I'm not sure all the brew-ha-ha over this is warranted - it seems a bit silly. My child is practically red-shirted as he misses the cut-off by 3 days. So, basically, he usually turns a year older on the first day of school. So, for example, he turned 7 on the first day of 1st grade. But this a district that is kind-of big on it - they STRONGLY encourage anyone with a child born July or August (I've even heard as early as May and June) to wait a year. They really push it on the parents saying you can always skip but you can't go back (in reality I don't see any skipping though - at least not yet). So it's not uncommon. Anyway, they kind-of make the parents feel like their red-shirted kid will have an edge. And maybe in some ways; but, the reality is it just doesn't pan out that way. Maybe with sports? Not sure b/c I do not have an athletic kid but so far the sports are all done by age so it doesn't seem to matter. Also, the testing (at least things like the WJ, and OLSAT, etc are all compared by age not grade. The olsat is even broken down by three month increments. An acquaintance of mine made a bit of deal about my kid being old for the grade - her daughter was born in May, mine in September but her daughter would be in the next grade up .... She seemed a bit resentful but I don't see what I could have done - there still is an age gap of 4 months... My second son is born in the spring and I am not all resentful that any of his peers born in the fall will have some sort of advantage because they will be a year behind. I mean the cut-off has to fall somewhere! Her kid was born in the spring and mine in the fall. I also feel that it really hasn't conveyed any big advantages. My kid is 2e and is still the smallest boy in the grade even though he is a year older (and that REALLY causes some problems - these kids are soooo big!) And most kids turn the same age within the next 3 months or so anyway. It actually seems to cause problems b/c my kid is in-between and when he does well or is deemed "gifted" then it's because he is older (at least in the eyes of people like the friend of mine who came off annoyed about it) - well, older doesn't matter on the WISC IV or on the OLSAT or even on the achievement tests because they are all normed by age. So, I have come to realize it's not really all that to be worked up over. I actually have come to feel that my kid's birthday causes more problems than advantages. If he were born squarely in his grade I think things would be easier in many ways. If your child is truly gifted, I just don't see a red-shirted kid affecting your kid at all. People here do buck the system and still seem to make the decision based on what is really best for their child and that is totally fine with me. For those parents that think they are really getting a BIG advantage somehow I think they may be a bit disappointed. I guess what I am trying to say is that ultimately it doesn't make the big difference people say it does. But that's just my experience. I don't resent people holding their kid back anymore than I resent people grade skipping their kids... mostly, involved and caring parents know their child and his or her struggles - they see how easier or hard things are, etc... We're all just doing our best to make sure our children have positive educational experiences and healthy self-esteems.
