My son was tested by the private school prior to kindergarten.  They devasted us when they suggested we wait a year because he was extremely immature, behind in speech and tested so poorly they stopped testing.  We went crying to the public school.  They convinced us he was fine and should start school on an IEP for speech.  He began to play by himself on the playground, had no friends and school performanced tanked.  By mid year of second grade he was reading at kindergarten level.  I had him tested again to find he had a language disorder and processing delay.  He receives a tremendous amount of support in reading and math and is now only one full grade level behind.  Maturity and confidence has soared this year.  He will now play with the group at recess but has no strong friendships outside of our family/friend circle.  The teachers say he is happy, works really hard and doesn't seem frustrated.  He is a delightful kid but refuses to play with boys his age and tends to associate with kids much younger.  I tell the public school i regret starting him when we did and want him to be held back. They tell me that is a horrible thing to do and its to late and he should be promoted to fourth grade.  He is a great kid and coming around but I am afraid this pattern will continue. I don't want a nightmare to develop by middle school.  By the way, if he repeats third, it would be at a different school preferably the smaller private schoolwith private tutors.