went to another private school that had a cutoff date, so that when she started junior high with me, she was 12 about to turn 13 that year.
My elementary school cut-off was Dec 31. I was born in January, so I was always the oldest kid in class. It wasn’t that huge a deal, but for some reason, I always felt cheated.
My daughter’s school cut-off was Sep 1. She was born Sep 5, so she, also, was the oldest kid in class for years. Her own fault - she was due on Aug 28, but she couldn’t get herself born on time…
Way back when … In my district in SoCal the cutoff was IIRC Nov 1. I was close to the minimum age & small but smart for my age (still am :D). That made for some easy years in regular classes and tough years in PE.
Siblings who are 9-12 months apart. I’ve always assumed it was a play on the fact of Ireland being Catholic and birth control being outlawed for so long, but there may be more to it.
Back just after the dinosaurs went extinct, the cutoff for the public schools where I went to Kindergarten was September something. I’m a December baby. But I was reading and counting and knew my colours and was socially ready for school (and my mother was probably ready for a break during the day for some peace and quiet).
Public school wouldn’t let me in, so I went to private Kindergarten and first grade. Did fine. YMMV based on the child, of course.
I think in my (private if it makes a difference) grade school the cut off date was September 1st, but they certainly made exceptions. The youngest person in our grade’s birthday was 9/24.
I am an Irish twin, though my younger sister is just under 9 months younger than I am. I was born and adopted in May; she was born in February. My parents’ situation is very similar to the OP’s. We were in separate grades.
I have two cousins (siblings) who are also Irish twins. She was born and adopted in December; he was born the following November. They, too, were in separate grades.
In answer to the OP, the cut-off for school placement varies by school district, but it is usually around Sept. 1. So, the older child (born in July) will start school first, and the second child (arriving in April) will start school the following year. Unless your niece and her husband choose to do things differently, such as delay the start of the older child, the children would be in different grades.
Congratulations and best wishes to your niece and her husband.
This happened to me as well. I believe the cutoff now is August 31.
My friend had sisters born in the same year (January and December) and the cutoff was still December 31 so they went through all of school together. They didn’t have any problems with it and are the best of friends even now that they’re both college graduates.
My uncle stayed back in kindergarden so he and my mother went through all of school together as well. Unfortunately their relationship wasn’t good but it had nothing to do with school and everything to do with a very dysfunctional home life.
