Redshirting Kindergarten

smerka · July 2012

Last night on 60 Minutes there was a segment on redshirting kids with summer birthdays so they start kindergarten having just turned six instead of five. Both my kids have September birthdays and are technically in the same grade since the younger one's birthday is on the cutoff date for the older one's class. I know it's years away and everything will depend on their readiness for school, but what say ye Parenting board? Kids in the same graduating class or redshirt the younger one?

MoonlitPlumeria · July 2012

When I was a kid in Canada, we started junior kindergarten at 4. I don't know why they want to push it back even more. When we moved to the states, my little sister was 4 but had already started school. No public school down here would let her go to school so my parents had to send her to catholic school. I don't think that they should be pushed back.

isacdimi10 · July 2012

I have all late summer kids (8/1, 7/28, and expected 9/14)

The cut off in our area is 9/30.

I plan to start them all when they are 5 (or turning 5 for 9/14). We're home schooling so I can tailor it to them.

If we were using public school I would seriously consider keeping #3 home until the following year.

The first 2 would go the first year eligible unless they were obviously not ready.

Sonadora · July 2012

I personally wouldn't want my kid to be on the cut off date. I realize that every kid is different, blah blah blah, but with them so close in age, and being boys, I think it might be very difficult for the younger one to be in the same class. Often boys can have some social maturity issues and I think with his brother in the same year that might become even more of an issue always being in the "younger brother" role.

DragonflyBelle · July 2012

Depends on your child's learning ability and maturity I think. Juliana starts pre-k this year and will turn 5 in November. She misses the Sept 30 cutoff and I am glad because she learns a bit differently than a "normal" kid and she needs that extra time.

wonkatalia · July 2012

I think it depends on the child and their readiness at the time of starting kindergarten but since my child has a birthday on the cutoff, I've already put a lot of thought into this.

I will be putting M in the class ahead of her so she will be the youngest kid in the class. Of course, I'll reconsider when she's older, but I'm putting her in MMO/preschool with that class of kids. I personally always did better accepting challenges and pushing through them. My parents put me in Algebra 1 (ahead of most of the other kids in my grade) when I switched schools because they weren't sure what level I should have been in. I skipped several levels of Spanish classes in college because I could and didn't want to take them and it seemed to work out best for me.

You can always let them repeat a year if it doesn't work out.

However, and this may be flameworthy, but if she was a boy I would most likely hold her back so she would be the oldest in her class. My mom has always wished she did this with my brother. I know several guys that were held back a year in kindergarten/early elementary school and it really seemed to help them (grade and maturity wise) in high school/college.

Kitiara5512 · July 2012

I was 3 when I started KG. Now its like they push it off so they start later and later, but no one thinks about how they are supposed to learn anything before that or get any real social interaction in a school setting. I know that its the parent's responsibility to take care of their kid but daycare is fuckings expensive, so this is a financial nightmare for many, myself included, and the other option is often not working or only working parttime so the kid can stay home. And I was bored all through school because I had to repeat 5th grade after moving to the US because of my age. I would have done better if I had been at a grade level that provided more intellectual stimulation.

smerka · July 2012

Since the second one was born DH and I have been talking about this. My younger son is on the smaller size in general and obviously smaller than his brother who is about 11 months older. I've been hesitant to put them in the same class, but DH is all for it. I just don't want the younger one to get a complex from always competing with his older and bigger brother.

In general I think redshirting is silly unless the kid has maturity problem. But most of the moms in the show said their kids were already reading and were mature enough but they wanted them to have every advantage (by being the oldest/biggest kid and somehow that translated to also being a leader instead of a follower)

nanabanana06 · July 2012

DD is an August baby. She will always be one of the youngest kids in class. Yes it sucks for her. However, I would not hold her back just cuz I conceived in November.

Kitiara5512 · July 2012

smerka:
Since the second one was born DH and I have been talking about this. My younger son is on the smaller size in general and obviously smaller than his brother who is about 11 months older. I've been hesitant to put them in the same class, but DH is all for it. I just don't want the younger one to get a complex from always competing with his older and bigger brother.
In general I think redshirting is silly unless the kid has maturity problem. But most of the moms in the show said their kids were already reading and were mature enough but they wanted them to have every advantage (by being the oldest/biggest kid and somehow that translated to also being a leader instead of a follower)

Unless your (general you) sole purpose in education is raising a frigging linebacker, I think thats a bullshiit excuse.

shouldbworkin · July 2012

I would redshirt the younger one and I think you'll probably find that your DC that is one year younger is less mature than the older DC. I have no problem with redshirting w/in a month or two of the cut off depending on the child. I think it gets ridiculous when you're redshirting kids with spring bdays, though.

We have a later cut off here and I like it b/c most kids are 5 by the time they start, but there are a few that are ready and start at 4. It's nice to have the option if your DC is ready. It doesn't artifically push things back so that you have 7 y/o's in KG either.

