And the moon sinks low in Scorpio

[venta]

This is something I've been meaning to experiment with for ages, but never got round to. I've just been reminded of it, because someone posted on a thread elsewhere with the assumption that "birthdays are randomly distributed" - which I've always assumed they're not. For a start, there's always a bit of a clump of birthdays round February/March, which I've always blamed on people having early summer holidays in June.

Now, I'm assuming that unlike, say, musical taste, incidence of birthdays among my friends list will at least be representative of the population as a whole. If not, then we're into the suggestion that being born in a particular month predisposes you to particular behaviours and that smacks of astrology, so I don't like it.

(Yes, I know there are other non-astrological factors which might be relevant, but let's give it a whirl, shall we?)



You're getting no tickyboxes for this, dammit, it's radio or nothing. I refuse to allow people to be born in more than one month.

[Poll #424559]

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

I believe the theory is that how old you are when you first go to school affects your ability to learn/keep up with the class. Some people are over five when they first go to school, I was barely four and a half - and a six month lag at that age is quite significant.

If you went to school in Durham LEA, you went into exactly the class for your age range - if you were way ahead or way behind at any stage, it was just tough.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Mmm. With November 12th I was generally the youngest in my class. Also, of course, way ahead of the rest in pretty much everything. I hate to think how bored I'd've got if I'd been one of the oldest.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Eh ? Does Scotland have a different cut-off date from civilisation, then ? The cut-off date is Aug 31/Sep 1 in England - so November would have made you one of the eldest.

What is the difference between eldest and oldest, anyway ?

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Scotland does, indeed, have a different cut-off date, though don't ask me what it is.

And I think the difference between eldest and oldest is the extra little curve on the bottom of the first letter.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretentious to use "eldest" to mean "oldest".

So "oldest" means the one who's the most old, and eldest means the one to the left of the dealer. Although arguably that usage might be pretentious too.

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Scotland have a different cut-off date

I believe it's sometime in early March, as both my daughters, born on March and May, are amongst the oldest in their respective classes. Although, poking round the web, it seems that it's variable, depending on the education authorities' whim, but it's always sometime in February-March.

[liriselei.livejournal.com]

The cut-off date is Aug 31/Sep 1 in England

theoretically that's the case - but i, for example, was the youngest in my year despite a December birthday, as i got bumped up a year when i started school.

[venta.livejournal.com]

See comment elsewhere, though - if you'd gone to a state school in Durham LEA, you wouldn't have been bumped up a year. Indeed, if you'd moved to Durham halfway through your school career, you'd have been put back down into the "correct" year.

It's only relatively recently that I've become aware that other areas/LEAs had a much more flexible attitude to these things. I tend to think of the cut-off date as being pretty absolute.

[broadmeadow.livejournal.com]

When I moved back to England I was in the year ahead of where I "should" have been and had started 4th form - and therefore also the O level courses. I missed four months of school completely (long story - to do with getting into the right catchment area) so I voluntarily went back into the 3rd form so I could start the (different) O level courses properly. And then I didn't get the A level results I needed so I retook them the year after, ending up doing Upper VI twice. So I have the dubious distinction of having done 9 years of secondary school.

For the youngsters:

3rd and 4th forms = years 9 and 10
O levels = GCSEs
A levels = A levels, only harder ;-)

[lizardwatcher.livejournal.com]

Not only learning abilities, but social status - little kids are bastards, and will often set great store by whether they're older or younger than someone else in their class.

[lnr]

I don't *think* I ever did that. Born in November I was usually one of the older kids in any class, though not necessarily the oldest.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever suffered from that - possibly because I had an elder brother[*] in the year above, who would have squashed anyone who tried. Since I went to a tiny school with mixed-age classes, he was in the same class as me for the first two years, too.

[*]Actually, I didn't. I'm an only child. But most people thought he was my brother. And he would have squashed them anyway.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

I had an elder brother

Where, clearly, what you really wanted was an Eldar brother ;-)

Ooh, She's Got Started...

[marjory.livejournal.com]

Yup! being a November child and starting in September, I remember, as a 5 year-old, feeling somewhat scathing for a bit about the babies who came in after Christmas and at Easter. Or maybe that was just the policy at Mowden?

In my Mum's day, back in Fife, the school year started in January, which would have made me a baby.

My poor boyfriend went through Hampshire where they made him, as a September birthday, go up a year every Summer term and then back down to his usual year in the Autumn, all through Primary School. He could keep up alright, but it seemed pointless even then.

I guess that the development thing is important when you are 4 or 5, certainly for some children who might be more babyish or not furnished with the desire to read or tell the time etc., which is a lot of what the first school year is about. Mostly I would say that it is about getting confidence and socialisation. Later on, well, two of the cleverest people in my year had late August birthdays and one of the least able was an early September. Anomalies?