What do you think about Red shirting for Kindergarden?

RCH151

On another message board I belong to, the topic of academically red shirting kids in Kindergarden came up?  Anyone have thoughts on this?  I have a friend who just had her frist baby on June 25th and she is already thinking about red shirting him for Kindergarden (he won't go until he is 6 instead of 5) because he has a "late" birthday.  To me, June 25th is not a late birthday at all.  Is this an issue where you live?

KellyMichelle

I'm holding DS so that he will be 6 instead of 5.  His bday is Aug 27 and the cutoff is Sept 1.  He is a preemie, but with that bday I probably would have held him anyway.  Academically he would be fine, but I think he needs the extra time to mature.

RCH151

KellyMichelle:

I'm holding DS so that he will be 6 instead of 5.  His bday is Aug 27 and the cutoff is Sept 1.  He is a preemie, but with that bday I probably would have held him anyway.  Academically he would be fine, but I think he needs the extra time to mature.

 I think you have a special case and a truly late birthday -- I can see why you would do this.

Jodi&Joe

What the heck is "red shirting"??

Joey will be 5 on 11/19 however I'm not sending him to kindergarten until next year.  When he starts, he will be 2 months shy of 6.

Littlejen22

Jodi, I have never heard this term either

https://www.isteve.com/2002_Redshirting-A_Kindergarten_Arms_Race.htm

DS and DD have December birthdays with an Oct 1 cutoff so this is not an issue for us but unless I thought my child was not acedamically (sp) ready I think it holds the child back.

oparcm

In MA, you must be 5 by the first day of kindergarten or you must wait another year. My dd's b-day is 11/25 and if I could enroll her in kindergarten at 4, I would. However, state law does not permit me to do that so she'll be almost 6 going into kindergarten.

RCH151

basically, it means holding your kid back a year even if they meet the age  requirements. 

DandR

I think kids should go to school when they are ready....I think there are kids who are 4 turning 5 who are ready...and there are kids who are 5 who may not be ready just yet.....

So...I think if the reason for redshirting is because your kid is not ready, emotionally or academically, cool.

if you are redshirting because you want your kid to be better at athletics...lame.

A-baybride

I don't think June is a late birthday at all.  I would consider it, based on each individual child, if they had a fall birthday in a state with a late cutoff (so they'd be 4 when they started).

I have a friend whose son turns 5 in October and he's tiny.  But he's more than ready in terms of academics and maturity, so I agree with her choice to start Kindergarten this year when he's still 4.  But I feel bad that he's so much smaller than the other kids.

AnnapolisLari

A late birthday is what I had-- Sept 16th in a district with a Sept 30 cutoff. My mom did not hold me back, although I sometimes wish she had. Academically, I was ahead, but the social stuff might have been better if I were among the older bunch.

My kids won't start school until they are almost 6, but that's because they are December birthdays with a Sept 1 cutoff.

I would not hold back a June baby. That's crazy.

DevonPow

There is a lot of data out that shows having boys start kindergarten later is beneficial to them. DS will be almost 5.5 when he starts, which I am comortable with. I started K when I was 4 and was fine, but all kids are different. If DS was going to barely be 5 or slightly under 5 when starting K I would definitely consider holding him back a year.

shopgirl78

My DD is 9 days before the cut off.   She is in full day prek 4 with the public school system.   Her daycare teachers thought she was doing great and ready for prek and so far teacher has nothing but wonderful things to say.  As long as, the teacher recommends going to Kindergarten, we are there.  No red shirting for us.  

Luckily, I will not have any other issue with this Nathan is 20 days after the cut off and I am due in Jan.  I think DD was the "perfect" kid FOR US for being this close... 

eclaires

It's entirely dependent upon your district's cut off date and the child, if you ask me.

June 25th, IMO, would be a late birthday in Indiana, b/c the cut off date for starting school is August 1st.   A child with a June birthday there will be one of the youngest in the class and will likely have kids a full year older than him in his class.

And to say flat out you wouldn't hold back a certain month without knowing the cut off date, the child, etc. is kind of ridiculous.  Holding a kid back is dependent on a lot of factors.

I'm not sure what we're going to do with Jackson.  Had we stayed in Indiana, he would have started at 5 turning 6 b/c of the cut off date.  When we moved to TN, the cut off date is the day before his birthday.  I think we'll probably just wait, but its entirely dependent upon him and where he is in a few years from now.

 

Amanda&Chris

DS's birthday is July 2 and I waited until he was 6 before I sent him to Kindergarten.  I have NEVER regretted it.  I am almost positive I would have regretted it if I had sent him to Kinder when he was 5.

Like auntie, I have never talked to a parent who sent their child later and regretted it.  I do some people who sent their child earlier and did regret it.

My other two won't have the issue, but if they did I would wait for them as well.

co18co

Benjamin will be 6 a couple of days before he starts kindergarten.  He'll do three years of "pre school," adding days each year.  He starts a 2 morning a week program next week.

We've wrestled with this a bit, because he's awfully smart, and I worry about him being bored, but it's very competitive, very early here, and I just want him to have the advantage of a little more maturity, and figure we'll add in enrichment type of activities during his 3rd year of pre-school that meet the interests he's developed (sports, music, computers, whatever he's into).