ATMmom324 · July 2012

My birthday is August 17th and I was always the youngest in the class. I hated it. Everyone had their license before me and my freshman year of college we took a week field trip in Canada. If you were 19 you could go out at night and drink. If you weren't you had to stay in your room and have a chaperon watch to make sure you didn't get out. Me and a few other dorks perfected our euchre skills.

grr_aargh · July 2012

Your question makes my vagina hurt.

So #1 will be 5 and #2 will be 4 when school starts in August? I'd probably redshirt the youngest. I wouldn't want them in the same class, I don't think.

smerka · July 2012

grr_aargh:
Your question makes my vagina hurt.

So #1 will be 5 and #2 will be 4 when school starts in August? I'd probably redshirt the youngest. I wouldn't want them in the same class, I don't think.

Ha! Its been almost two years and my vagina still hurts!

DS1 will be five when school starts and DS2 will turn five on the cutoff date about two weeks later. Then about three weeks later DS1 will turn six. For three weeks every year I have two kids that are the same age. The joys of 2U1.

blush64 · July 2012

JadesFire77:
When I was a kid in Canada, we started junior kindergarten at 4. I don't know why they want to push it back even more. When we moved to the states, my little sister was 4 but had already started school. No public school down here would let her go to school so my parents had to send her to catholic school. I don't think that they should be pushed back.

I'm in Canada too, I started school at 3 years old and lots of kids still do. In Ontario the cut-off is December 31st so if you are 4 by December 31st you start school even if you are 3. Parents can have their kids held back if they feel they are too young. (Junior Kindergarten starts the year a child turns 4, Senior Kindergarten starts the year you turn 5 and you don't have to go to JK to start SK)

I can understand some parents wanting to keep their kids home a bit longer to let them mature but I feel for most it evens out at some point. I wasn't behind in any way from having started a bit younger. There are kids basically a full year younger than classmates but I haven't seen it make a huge difference yet.

EDIT Sorry, what I wanted to say was that I would not have them in the same grade.

klondikebar · July 2012

I'd just wait and assess his maturity level at that time. There's really no way to know now how ready any child will be.

MoonlitPlumeria · July 2012

Oops I missed part of the original point. I'm not sure I would want my kids in the same grade, but I think it would have to be on a case by case basis. My husband and I would have to decide when it came time to put them in school. I think it would be hard on both kids to have them in the same grade.

Kitiara5512 · July 2012

Regarding two kids in the same class/grade, I would see if there is anyway to get the older kid to start earlier rather than hold the younger kid back.

celiabwatson · July 2012

My general opinion about it is that kids should go to school when their age says they should. However, I also don't love the idea of siblings being in the same grade. Last year I was teaching and we had two kids in the same grade. They had the same mom, different dads. It was weird for both of them. Especially since one was smart and the other one wasn't. etc etc. It just wasn't good. So in that case I'd probably redshirt the younger one, even though in general I'm against that practice.

I do think that if your child is legitimately not ready that it can make sense to wait a year (but in preschool, not at home). But there are other options as well. I'm currently tutoring a pair of twins who just turned 5 and the mom wants them to go to K this year (instead of waiting) and they're doing great.

nikip6454 · July 2012

I would redshirt DS2, unless he is extra mature or is clearly socially and emotionally ready for Kindergarten. Some times the children closest to the cut off have a hard time (especially boys) adapting to the structure of Kindergarten and have the same expectations of children a full year older than them. I think it would be hard on the two boys being constantly compared by teachers/staff/etc.

MrsPteranodon · July 2012

Buddy will be 5 turning 6 when he goes into kinder, if he was born on the cutoff I would hold him back. He's small already and I would rather him be older than his classmates than have him be bullied because he's smaller.

Tiny will be 5 1/2 starting kinder so that works for me. I have a feeling Tiny will be a big kid but I'd never put him in school early. Especially since they are boys.

They will both attend 1 year of pre-k before attending school anyway.

tammy79 · July 2012

I think as a parent you know your child best, and have to decide whats best for them and also I think it really depends on the child. DH and I had a serious debate over redshirting DS#1 last year, he's a very late summer birthday, he's turning 6 on August 3rd,our cut off here is September 1st,well last minute we decided to go ahead and send him to kindergarten, and see how he how he does, if needed he would just repeat it this year, boy we are so glad we sent him, he was one of the top student in the class, in fact he's reading at a 2nd grade level, and well above average for math. He behaves extremely well for his teacher and interact great with his peer ( although he behaves like a complete monster here at home), He would have been extremely bored academically if we had kept him back a year, so far I feel like we made the right decision for him, he will be entering 1st grade at the end of August.

Redshirting is extremely popular here in TX though, one of my girlfriend and her friends flat out said they were doing it for athletic reason which I think is ridiculous.

liferage · July 2012

You could always request they have different teachers and be in different classrooms. My sister did that for her twins a couple of years. However seeing as they aren't twins and truly are a year apart I would look at the younger one individualy. Is he ready or not. I wouldn't base it on the older brother.

Mama_SAS · July 2012

Assess when they are older, don?t make the decision now. There were siblings in my class in school who were nearly a year apart and they did great together.

