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"On our way home from Rhode Island this weekend, Rory and I listed to an NPR broadcast that kind of freaked me out. It featured the mom of a boy who was born in December who was urged to hold off on enrolling her son in kindergarten. Her son was ahead of the pack academically and had never had behavior problems, but other moms (and even people from the school) suggested it would be better for him to be the oldest kid in the class vs. the youngest. &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;ll be the last in his class to drive!&amp;quot; &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;ll be smaller than in his classmates!&amp;quot; &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s not going to excel in sports!&amp;quot; Okay, I can sort of get some of these rationalizations. But at the same time, SOMEONE has to be the youngest kid in class. So if the parents of all the December babies wait &amp;#039;til their kids are six to enroll them in kindergarten, then the November babies are at a disadvantage. And of course this could feasibly keep going until the February kids are suddenly the youngest. Emmett was born halfway through the year\u2014on June 5\u2014but boys tend to mature more slowly than girls, from what I understand. So part of me feels like holding him back would help be more ready for academia. But this also feels totally crazy! Does holding kids back give them an educational edge? Would you? Should I?! (Not that I really have to worry about this for three or four more years. But advance worrying IS sort of my specialty.) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/family-friends/a46727/give-kids-educational-edge/>