Bellisimo

DS's birthday (Sept 5) falls just after the cutoff in our area so he'll be 7 starting first grade.  Although he's smart as a whip, I'm actually glad he'll be (and always has been) one of the oldest in his class.  Not an issue to me.  He's a boy...boys do well being held back/oldest in their class.

veloelle

I'd be ok holding DD back if I felt she wasn't ready. She meets our cut off, so she'll start K about one-two months after she turns 5. She'll have one year of formal pre-school. I have a friend who's an elementary school principal. I'll definitely confer w/ her as to DD's readiness.

MommyofAlissa

Alissa will not turn 5 until next Thurs., the 10th, however, she started school 2wks ago. I think she is more than ready academically, although I was worried about her emotionally, but she has been fine. No breakdowns at all. I was also worried about her size, she is SO small.

ready2go

oparcm:

In MA, you must be 5 by the first day of kindergarten or you must wait another year. My dd's b-day is 11/25 and if I could enroll her in kindergarten at 4, I would. However, state law does not permit me to do that so she'll be almost 6 going into kindergarten.

it's actually not statewide in MA.  I know this b/c we live in a 12/31 MA town now, but are moving to a 9/1 MA town soon.  This put us in an awkward position with dd and her late October birthday.  We opted to hold off (so she'll start at age 5, 2 months shy of her 6th bday, vs. at age 4) so she doesn't have to repeat a year once we move.

stcroixbride

we were just talking about this the other night - I think it is harder for boys than for girls to be the youngest/smallest in class.

I think for girls, it is a personality thing more than an age thing.  I was the youngest BY FAR in most of my classes, and smallest.  Never once bothered me - I never had a problem with socialization or anything.

For boys, I get it is difficult socially and maturity wise.  It SUCKS that this is true, but it is.

Guess I'm glad to have a Feb baby and not have any reason to worry about this whatsoever.  Let's hope hypothetical baby #2 is the same...

lsufan

I think it depends on how close their birthday is to the cutoff date and/or whether there are legitimate issues of being behind their peers. ?I'm pretty sure our county only allows it if the birthday is within two weeks of the cutoff but not beyond that, and I like that rule. ?Thomas has a May birthday, so he'll be among the younger kids in his class already. ?If kids with June birthdays are held back, that means even more of his classmates will be almost a year older.

If everyone just sends their kid when they're supposed to, then all of the kids will be within a year of the same age, with fairly equal spacing throughout the year. ?If parents take it upon themselves to hold their kids back, then they start skewing the average age of the next year's class, which means more of those parents will feel pressured to do the same, and so on. ?It just doesn't make sense to me.

stcroixbride

lsufan:

I think it depends on how close their birthday is to the cutoff date and/or whether there are legitimate issues of being behind their peers.  I'm pretty sure our county only allows it if the birthday is within two weeks of the cutoff but not beyond that, and I like that rule.  Thomas has a May birthday, so he'll be among the younger kids in his class already.  If kids with June birthdays are held back, that means even more of his classmates will be almost a year older.

If everyone just sends their kid when they're supposed to, then all of the kids will be within a year of the same age, with fairly equal spacing throughout the year.  If parents take it upon themselves to hold their kids back, then they start skewing the average age of the next year's class, which means more of those parents will feel pressured to do the same, and so on.  It just doesn't make sense to me.

exactly why this whole thing REALLY bugs me in the end...eventually we are going to get to the point where 7 is the new de facto starting age for K.

JCS2007

KellyMichelle:

I'm holding DS so that he will be 6 instead of 5.  His bday is Aug 27 and the cutoff is Sept 1.  He is a preemie, but with that bday I probably would have held him anyway.  Academically he would be fine, but I think he needs the extra time to mature.

We have a long time to decide, but likely will be in this exact position. DS was a preemie and born on 8/20, so depending how he does we may wait a year.

JCS2007

Also- FYI- for those wondering about the red shirt term- it is from college sports, where a college athlete usually can only play their sport for 4 years, so sometimes they are 'redshirted' for their freshman year so they start their 4 years of playing as a sophmore after having time to practice/mature/improve. 

ridesbuttons

I had never even heard of this until I came to this board.  Where I live, you start junior kindergarten the year you turn 4.  So, if your birthday is in the fall (Sept - Dec), you start junior kindergarten when you are 3.  Then there is a year of senior kindergarten then grade one and so on.

How does the classroom function when a measureable percentage of the kids is a year older than they are meant to be?  What happens to the kids who start school when they are supposed to?

There are probably reasons on an individual basis to wait a year to start a child in school, but for there to basically be a movement (the 'red shirt' movement) there are some larger issues to be addressed.

 

GrowingFamily

DandR:

I think kids should go to school when they are ready....I think there are kids who are 4 turning 5 who are ready...and there are kids who are 5 who may not be ready just yet.....

So...I think if the reason for redshirting is because your kid is not ready, emotionally or academically, cool.

if you are redshirting because you want your kid to be better at athletics...lame.

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