Cut-off Woes | Imamother

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Dec 13 2016, 9:57 am

So I live in Maryland, where the cutoff for kindergarten entry is September 1. My very precocious and bright 3 year old daughter was born on September 4. The girls school here is extremely strict about allowing girls to be pushed ahead, and she would need to be tested next year if we would want to consider her entrance to kindergarten at age 5. (If we went according to the cutoff, she'd be 6 right around the first day of school). She already attends a structured preschool and knows many of her letters, most numbers, all her colors, all her shapes. My concern is that while she is very smart and, I believe, will be ready for kindergarten when she is 5, she is not socially advanced- she plays with kids who are her age, not ones that are 9 months older than her. Kindergarten is divided by birthday, so for that year it wouldn't be an issue, but after that I wonder if she would lag socially because she's so much younger.

However, I am also worried that if we keep her where she is, she would be this big awkward older girl, the first to get her period etc, and have a disadvantage when it comes to shidduchim. My husband feels we should keep her as the oldest as we did that for my older son who was born in the summer, but she is a very different child.
Hellppp! Anyone have experience navigating this, specifically for girls??

tryinghard

Tue, Dec 13 2016, 10:06 am

Kids generally do very well being the oldest, whereas many kids who are pushed ahead suffer for being not quite ready, or less mature than their peers. DD was born 2 weeks after the cutoff here, and I can clearly see the difference between her and some of the younger kids - in a good way. While we haven't gotten to the period or shidduch issues you describe, they don't sound very likely. She could just as easily not get her period until she's 13! As for shidduchim, give God a chance!