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We have a Sept 1 cut off in Texas, but quite a few kids are held back who are born April to August. So, when you send you August baby to kinder having just turned 5, he is in with kids a year or more older.
My kiddo is in private school and like many independent private schools there is an extra grade between K and 1st called primer. These schools want the kids to have every advantage and being older for the grade is an easy thing to do. You can't even get accepted into some of the most elite private schools if you are young for your grade - like within 6 months of the cutoff date.
I think the older the more mature they are. Back in the 70's I had a neighbor who was livid the kindergarten didn't want to take her four year old boy. She didn't want to pay a babysitter while she worked, so he went, and ended up repeating kindergarten, she really didn't care that he was not ready. I went late, my husband went early, I'm 9 months older than him and we graduated high school together but he had a rough time. Our 3 kids, Jan., Jan, & Feb. went later.
CT has a late cutoff-Dec 31-and three of my five children were 4 when they started K.
My oldest son is a Dec baby. He is now a 15 yo junior, class president and in National Honor Society. He's also the youngest in his class. His main 'social issue' is that he wants to be old enough to drive : ) My second son, born in Sept, is identified as gifted and talented, and my dd born in Oct is in the top reading groups in her grade.
I would not hesitate to keep a child back if they truly needed it, but I think keeping a child back based on a couple months age is silly. As for being the youngest in the class-well, someone has to be youngest. It's no big deal, really. When my ds started highschool, some kids in his class were tall young men and women, and some kids still looked like kids. It didn't matter so much what month they were born.
Texas here. Younger son turned 5 Aug 25th, with Sept 1 cutoff. As another Texan replied, here kids tend to be held if they have a summer b/d. As I was aware of this issue as soon as son was born, I asked everyone I knew who had a child in this situation. 50% held, 50% sent.
Of the families who sent their children when younger, about half had major regrets during their children's academic career - might have been K, maybe 3rd grade, or even MS or HS, but their child had major struggles and some had to be held back. (the other 50% said their children did fine, although few had the experience of the above poster whose younger children obviously excelled).
Of the half that held a child, none - NONE - had any regrets. That made our decision easier, and our child will start K next year as he turns 6.....in our personal story, my son was not ready to move from the '2's to the '3's at his Mother's Day Out when chronologically ready - we had yet to even begin potty training - so the decision was made to keep him back at that point. Observing the children in the various aged classes afterward, he was most definitely where he needed to be - he is quite content in his PK class this year.
CT has a late cutoff-Dec 31-and three of my five children were 4 when they started K.
My oldest son is a Dec baby. He is now a 15 yo junior, class president and in National Honor Society. He's also the youngest in his class. His main 'social issue' is that he wants to be old enough to drive : ) My second son, born in Sept, is identified as gifted and talented, and my dd born in Oct is in the top reading groups in her grade.
I would not hesitate to keep a child back if they truly needed it, but I think keeping a child back based on a couple months age is silly. As for being the youngest in the class-well, someone has to be youngest. It's no big deal, really. When my ds started highschool, some kids in his class were tall young men and women, and some kids still looked like kids. It didn't matter so much what month they were born.
Yes.
I think it all evens out in the end.
Both my boys are July birthdays. The cut-off was then Sept 15, I think it might be earlier now, not sure.
Anyway, they both went off to kindergarten having just turned 5 a couple months before, and one now has his master's degree, the other is a sophomore in college and on the dean's list.
Back in those elementary-to-middle school days, one thing I noticed about *some* (not all!) kids who were held back, they could sometimes be real prima donnas. Whether it was friction among friends or a losing score in sports, these kids would be dumbfounded at the fact that for once in their life, things were not coming easily to them.
Sometimes it is okay to have to overcome challenges, because that's life in the real world.
You should search this forum, as we have discussed this topic before.
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