Here in NYC most kids enter private K at almost 6. They would consider a child who turns 5 during the summer, or even the spring in many cases, "too young" to start Kindergarten.
So my gifted son, who really needed the small classes only available in private schools here, would have had to wait a year-- which is a terrible idea for a truly gifted kid.
There is no way to redshirt in NYC public schools, because the birthday cutoffs are strictly enforced and actually really late (Dec. 31) (They are this late so that parents who struggle to pay for day care will have free day care as early as possible)-- BUT gifted programs are actively sought here by almost everyone as an alternative to "bad" local schools, and people routinely and aggressively "prep" their children for the tests. So many kids who are bright but not really gifted in the sense we discuss here are in the gifted programs.
