I am a Mom of 12,Let me start by saying I am not biased when it comes to my children and education,As for other matters with my kids "YES" to some extent.I have a son who will turn 5 on August 26th. & I really believe he would do well in Kindergarten this year but because of laws we will never know.At the same time I have 2 children one who is now 22 & the other is now 8,that turned 5 at the beginning of June & started Kindergarten August of that same year,I knew neither were ready for school but the school district told me I had no choice I had to enroll them,the child who is now 22 struggled all the way through school,never got to participate in any special school activities because of a 3.0 rule the school at in place which stated any child who did not maintain a 3.0 could not play ball,be a cheerleader,be in home coming,etc. She hated school because of this she ended up dropping out her Senior year & getting her GED because she was voted Most Popular,Best Personality & Fall Festival Queen by her fellow students,however the school district took these honors from her because her grades were not high enough,She made B's & C's mostly and struggled to do this even.My 8 year old is now a straight A student because Thanks to a wonderful teacher we were informed as parents we could make the call to hold him back a year,so we decided to do just that,we moved so he never even realized he was in the same grade two years,I think it was the best move we ever made for him as his parents for his education.Now I want to tell you about my son who will be 13 on Sept.15th,he started Kindergarten at 4 and has been a straight A student from day one,he is now in 8th grade & at the top of his class ,he even received The Presidential Education Award, the school he was at wanted to advance him a grade.Now my point is children are all different & if you send them too early it can harm them educational wise,but waiting can harm them if they start and are to advanced,Let parents have say.

I'm with Butch 54. You parents that refuse to understand that social skills are as important as the educational ones sit on it. What the heck is the big rush? Let them be childen what short time they are allowed anymore. I cried everytime one of them started school. It's when the world takes your kid away from you. Of course then that's how most gov'ts begin to take over. Send your genius to private school. Then they won't be calling the other kids stupid and worse.

I agree with Collins 100%. My daughter will not turn five until after August 1st; however, academically she could have started Kindergarten this year if possible (based on individual testing and educator input). So if she has to sit out until 2013, she will possibly be on a first grade, or higher, level when she enters kindergarten. There needs to be some type of state approved testing for these types of situations. It's not about parents having big egos or being biased, it's about us knowing our children. Putting our kids in private school will not change the outcome as far as wanting to enroll them in kindergarten at a public school at a later time. The state of Arkansas may control when my child enters kindergarten here, but there are other states that will allow her to enter kindergarten with a "late" birthday, an option we are seriously considering!

Well Kathy I wonder what part of daily environment plays in the development of a child. Also a teacher is where we gathered a lot of our information on how well our children do. Although a teacher is not the only tool for that purpose. Some have the sense of being all that and a bag of pork rinds. And for letting children be children. How about letting parents guide their children to adulthood. If you sit back and let children be children what will the outcome be. A childish adult. No thanks. Let parents be parents. Teachers be teachers. And keep the Government out of the biggest part of that. Then before you kick me for my comment about teachers I have two sister-in-laws that are just that. Then I think parent should always be able to tell educators just what they think. If your not in that attitude I talked about earlier you know the child is the parents responsibility. Do you think teachers are above parents. You have them a few hour, days, and years. They are with us for life. I guess the easiest way to put my feeling is this. When it comes to my children I do the driving. You should sit in the back seat and do your job.

In addition, In a class, you have students who turn 6 right after school starts and children that won't be 6 until the next summer. There is a drastic difference in the development, both social and cognitive, between a 5 year old and a 6 year old. At age 4 and 5, children are learning an amazing amount. In the space of just a few months there is a drastic difference in the development of children. To be fair, a child who turns 5 on August 1 and a child who turns 5 on August 5 are very close in development. BUT THE PARENTS ARE NOT THE ONES WHO SHOULD TELL THE EDUCATORS IF THEIR CHILDREN ARE READY OR NOT. They can make a suggestion and the suggestion should be taken seriously. If the educator...not the legislature...decide that the child is both academically and socially ready for Kindergarten, exceptions should be made....BUT PARENTS DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING THERE IS ABOUT WHETHER THEIR CHILD IS READY OR NOT. THEY ARE BIASED.

If Collins thinks her child is so exceptional let her put her in a private school. I have my degree in Early Childhood Education. I have taught Primary school for over 18 years. Most public school children do not have the linquistic background to be considered exceptional. There is a lot of remedial things to do in Kindergarten. In order to learn to read, children need to have a good control of language, visual and auditory reception and good auditory and visual association. Some public schools offer a 4 year old program which is more suited to 4 year olds. It use to be that October 1 was the cut off date to turn 5. Because of that we had many students who just were not ready socially for the stress of Kindergarten. Yes... I said stress!!!. Kindergarten, today, is more like 1st grade of the 50's and 60's. Kindergarten students are learning to read today. Stress is on the teachers to push their students and therefore stress is placed on the precious little 5 years olds. For goodness sake..LET CHILDREN BE CHILDREN. Parents need to let go of their ego's and bragging about how smart their babies are and let their babies be babies. Let them play and have fun. Let them learn by having experiences that build language. If they read before they leave Kindergarten, good. But pushing children to perform for their parents is nbot fair to the children.

"My only problem is that I don't have any control..." Bunk! Take your kid out of the public schools.

Lots of schools have advanced classes for the fast learners. Maybe not all schools but a lot. I think the choice should be within guide lines with the parent making the final call. Put more of the parenting back in the hands of the parent. Do you really think you can blame a parent for poor parenting with the laws as they stand today. If you think so compare crime percentages of the youths in the 50's and 60's to the percentages of crimes by the youths of today. Put DHS out of business and parents back to fear free parenting.

they should test the child if his or her birthday falls within 15 to 20 days of the cutoff.....and then go from there if they can do what is needed of them then let them start if not make them wait til next year

I think the law should have some sort of allowance with some type of approved testing. I have a 5 year old in kindergarten and she reads on a third grade level. because there are so many kids that are far behind even the kindergarten level she is being held back are stunted educationally. I think the law should also allow kids that are well ahead of their peers to advance at least a grade level to continue growing.