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We could have redshirted him this year. We defaulted the decision to his teacher at the time. She told us he was ready. She had recommended a good friend of his from last year to repeat so she definitely is not opposed to the idea. So far I think he's been enjoying kindergarten and has been adjusting well. And he has matured quite a bit since last year so we hope we made the right decision.

I think it's a case by case basis depending on each child, but I would rather have my children be the youngest and challenged than the other way around. If they were within the range of normal (physically, mentally, emotionally) for their age... I wouldn't.

@oliviaoblivia: Check with the schools you would be considering because I know my mom was able to do this with my younger sister and a cousin of mine did it with her daughter as well. Their birthdays were so close to the cut off but they were allowed to start "early".

Only if it was recommended by her Dr or other experts.

I was just talking to a parent today about this. Apparently it's a big thing in the school district that we just moved to. It sounds like here no one wants their child to be the youngest so it's just this peer pressure that keeps older and older kids held back just so they're not the youngest. I understand it, everyone wants their kid to be a leader and not lost to those kids that have had an extra year. But from the kids on the preschool playground I saw there's no reason other than no one wants their kid to be on the younger end - and for our kids that's not a good enough reason. If they were struggling than of course we'd consider it. My husband moved back to the states in elementary school and they put him with his age group rather than in next grade up, which he'd been in before the move. He just turned into a trouble maker because he was so bored. I guess I'm also happy it wasn't popular when I was younger. I didn't speak until I was 2 and I feel like here that would mean most parents would have already decided just to start them late to preschool since they were behind.

@ChiCalGoBee: So boys that can read at 4/young 5 should still wait to start kindergarten? I kinda feel like maybe the classroom should change if it's a matter of boys being too immature for school, boys aren't behind intellectually. I just remember being super bored in kindergarten with the reading materials, I can't imagine if my parents had waited an extra year.

@Maysprout: I didn't say anything about reading/academic ability. I found as a kindergarten teacher and as a research student that the bigger concerns were social/emotional maturity. As an aside, i had a female student with an August 31st birthday who was incredibly socially immature, and also had potty accidents multiple times a week-her parents said they wish they'd held her. Like i said, it totally depends on the kid! I agree that a lot needs to change in the public school system . However, any good teacher should be differentiating for academic needs, and that would help with the boredom.

Depends on the kid. With D (with a bday in August), I won't. He's the youngest in his class, but when they did MAPS testing this month, he was way ahead of where he is supposed to be. He's always been smart. If he was struggling, redshirting would have been considered.

M is a March baby, so it's moot.

@Maysprout: Mrs. Bee asked if any of us would "red shirt," or hold a student back. My reply was that from what I've heard from experts in the field is that a student should be 5 by the time s/he enters kinder. I then mentioned that I personally found for many boys as well as some girls that social/emotional maturity tends to be more of an issue than academic maturity/readiness (which should be differentiated for by a good teacher regardless of age) in a younger student than an older student. You're welcome to wall me if you want to continue the convo , as I feel like you are somehow offended when I was merely joining in the conversation as someone who's had some experience with this.

While kids who red shirt do better in the short run by outperforming their peers, in the long run there is no good evidence to say that it confers advantage. Therefore, I would err on the side of not red shirting unless there was a strong cognitive or social reason to do so.

LO has an end of August birthday and the cutoff is Aug 31. I would not hold her back unless she was below what is considered "normal" developmentally for kids of her age. Where I come from (tiger parents abound), everyone is trying to get their kids up to the next higher grade.