When to Send September Kids to School?

Parents of September, and sometimes August and October, babies have a big decision to make when their child gets close to turning five years old. It varies by district though in general most of the school districts represented by the pool of parents I have spoken with have generally the same options, either get your child tested to see if they qualify for early entrance (meaning they'll be among the youngest in the class), or to wait another year (they'll be among the oldest). Having a September baby of my own I will also share my decisions and reasons for them after giving information about the pros of either decision.

Reasons to put child in early enrollment:
Many people have expressed that the early maturation of girls makes this a better option for them so that they are in a stimulating environment that will hold their interest and keep them from being bored.

Having said child tested will give some insight into their development and if they are ready or not, parents can hand over the decision. This reduces the chances that they regret not having their child tested if issues come up later related to their child being too mature for their peers potentially.

Smart kids will be challenged and not be bored if they were to otherwise fall back and be the oldest and potentially unchallenged in that setting.

Reasons to hold a child back:
Holding them back will give them more time in their youth without the pressures of academic performance. Many people believe that this is much more valuable than placing them into an academic setting.

More time to get socialized before entering the school system. This especially rings true for children who may not have had much social interaction that preschool provides.

For boys this will give them the advantage of being more mature than a majority of others in their class potentially giving them an athletic advantage. This goes for girls too but seems to be a belief more prominently held with boys.

Some believe that having their child be the oldest reduces the odds of them succumbing to peer pressure of their older peers, that they will be the leaders and not the followers.

What I decided to do...
I am having my daughter, who will be five in September, tested for early enrollment. She will be graduating from her pre-k class with a whole group of friends all of whom will be starting Kindergarten in a few short months. I believe she will pass and be starting kindergarten as well based on her teachers feedback.

Along with the early enrollment is a long probationary period, during which either the teacher or I can opt out and give her another year. I plan to be prepared to move quickly if there are inklings this won't work out because in addition to starting school a bit early, this would be enrolling in the public school system which is notorious for high child to teacher ratios that may not fit her needs. I plan to either get her into a private school pre-k program if this happens or to move forward with doing some homeschooling while we figure out which school will make the most sense for us as a family.