I think one thing is telling, OP- the preschool teacher says he's ready to go. I have found that in general, they are far more in favor of having kids repeat another year of PK than most other people would be (and to be fair, it is in their best interest.) The fact that she says he's ready to me is a HUGE sign that he should go. You don't want him to be bored next year or in K.

Anonymous wrote:Why not start him and see how it plays out? He can always repeat K if he gets to the end of the year and the teachers feel he is not ready for 1st. But it could go well and then you won't have missed the opportunity to start him on time.

Good luck with the decision making, I know from personal experience how torturous it can be.

Not true, really...once he's gone to K you can't just choose to have him repeat K, public schools won't let you unless there are documented or diagnosed reasons.

Our "normal," no-red flags son turned 6 a month before starting K and we have zero regrets.

What's the downside (short- or long-term) of waiting a year?

Good luck and don't feel you have to explain yourself to strangers who made a different (probably also right) choice for their child.

Too much thinking. It's only kindergarten. Send him. He will pick up whatever the other big boys learn. He's probably maxed out. The preschool teacher is the best person to listen to. If there are concern, she would tell you that your son has some behavior, listening, social or academic issues.

I'd send him. My son is a few weeks post-cutoff (so we didn't have a choice except to start him "on time" and make him one of the oldest), and we've found that when he's not sufficiently challenged, he can have trouble staying on task, relieving boredom by entertaining his classmates, etc. Not thinking of skipping a grade, but do think he might have been better off as one of the younger kids in the grade ahead.

Good luck with your decision!

OP, here. I appreciate all of the feedback. He will be attending public school, so fortunately that gives us a little more time to make a firm decision. We are leaning towards sending him unless we see a lack of progress in his development over the summer or otherwise develop significant concerns. For what it's worth, both my husband and I were among the youngest in our respective classes growing up and we do not feel that it impacted us negatively (at least in any major ways that we can see). We realize that redshirting is more popular today and we just want to be cognizant of the pros and cons. Thanks again for the feedback. It is interesting to hear the different experiences.