When should boys start school?

It was certainly a factor, but I don't know that it was a boy vs. girl thing as much as it was the fact that he was a tiny kid. Even redshirting him, he's still on the small end of his class.

And at the end of the day, even if I wish it weren't true, things like size and maturity can have a big impact on a child's experience in school, especially when it comes to boys. To us, it felt like it was a way for us to give him the best chance at success and happiness.

Also to @simply1 's point - yes, our son had ADHD that hadn't yet been diagnosed, and was far too active to just be turning 5 the first day of kindergarten. He also had big emotions, and letting him do Early-K allowed those to moderate, him to grow, and him to settle down (a little, I guess).
 
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We got screwed when Nebraska decided to change the dates. They wouldn't take our almost 5 year old who already had two years of preschool. We had to spend money on a better preschool to keep him interested and he still got bored once he got to K. Not sure how it would have played out otherwise but my thought generally would be if they are ready, get em in (if they will let you!)
Private school kindergarten might have been another option. Maybe similar cost to pre-K/daycare and then public would have had to accept into first grade the following year
 
I’d say hold them if any doubt, but depending on their future income that year could cost >$100,000 in income loss.
This comment made me think of another thing. With the HS classes now, kids are graduating college in less than 4 years on a regular basis. Our oldest graduated in 3. If we would have sent the august birthday early, he would have been 20 when he graduated.

In my experience, 20 is still early to be 100% on your own. About 23-25 is when most people start getting a clue. Also, what is wrong with enjoying your life, especially your youth. That should be the funniest time of your life, no worries, no cares. I told my son to go back to college for one more semester (Covid killed a lot of the experience), get another minor, and enjoy it. But he chose not to and I think now thinks he wishes he would have just to enjoy life.

How many of us wish we could have skipped a year of high school so we could have worked a year more? That 100k of income, will lead to what, another 5K in a retirement fund most likely. Don’t have them focus their lives on work and money.
 
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This comment made me think of another thing. With the HS classes now, kids are graduating in less than 4 years on a regular basis. Our oldest graduated in 3. If we would have sent the august birthday early, he would have been 20 when he graduated.

In my experience, 20 is still early to be 100% on your own. About 23-25 is when most people start getting a clue. Also, what is wrong with enjoying your life, especially your youth. That should be the funniest time of your life, no worries, no cares. I told my son to go back to college for one more semester (Covid killed a lot of the experience), get another minor, and enjoy it. But he chose not to and I think now thinks he wishes he would have just to enjoy life.

How many of us wish we could have skipped a year of high school so we could have worked a year more? That 100k of income, will lead to what, another 5K in a retirement fund most likely. Don’t have them focus their lives on work and money.
I wasn’t advocating for against, simply pointing out it is a potentially expensive choice. Might be worth it, who’s to say?
 
I wasn’t advocating for against, simply pointing out it is a potentially expensive choice. Might be worth it, who’s to say?
If a person uses that as the reason, I want them to say to themselves, I’m going to send my kid early so they can work more. Then they can think about that. To me, using that as a reason is a horrible reason.

I thought Covid taught us one thing, enjoy life. Finding a way for our kids to work more doesn’t seem to follow that idea.
 
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If a person uses that as the reason, I want them to say to themselves, I’m going to send my kid early so they can work more. Then they can think about that. To me, using that as a reason is a horrible reason.

I thought Covid taught us one thing, enjoy life. Finding a way for our kids to work more doesn’t seem to follow that idea.
I think my kids would rather work another year than spend 18-19 living with mommy and daddy. Plus, they can retire earlier.
 
I think my kids would rather work another year than spend 18-19 living with mommy and daddy. Plus, they can retire earlier.
If they make retirement, or are not forced to retire early due to health (which is what happens to many people). My dad died months after he "retired". My oldest sister never made it to retire (F cancer) and I've known many people who told me they wish they had traveled earlier since they were 60 now and while they are still in good shape, good shape for 60 is not the same as good shape for 20-25.

To each their own, but to me retiring one year earlier versus another year of hanging with your friends in your youth or playing in the sandbox sounds a lot better now then another year of work or another year of hanging with buddies at age 60.
 
If they make retirement, or are not forced to retire early due to health (which is what happens to many people). My dad died months after he "retired". My oldest sister never made it to retire (F cancer) and I've known many people who told me they wish they had traveled earlier since they were 60 now and while they are still in good shape, good shape for 60 is not the same as good shape for 20-25.

To each their own, but to me retiring one year earlier versus another year of hanging with your friends in your youth or playing in the sandbox sounds a lot better now then another year of work or another year of hanging with buddies at age 60.
Im just busting your chops. Let’s not parent shame based on someone choosing to send their summer kids forward or holding back.

There are a lot of more impactful ways parents can help assure their kids’s success in life than than something as innocuous as redshirting.
 
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Im just busting your chops. Let’s not parent shame based on someone choosing to send their summer kids forward or holding back.
Agreed.

I just don't like when money is brought in in this situation if there is not hard need to. I guess the older I get, the less I focus on money.
 
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Agreed.

I just don't like when money is brought in in this situation if there is not hard need to. I guess the older I get, the less I focus on money.
In a perfect world, I agree with you. People without much money are forced to focus on it every day.

From the perspective of living in a rural community with a very high percentage of children on free and reduced school lunch, it’s just what people have to do.

The vast majority of people who hold their boys back here are people without money issues who are Uncle Rico and want to relive their athletic glory through their kids by making sure theirs is the biggest kid in rec basketball. People scraping by economically need the reduced child care expenses. We have a high number of homeless children and school guidance counselors collect funds to send a backpack with food and other essentials with them when they leave school at the end of the day.

Either boys in our district are dumb or there is a grading bias associated with being a boy here too. When info at graduation comes out about the top 10% of the class, it will consist of 1-2 boys and 10-12 girls. Why is that? The older kids in the class are usually the boys. Do our teachers have a grading bias against boys because they supposedly are less mature and get in trouble more? Is our district an aberration?

There are just a lot of complexities to the situation. There isn’t one right answer that applies to everyone. Parenting is loving your kids and doing the best you can.
 
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In a perfect world, I agree with you. People without much money are forced to focus on it every day.

From the perspective of living in a rural community with a very high percentage of children on free and reduced school lunch, it’s just what people have to do.

The vast majority of people who hold their boys back here are people without money issues who are Uncle Rico and want to relive their athletic glory through their kids by making sure theirs is the biggest kid in rec basketball. People scraping by economically need the reduced child care expenses. We have a high number of homeless children and school guidance counselors collect funds to send a backpack with food and other essentials with them when they leave school at the end of the day.

Either boys in our district are dumb or there is a grading bias associated with being a boy here too. When info at graduation comes out about the top 10% of the class, it will consist of 1-2 boys and 10-12 girls. Why is that? The older kids in the class are usually the boys. Do our teachers have a grading bias against boys because they supposedly are less mature and get in trouble more? Is our district an aberration?

There are just a lot of complexities to the situation. There isn’t one right answer that applies to everyone. Parenting is loving your kids and doing the best you can.
I understand, why I mention that if money is not a hard reason (meaning the family can’t really pay their bills or have no other means).

Around me I would say the top students are more female but it’s usually 55-60%. Then again, most classes I see in my area, are more than 50% girls. So I don’t see a huge difference in my area. I think part of it may come down to what classes are taken and what options people see for their kids.