Anonymous wrote:Follow the rules for the area where you live. Everything will work out. Honestly, there are so many variables at work, and this one is the least consequential. Kids are going to be more, or less, developed, ready, mature, etc., for various life stages. You can't control that - you can only control how you handle each particular hurdle.

This. My DH is a November birthday in a late cutoff area and went to school on time. I'm a July birthday that could have skipped a grade but my parents decided to keep me on time. I often think if our parents hadn't made the decisions they did we never would have met. We met thru friends of friends in such a way we had to be the same year in school for it to happen. But of course when making the decision our parents didn't think, hey his/her future spouse is going to be class of whatever, so we need to make sure we delay/send on time/not skip! You can't predict the future. You make the best decision with the information you have at the moment and deal with hurdles as they come up.

Follow the rules for the area where you live. Everything will work out. Honestly, there are so many variables at work, and this one is the least consequential. Kids are going to be more, or less, developed, ready, mature, etc., for various life stages. You can't control that - you can only control how you handle each particular hurdle.

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a14092225/kindergarten_cut-off_dates_by_state

This is from 2009. It is likely that more of the states have gone to earlier cutoffs since then. And, in some states, the cutoff is earlier than that posted because some systems have an earlier cutoff.

Anonymous wrote:If you are asking this question, you should absolutely hold her back. If you should ever move, she would likely be far and away the youngest. If she goes to college in another state, she would be months and months younger than the others.

That's overly broad. Other states still have late cutoffs (e.g., New York, home to Cornell, Columbia, NYU, etc.)

If you are asking this question, you should absolutely hold her back. If you should ever move, she would likely be far and away the youngest. If she goes to college in another state, she would be months and months younger than the others.

Anonymous wrote:I am 12/28 and wish my parents had held me back. I was so late getting my license and so young starting college. In addition I was always the small one. My parents have always regretted it even though I was academically advanced.

I am also 12/28. I am so glad my parents did not hold me back. Yes, I was the last to drive. I was also small and academically advanced. However, in some ways I actually enjoyed being the youngest. There were some difficult times, but my family and I don't regret starting me on time. For me starting on time was the correct decision.

Yes, I would hold her back. Too close to the cutoff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 12/28 and wish my parents had held me back. I was so late getting my license and so young starting college. In addition I was always the small one. My parents have always regretted it even though I was academically advanced.

You may have experienced different challenges if they had held you back, especially if you were academically advanced. You may have been unchallenged and bored, and never had the chance to develop good study skills, for example. You may have developed ahead of your peers during puberty, if you were older, and felt out of place. Etc.

Think of it this way - by not being held back you essentially got an "extra" year in your twenties and an extra year between college and when your biological clock starting ticking. That is one reason why I would have a higher bar for red shirting a girl than a boy. (but I would have a high bar for red shirting in general)