I live in a Sept 1 state, and it doesn’t change the red shirt question, especially for boys – or rather, parents of boys who want them to have an athletic advantage in high school. My son will turn 5 on August 1 next year, and I get asked all the time about holding him back (and he is not in any way challenged).

Meh. My older daughter’s birthday is one day after our state’s cut-off; my younger daughter’s birthday is 9 days before. M will likely be the oldest in her class—and I’m beyond pleased, because the extra year has given her a really good chance at being mainstreamed and actually being able to keep with her one-year-younger classmates. C will likely be the youngest in her class, like I was, but I’m not worried. I never totally understood why people get so worked up about where a typical child fits in on the school calendar—do people really think sports make that big a difference, or that trig will be that much harder at 16.9 vs. 17.9?

Hmmm…I remember that our district’s cutoff was December 1st when I was in school because one of my siblings was born on the 2nd so she got to be the oldest in her class. Something else that definitely put the screws to the whole “athletic advantage” issue had to do with the maximum age you could be and still compete in HS sports…if you turned 19 before the official fall season began (Sept 1st is the current date, per MHSAA), you were screwed.

Although we live in a December 1st state, our local district really recommends that late in the year birthdays be examined closely by parents for readiness.

Our state cuts off at Sept. 30. Luckily my oldest (a boy) is a March baby, so he’ll toddle of to our free (yea!) 3 yo pre-school program at the public school with all the other elementary school kids. He’ll be little for the class b/c he is little, but I think he’ll be fine. My pipsqueak of a daughter is born just 2 days before the cut off — I guess it matters less for girls. She’ll go to pre-school one-year behind her brother, but when it comes time for actual kindergarten, we’ll seriously ask ourselves if she should do a third year of pre-school. Luckily, we have the option of free 3 and 4 year old pre-school, so money will not be part of our decision.

We have a December cut-off (don’t remember exactly when) but NO ONE red shirts. We have two levels of kindergarten, pre-first and first. It’s not unusual for a kid (particularly a young boy) to do three years of school before first grade and it’s nothing AT ALL like being held back. Parents often request pre-first. I think it’s a great option, particularly for a place with a late cut-off date.

In my state, the cut off is Sept. 30. My daughter’s b’day is in mid-Sept. She started kindergarten just before her 5th birthday. She is now in middle school, earns straight As, and is honors and advanced classes. Because of redshirting, though, she is 16-18 months younger than some of her classmates. She is much less socially mature than those older classmates. She doesn’t want to do some of the things they are into- Facebook, social cliques, sexual activity (yes, there are some doing that in MS), etc.

The redshirting (by months, not days) of kids is ridiculous. My daughter is the age the state expects, and is academically more than competent, but I am afraid the social impact is only going to get worse as she enters HS.