Please understand that my original post was not intended in any way to be judgemental. I am curious about how this has become so widespread... not in situations where there is a real physical, social or intellectual concern, but as common practice and wisdom. The forum I mentioned is likely representing primarily "NT" children and forty or fifty posters (in other words, all but the original poster, who was concerned about having to put a child through K twice for arbitrary age reasons) claimed that holding children back was the best thing a parent could ever do. I am in my 40s and do not recall this variation from my school days. It was really rare to have anyone older than 18 graduate and then there had usually been a retention involved. My state also had a late cutoff, Dec 1, so I started at four with a Nov. birthday, but my classmates were all within a year of my age.
I am also a bit sensitive because in our area, it is very rare for a boy with a summer birthday (turning five in the summer) to enter K, no matter how academically ready and socially normal. This creates really large age gaps, which make any social gaffes very pronounced for younger children. It also affects park district sports, which are organized by grade, not age.
Last edited by ConnectingDots; 08/01/14 05:47 PM.
