Around our area, many children are held back for possible sports advantage as well, which raises the average kindergarten age. There have been two main issues:
1. Many girls are been held back because their parents do not want their daughters to attend schools with boys who are 2 years older. (As one mom put it, "It can't be a good situation when the hormone go crazy during teenage years.") Some also indicated that "it is hard for the child to be the last one to drive, etc."
2. When there is a gifted child, teachers are reluctant to recommend early entrance or whole grade acceleration because the child could be as many as 3-4 years younger than his/her classmates. With the current education system, where children are placed in a particular grade by age (instead of academic ability), this big gap in age is a big no-no for many teachers.
It is also interesting to note that in this sport dominating district, many teachers ask "why the rush" for academics. "Why are you pushing your child in math? They should be kids!" (I try to explain to them that we usually spent maybe 20 minutes per day "learning." Although, what I really want to say is that DD and DS's brain are regressing!) Yet, I have not heard any criticism for parents who are making their children practice sports 2-3 hours per day. Is this consider a double standard?
