Metadish, Fresh from NYC

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We seem to remember back in our school days, it was almost a badge of honor to have started kindergarten when you were five. If you caught it early enough you might only be 17 when you graduated, at the most barely 18.

In fact, we even looked down a little on the kids who started school when they were six. Sure, it was based solely on your birthdate but we always felt it was akin to flunking a grade. Like they weren’t quite smart enough to start kindergarten at five. Apparently our kindergarten years weren’t as competitive back then as they are now.

Fueled by the increasingly rigorous nature of kindergarten and a generation of parents intent on giving their children every edge, the practice is flourishing in New York City private schools and suburban public schools. A crop of 5-year-olds in nursery school and kindergartners pushing 7 are among the most striking results.

“He has a lot more self-confidence if he tends to be the older one,” said a mother, Charlotte, 37, who kept her son out of kindergarten for a year. “I wanted him to have an easier time.”

So, a child with an extra year of development, physically and psychologically, tends to have more “self-confidence” when he’s around those other kids? You don’t say? Why not just ship him off to retard school and let him feel like a genius?

Surely the other parents appreciate the fact that you held your slow witted son back so he could be the alpha-kindergartener around their normal aged kids.

Preschoolers Grow Older as Parents Seek an Edge [NYT]

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