my older son is a September bday. I debated sending him the year he was turning 5 or waiting.... I waited he is now in 3rd grade does great work, gets amazing grades & fits in socially where he is. he is smaller than most, he is also in 25th% on growth chart so he fits in with the class he is in now.

I think he would have done OK if I sent him the year earlier but I don't know if he would be doing as great as he is.

I do not regret it at all.

When I was searching out advice, his pre k teacher told me " I have never met a parent who regretted keeping the child back that year, only parents who regretted sending the child to soon. " That helped me make my decision

My husband and his brother has the same bday (3 years apart) in the summer right before school started. His parents started my husband earlier, but waited for his brother bc of speech issues. Both are fine other than husband wished his parents also waited to start him bc he wanted to be the bigger, faster, older kid in school :) what ever decision u make, I'm sure your son will turn out great!

I would hate to hold him back after he has started school. He would lose the friends he made that year and it would be on his record that he repeated a year.

You have all helped me so much! Thank you for all your advice and input. It helped me think about it from different angles to decide what is best for Caden.

We are going to wait another year. He can do another year of pre-k at the daycare he goes to 3 days a week. That way he will be more academically prepared. He will be a little taller. But, I think he got my families short genes anyway. And, being a boy, hopefully he'll be able to sit still long enough for the lessons. I do want him to be a leader in school and would rather him turn 18 while he's still at home. That way he can "practice" having freedom before he actually gets it! And selfishly, I want him at home with me a little longer. He's growing up so fast and I'm not ready to let him go yet. I wonder if I'll go through all this again when Dax reaches school age? He has a summer birthday, too! If we have another baby I'm really going to try to time it better school wise!

I started school when I had just turned five, I featured when I was 17 and I never had any problems. I personally would enroll him and if it seems like there are problems have him retake it next year.

I want to add to since I have asked a gazillion questions on this that the advice I remember most from pre-k and K teacher's (in our school anyway) a huge factor in being ready for K is their ability to follow 3 step simple instructions. They told me that if your child hasn't mastered this ability they will likely fall behind and it can lead to other issues like self esteem, etc. They will need this tool in every grade and every class. they said the actual arithmetic can vary which I thought was interesting.

My first boy went to K on schedule (March baby) and my 2nd boy was held back (oct baby).. Cutoff is October. They go to a private school which has a lot of large families. Many of the families younger kids are now held back. They say it was the best thing they ever did. Their are kids 1.5 years older than classmates. They are far and away more advanced, bigger, stronger.. It is usually the boys that are held back. With my 2 my first was really ready and my second who would have been the youngest just wasn't at all. It was a no brainier for us bc we had them to compare to one another. You know your child best and what they are ready for.

I also didn't want a 17 year old boy going off to college!! Yikes!!!

He's small. 25th percentile for height and weight.

my son had a July birthday and we didn't even think twice about putting him in this past year... its only half days and he loves it... had made so many friends and other than him acting like a 5 yr old he does get in class... besides most kids after 5 when you put them in

My oldest daughter turned 5 August 5th quite a few years ago. She is sixteen now, she will actually graduate when she is 17. She is the youngest in her class, and I will admit she had to work harder to keep up in school. But she has made honor roll quite a few times. In fourth grade when she was really struggling her teacher told us that we enrolled her to soon and asked if we wanted to hold her back but we said no. It is getting easier for her now, but she did struggle in the beginning. We have the same problem now with our youngest who turns 5 August 17. We were debating holding him back because of the struggles our daughter had, but we decided to go ahead and enroll him to start in September. It is definitely a lot of work but the satisfaction and pride my daughter felt making the honor roll was worth the effort she put into it

Thanks everyone. Lots to think about!

I am holding my son back. He will be 4 turning 5 in November, he is at the 10th percentile for weight and height. I think a little more maturity, weight and height will be more beneficial for him.

i thought my daughter would be the oldest in her class being that close to cut off but there are several parent thats had children who birthday is in the spring and they did another year of preschool! i was one of the oldest in my class but yet one of the smallest ! i was bullied because i was small(i weighed 82 lbs my senior year and im 5'1) but never because of my age! i would rather my child be ahead the behind in class! think about where his is education wise and if he is mature enough. we have a prescreening for kindergarden to make sure she is ready in july. you dont want to put him in and him get behind in class. talk to your school and they will help you as well as if he is in a program now, asking them what they think . good luck

my daugter missed the cut off by 8 days, they told me i could test her or do another year in preschool! we decided another year in preschool was our best choice, and after kindergarden round up last night i know i made the right choice. last year she couldnt tie her own shoes or right very well now with indiana education requirements im glad i did, because they have had three more subjects for her to learn in kindergaren science social studies and health it use to just be reading and writing

And people won't see him on the same level in sports & academic. They'll always think "He's older than everyone else, of course he's faster or smarter". I think it's best to just put him in now.

he won't get his license until he is a junior...might bug him later on...

He's in a pre-k program, so I can keep him there one more year. He likes it and has friends there. I just don't want him to be left behind.

I would put him in this year. I'm sorta struggling with the same thought right now. For me it's several years off but my kids will have just turned 5 and will be about to turn 6 when school registration comes along, So they'll both be 5 september 1st of 2017 but they're 10 1/2 months apart. You dont want him being picked on becuase he's young but you also don't want him to feel annoyed with everyone becuase he's older. He'll have freinds either way you just gotta weigh the pros and cons. I had a freind that was the youngest of our class and everyone was freinds with her and she became very popular, then I had my husband who was one of the oldest guys in our class and everyone was intimidated by him, and the only reason that most girls wanted to be with him was becuase "he was older and more sexually experienced" or so they thought lmao he was a virgin until we dated :)

I had to make that same descision this past year when my dd turned 5 right before the school year started. I decided to go ahead and put her in so that she could socialize in that atmosphere and get a head start for next year. I figured since k isnt required if she didnt like it I could pull her out and she could go back when shes 6, but shes done well so Im glad that I did let her go.