If you DC is a Sept baby...

[BabbyO]

Peanut is a Sept. 8 baby...so he misses the cutoff by 7 days. We've got a while, but we will determine based on his readiness. Thankfully our district does optional testing to determine readiness. We did it with Stachio just after Christmas because he's a July baby.

I went to school with a classmate who is 9 days younger than me (both early-mid Oct Birthdays). She started the year before me, then was held back in 1st grade because socially she wasn't ready.

My biggest concern will be that Peanut may not be socially ready because we use a private sitter. There is 1 other kid and Stachio...but nothing like a school setting. Stachio had about 8 mo in a DC setting when he was 2.5-3 so some school-like setting exposure. Plus when we went to his testing he was SO excited and actually cried because we left after only 45 min (the length of the testing). He thought when we said he was going to school that day he would get to stay for the whole day. We're pretty confident that although he'll be one of the younger kids in his class he'll be ready.

[cvanbrunt]

My DD's birthday is Sept. 2nd and the cutoff was Sept. 1st. I could have pushed to have her start but I didn't. Everyone has an opinion on when is the best time to start. In our case, she was either going to be the youngest or the oldest in her class. I went with oldest and it was the right decision for us. I think social reasons are perfectly valid. My girl was crazy shy at daycare but she's really come out of her shell at school and I think her age has been a big factor in that. She's a very happy first grader now and that is all that matters.

[JBaxter]

At the time when my oldest 2 went to K the cut off was 12/31. I held one Nov boy back bus sent my Oct boy. NOT holding Connor back was one of the biggest regrets of parenting. He did catch up but would have had a much easier time had I held him back < for social reasons academically he was above average. Social immaturity is HUGE and effects many many aspects of their delopment. If the preschool teacher suggests it i would hold them back.

[indigo99]

I have a September birthday and started when I was 4-turning-5. I was totally ready academically and did well throughout school, but I was VERY behind socially. I absolutely think that being a year older would have helped me, but my older sister was in school so sending me too was easier on my parents. Of course I am an introvert and would have still been shy, but not being the smallest and youngest could have helped a lot with my confidence.

[YouAreTheFocus]

My DS is end of Sept. When he was born the cutoff was Dec 2, so we thought we'd be sending him at 4y11m. Now they have changed it, and the year he should have started K the cutoff will be Sept 1.

Honestly I already worry he will be bored, starting at 5y11m. Right now he is 3, and in his first year of full day PS (it is a 3y/4y class). So next year he'll be in the 4y group (and in that group they do K-readiness activities, as some of the kids will be moving right to K). But he'll only be eligible for transitional (pre-) kindergarten the following year. So all in all, he'll have 3 years of prep for K and he'll be one of the oldest. It just seems like way too much to me.

[c914]

I was a September baby. Thirty some years ago the cut off here was November 1.Now it's Sept 1st but those were the days when early childhood education was just starting to become available. I grew up among the youngest in class and it seems that all us youngest hung together.... Many of my friends from childhood have late summer/ early fall birthdays. We were the last to get our drivers licenses, last to reach legal drinking age....
My point is that moving away for college was a huge adjustment.... I did fine academically but I could have used another year to mature. Don't just think of the present day implications.

[Tenasparkl]

My early Sept bday DD will be starting K this year (October cut-off). I can't imagine keeping her out for another year. She'd start now if she could. She's SO excited about it.

My bday is in November and I was 4 when I started K and always did well academically. I know things have changed since then, but I feel fine about our decision.

[janine]

Thanks everyone - from all the responses I can see what it's such a tough decision. I agree with each person, then read the opposite response and agree with them!

My DD is physically smaller and is shy and stays back. But she is very inquisitive academically and wants to learn.

I am trying to think ahead years which is why I want to lean conservative, but it's still a tough call.

[twowhat?]

Ours miss the cut-off by days so they will be among the oldest in their class. They will be moved up into the Private K at their school so essentially they will do a year of private K and then they will repeat K in public school. Academically I wish I could just let them go "early" (but my understanding is that, at least for our ISD, you have to jump through hoops to get a kid started early but holding back is no biggie).

But I think in the end I will be happy sending them on time because they will have large social obstacles to overcome once they do start public K...the biggest one I can think of right now is that they will almost certainly be separated. That will be a HUGE adjustment for them. And the more I think about it, the more I realize they won't be the oldest in their class...all the kids with summer bdays that were redshirted will be older than them. A friend of mine who used to teach in this school district keeps telling me that their september bday will be "perfect" in regards to starting public school (our cutoff is sept 1).

Also, there are plenty of opportunities to "get ahead" academically (skipping grades in later years, taking AP courses, magnet programs that earn you college credits) so those will always be options if my kids need the challenge.

[Dream]

DD's birthday is late Sep, but she'll be 5 and starting Kinder this Sep. There's no cut off, basically if you're born in 2008 you'll be starting Kinder in Sep of 2013. She's shy, but talks wit her friends. She stutters and sometimes have a hard time gathering her thoughts to get the sentence out. This could be because we speak 2 languages at home. Either way she's starting Kinder this September.