<p>Brain was held back in kindergarten…for emotional reasons, though. I doubt his parents had any say in it. But look how he turned out! Intelligent and ambitious, but it makes me wonder how ahead of the game he would be if he was with his correct age group.</p>
<p>Forgive me if this is a stupid question…</p>
<p>Can someone explain why different states have different “cutoff” dates?? Wouldn’t it make sense if every state had the same cutoff dates, so there would be uniformity across the board? Just think of how much easier it would be for parents who pick up and move before the child begins elementary school…or during elementary school…</p>
<p>S2 has a late birthday, so he was always one of the youngest boys in public elementary school. He went to a private HS and, in NY, the private schools have a later deadline by half a year, so he was, by far, the youngest. Even in public school, there were boys in his grade who were 18 months older. There is a Dec. 31 cutoff for public schools around here. Even the teachers feel that kids are sent to school too early.</p>
<p>I think it would have helped S2 to have been held back a year. He is strong academically but was affected by being behind his classmates in things like organizational skills, maturity. I could see him making rapid progress, but he was always behind. And I don’t think that most kids are ready to go to college at 17.</p>
<p>Around here, redshirting is rampant, especially in the wealthier areas.</p>
<p>My town has a Sept 1 cutoff, but other nearby towns have other cutoffs, up to Dec 31. I agree that at a minimum a state-wide cutoff date makes sense.</p>
<p>Parents used to be able to put their fall b-day kids in private or other town K then enter 1st grade “too young.” This was especially common before the town had full-day K and many daycares called themselves full-day kindergartens with extended care. Now resident kids who have gone to school elsewhere have to be in 2nd grade or they’re put back with their age group. The rules are quite detailed, and allow kids who move into town in 1st grade to continue in 1st grade if they met the cutoff in their old town. </p>
<p>On the other hand, many, many kids with summer birthdays go a year later.</p>
<p>Our schools have the kids do a first, first, first self-portrait as their first drawing on the first day of first grade. Artistic ability aside, you can learn a lot about the kids from the drawings. I respect good teachers who in a single classroom work with kids who draw the simplest stick figures with dots for eyes and kids who draw incredible detail like irises, pupils and eyelashes.</p>