How old would you be if you were in fourth grade?

Answer 1

This can be a little tricky, and it varies depending on the child's birthday, the cutoff date for beginning school in whatever state they live in, when the school year starts, and whether or not the child was ever held back.

Generally, children start kindergarten at age 5, so they should be 9 when they begin 4th grade. In most states, they require kids to be 5 by September 1st to start kindergarten (meaning that in 4th grade, a child would have to be 9 by then). School usually starts in late August, in which case the very youngest students won't quite be 9 yet, but again, they would be by Sept. 1st. In some places school doesn't start until early September, so in that case, the youngest will have just turned 9 and the oldest will already be turning 10 right as school begins.

But, the cutoff dates can vary a bit. Even though it's Sept. 1st in most states, it can be as early as August and as late as December. If the cutoff is in August, this ensures that NO 4 year olds can enter kindergarten and that also means no 8 year olds in 4th grade. So all students will be at least 9 and the oldest will have already been 10 for a couple weeks or even a month when school starts. But if the cutoff is not until December, then children can potentially be 8 for nearly half of their 4th grade year.

But, all kids whose birthdays fall after the cutoff date but before the end of the year (usually late May or early June) will turn 10 sometime during their 4th grade year. And if they have a birthday in the summer after school has ended, then they will just be 9 for all of 4th grade and then turn 10 the following summer.

Finally, a kid could be as old as 11 in 4th grade. This could happen if they started kindergarten a year late due to not being developmentally ready, or if they just had to repeat a year of school at some point. They would start the year at 10 and turn 11, rather than starting at 9 and turning 10. Or if their birthday isn't until the summer, then they'll already be 10 when they start 4th grade but won't actually turn 11 until after they've finished the year.