What’s in a Birthdate? August Babies and Kindergaten

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I can remember being bored in elementary school.  I’m relatively “book smart” and so academics have always been pretty easy for me.  In first grade, I’d get so bored during reading time that I’d dramatically lie with my face in the book and my teacher thought that I couldn’t see the words.  She asked my mom to have my vision checked, and I took that as my opportunity to get the hot pink glasses I’d always wanted by intentionally flunking the eye exam. But that’s another story for another day. The point is—a bored kid can be mischievous. So I’ve always thought to myself, “I’ll never hold my son back if he’s ready academically because he’ll be bored.”

I think its’ a prime example of how our own experiences shape our opinions and decisions as parents. Boredom in young children (for example, ME) can lead to issues. And so, I’d always had the mindset that I would send my August 29th baby to Kindergarten when he was barely 5.  I’d hate for him to be bored and set the place on fire.  

Then, I read the book “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell and had a small panic attack. In his book, he posits that birthdays are strongly related to success.  It’s hard to ignore that it might be true.

Gladwell uses Canadian hockey players as an example; January 1st is the “cutoff” date to play, and as such, there are more elite Canadian hockey players born in January-March than there are later in the year.  In fact, for all NHL 2013 hockey players born between 1980 and 1990, 40.5% are born from January to April, while only 25% are born between September and December.  But my kid might not like hockey, so it’s no big deal right?  

Well, hockey isn’t the only place it matters.

According to 2005 statistics, more major league baseball players are born in August than in any other month—and what’s the cutoff date for most non-scholastic baseball programs? July 31st.  But my concern really isn’t athletics. It’s school. My son is born late August, and the cut off date is September 1st. So when do I send him to school? Could his birth date really impact his performance?

The answer? A resounding MAYBE.

The sociologists Bedard and Dhuey completed a study in 2007, comparing older versus younger 4th graders in math and science—and on average, older students scored 4-12 points higher. Dhuey et al did another study in 2017, looking at nearly one million elementary school students in Florida, born from 1994 to 2000. There was a score gap in each grade between older and younger kids in the same grade in general, but that difference was larger for boys. Scarily enough, they found AUGUST boys, in particular, were more likely to be red-shirted and also more like to be held back in early grades.  Add to that a recent study published in the NE Journal of Medicine, which found that August babies had 34% higher chance of receiving ADHD diagnoses than September babies, and I started to wonder—Why? Is it possible that some of these “behaviors” are simply immaturity that is being misjudged as inappropriate because these children are being compared to peers that are as much as a year older?  And who cares if my kid scores 4-12 points lower?

We groom our talented children

With opportunities and expectations. If my son is younger, therefore doesn’t score as high as the older children in his grade, does he ever get selected for a gifted program? At an even more basic level, does he get as much attention? And if he doesn’t, is he as likely to go to college? In Dhuey’s 2007 study, they also looked at 4 -year colleges—and end-of-school-year babies were underrepresented by 11.6%.

So how does this apply to my kid?

Opportunity. Practice. Aptitude.  Maturity.

The crazy part? I haven’t even decided yet what I’m going to do—because all the studies in the world can’t replace our judgment as parents.

I’m still that kid that got into trouble (be it faking an eye exam or constantly talking to my classmates and distracting them) because I was bored.  The name of the book is “Outliers”—so who’s to say my son isn’t an outlier as well?  For all the children that scored below their peers, other children scored just as well.  There are still SOME Canadian hockey players born in August, and some baseball players born in July.  Some kids born in September will be diagnosed with ADHD and some August babies will be valedictorians.  I guess as parents our job is to take all the information we have and make the best decisions we can for our kids—and the “right” choice isn’t always clear.  

My husband and I are hoping the best decision will become clear by the time we have to make it.  Maybe he thrives as a younger Kindergartener. Maybe we hold him back and he’s bored. But I’ve got my eye on him if he tries to intentionally fail an eye exam—oldest trick in the book.

 

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Laura Somers
Laura is a thirty-something mom of 2, living in Cumberland RI—only 3 miles from her childhood home. After meeting her husband and briefly living in Plymouth MA, she dragged him back with her to Rhode Island, where they bought their home. Laura attended the University of Rhode Island for both her bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies and her doctorate in Physical Therapy. She and her husband tied the knot in 2015, and welcomed their first son in 2016. They recently added another son to their family in late 2018, and Laura enjoys being the only woman in her house—the queen of the castle! She works as a physical therapist in an Early Intervention program, work that is challenging and that she loves. E.E. Cummings once wrote “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter,” and these are words that she tries to live by daily.