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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was probably one of the originally red-shirted kids almost 30 years ago. Our cutoff was Dec. 1 at the time and I have an early August birthday, so started K when I was 6 and a month old.

I was already a good student, so the extra year just put me that much further ahead of some of my classmates who were still 4 for the first 3 months of the year. I was bored. Every fall my mother would get a call about me reading under my desk with exasperated teachers complaining that they thought I wasn't paying attention. However, when they tried to catch me, I could always answer their questions.

By the time we hit middle school, I thought my classmates were immature and by the time sophomore year of high school rolled around I was over school. My friends were always a grade or 2 above me, it sucked when they all left for collge and I was stuck behind. I didn't date, thought high school boys were a waste of time, and couldn't grasp the obsession with boy bands my peers were gaga over.

Admittedly, I graduated top of my class, went to an Ivy, and from there to a top law school. However, I think it's quite possible that would have happened even if I started on time.[/quote]

Why did your parents hold you back? Just curious.  Mine held me back in the early 70s because I was two weeks from the cutoff and they thought I needed another year to mature.  Like you - I think I probably would've been successful at school even if I hadn't been held back.  [/quote]

My mom taught middle school algebra and by the time I came along she'd been teaching for 15 years. In her personal sample, she generally saw that the children who started when they were six or about to turn six simply did better, particularly in math and science, having had an extra year. She always said it was more pronounced in boys than girls, but she chose to hold both my brother and I out for the extra year. In my brother's case, it was absolutely the right decision maturity wise. He was still immature even having an extra year. She put us in a full time private pre-k program for the year we were 5.

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