[qwerty49]

[quote author=SamuelMcF link=topic=18671.msg223563#msg223563 date=1518204816]
[quote author=Mick link=topic=18671.msg223561#msg223561 date=1518204327]
[quote author=Papa John link=topic=18671.msg223553#msg223553 date=1518203021]
[quote author=stupac2 link=topic=18671.msg223534#msg223534 date=1518195226]
A lot of boys are held back for educational reasons. If he has a fall birthday it's probably that rather than sports.

My son has an October birthday and, at the time, would have been eligible for kindergarten when he was four-turning-five. His preschool teacher strongly recommended that we hold him back for social reasons--in fact, she recommended the same thing for the other fall birthday boys in his class. In any case, instead of being the youngest in his elementary school class, he's fourth-oldest, and it's definitely worked out for the better, IMO.

The sports leagues in which my son participates--Little League, club baseball, AYSO--set their divisions by age, not grade, even at the all-star level. Maybe it's different with football, though.
[/quote]

Papa John, FWLIW, I think you made a great decision.  I was an October birthday and was skipped a grade, so was my father in law.  We both agreed that if there was one "do-over" we could have in our life, it would have been that.  I was a 16 year old high school senior, 17 as a frosh.  My son was also born on the border, and even though my wife vehemently wanted him to start early, it's one of the few times in my marriage that I absolutely put my foot down, and it turned out for the best.
[/quote]

Same here. October birthday, 17 as a frosh. Would start elementary a year later, or take a gap year before starting at Stanford, if I had a do-over.
[/quote]

I begged my dad to take a gap year, even (gasp!) save money for college.  He wouldn't hear of it, but then, I think he wanted me out of the house as  his wife and I did not precisely see eye to eye.
[/quote]

I would have loved to take a gap year, it would have been the right thing for me.  But the chances were pretty darn high that it would have been spent in Vietnam, and I wasn't exactly excited about that.  My cousin was an AF mechanic at some base near Da Nang.  Sometimes he would end a paragraph of a letter with something like "well, they just stopped the mortar attack on the airstrip so I have to get back out there and go back to work."  Thank goodness, there was always a next paragraph.

[qwerty49]

[quote author=SamuelMcF link=topic=18671.msg223563#msg223563 date=1518204816]
[quote author=Mick link=topic=18671.msg223561#msg223561 date=1518204327]
[quote author=Papa John link=topic=18671.msg223553#msg223553 date=1518203021]
[quote author=stupac2 link=topic=18671.msg223534#msg223534 date=1518195226]
A lot of boys are held back for educational reasons. If he has a fall birthday it's probably that rather than sports.

My son has an October birthday and, at the time, would have been eligible for kindergarten when he was four-turning-five. His preschool teacher strongly recommended that we hold him back for social reasons--in fact, she recommended the same thing for the other fall birthday boys in his class. In any case, instead of being the youngest in his elementary school class, he's fourth-oldest, and it's definitely worked out for the better, IMO.

The sports leagues in which my son participates--Little League, club baseball, AYSO--set their divisions by age, not grade, even at the all-star level. Maybe it's different with football, though.
[/quote]

Papa John, FWLIW, I think you made a great decision.  I was an October birthday and was skipped a grade, so was my father in law.  We both agreed that if there was one "do-over" we could have in our life, it would have been that.  I was a 16 year old high school senior, 17 as a frosh.  My son was also born on the border, and even though my wife vehemently wanted him to start early, it's one of the few times in my marriage that I absolutely put my foot down, and it turned out for the best.
[/quote]

Same here. October birthday, 17 as a frosh. Would start elementary a year later, or take a gap year before starting at Stanford, if I had a do-over.
[/quote]

I begged my dad to take a gap year, even (gasp!) save money for college.  He wouldn't hear of it, but then, I think he wanted me out of the house as  his wife and I did not precisely see eye to eye.
[/quote]

I would have loved to take a gap year, it would have been the right thing for me.  But the chances were pretty darn high that it would have been spent in Vietnam, and I wasn't exactly excited about that.  My cousin was an AF mechanic at some base near Da Nang.  Sometimes he would end a paragraph of a letter with something like "well, they just stopped the mortar attack on the airstrip so I have to get back out there and go back to work."  Thank goodness, there was always a next paragraph.