Regarding redshirting kids or starting them early - there?s no one right answer. Set your kids up for success. If you push them too hard, harder than they are capable of, then they will become frustrated and learn to dislike school from the start. If you wait too long and don?t push them hard enough then they will be bored as hell. You?ll know much more when your kid is preschool-age than you do now.

[Deleted User] · July 2012

If the younger one is cognitively and emotionally mature for his age (and he might be, having an older sibling so close in age) I would not hold him back. It might be nice for them to have the same friends and potentially easier on you if they're working on the same curriculum.

If, when the time comes, they are still obviously a year apart, I would hold him back. I wouldn't want them showing significantly different abilities while dealing with the same school work. The difference will become less noticeable as time goes on, sure, but I think it may negatively affect the younger one to be "reaching" (assuming he's an average kid) to match his brother.

Edited for clarity.

ATMmom324 · July 2012

I had a friend in HS whose younger brother was in the same grade. All through middle school he told a story that he was attacked by snakes and held back a year because of it to explain why he was in the same grade as his younger brother. Evidently being attacked by reptiles is cooler then when your birth date is.

LilyRose28 · July 2012

I wouldn't put the 2 in the same grade if it was me.

DS is a December baby and even though the cutoff here is January 1st we will probably hold him back until he is 5 going on 6 rather than send him at 4 going on 5 unless he is absolutely ready sooner.

CupcakeKaper · July 2012

I think it depends on the kid and how he demonstrates readiness for Kindergarten. As a Kindergarten teacher, I have always hated when parents put their kids in just because they meet the age requirement, but are clearly not ready. A year makes a HUGE difference in development at that age. I would rather hold my kid an extra year and have him be successful in Kindergarten than rush to get him in only to struggle through school.

Wufroggy79 · July 2012

I have a summer birthday in June (before the cut off back in the day), yet my mom decided to do two years of preschool before entering K so that I was six instead of five. Basically, I'd be the oldest vs. one of the youngest in my grade level. I loved being the older one all through school. C has a Feb birthday, so I won't have to go through this one with her, but if she had a summer birthday, I would consider doing the same.

LuckyDad · July 2012

My kid has an April birthday, so he'll be smack dab in the middle of his grade.

I was "gifted" and have a fall birthday, so my mom actually had me tested to see if I could start kindergarten EARLY. They decided to just have me go with my standard grade, which made me relatively old for my class as opposed to being the youngest.

I think every child's needs are going to be a little different. If a child is particularly small physically, especially a boy, it might be int his best interest to be held back. Children need to be appropriately challenged academically. A child who learns quickly would run the risk of being bored frequently and losing interest in school, while a child who takes more time to learn things might benefit from redshirting and having an extra year of prep and development.

As far as gaming the system, there actually is real empirical evidence that far more professional athletes are born in September than August. What researchers discovered is kids who show talent in sports get more attention and coaching and are more likely to develop their natural skills to become stars. Now, if you're uncoordinated like me, it's not gonna help, and if your son is 5'3" he's not going to be a football star. But there also is some evidence this applies to academics as well. I did a quick search and found some research that the youngest children in class are also the least likely to go to college, especially amongst males and underprivileged kids. The older children may also have higher earnings at 30, although there is some controversy in that finding.

If my child was truly a borderline case (and I'm talking days on the wrong side of the cutoff, maybe a week or two) I'd be tempted to Redshirt. But I do think it depends on the child in question too.

Mama_SAS · July 2012

wonkatalia:
I think it depends on the child and their readiness at the time of starting kindergarten but since my child has a birthday on the cutoff, I've already put a lot of thought into this.

I will be putting M in the class ahead of her so she will be the youngest kid in the class. Of course, I'll reconsider when she's older, but I'm putting her in MMO/preschool with that class of kids. I personally always did better accepting challenges and pushing through them. My parents put me in Algebra 1 (ahead of most of the other kids in my grade) when I switched schools because they weren't sure what level I should have been in. I skipped several levels of Spanish classes in college because I could and didn't want to take them and it seemed to work out best for me.

You can always let them repeat a year if it doesn't work out.

However, and this may be flameworthy, but if she was a boy I would most likely hold her back so she would be the oldest in her class. My mom has always wished she did this with my brother. I know several guys that were held back a year in kindergarten/early elementary school and it really seemed to help them (grade and maturity wise) in high school/college.

I have a slight issue with the bolded. Not really with what you said since you did preface with "I think it depends on the child and their readiness at the time of starting kindergarten? and "I'll reconsider when she's older? so I think you?ll be aware of your LO?s strengths and limitations. I just have a problem with the attitude that ?eh, just repeat them if they?re sent too early"

My issue is that it?s not just as easy as letting them repeat a year. Sending a kid much too early puts a lot of extra work on the teacher, especially since there is probably more than one kid there who shouldn?t be there yet. Also, as I said before, pushing a kid much too hard only sets them up for frustration and failure.

This does not apply to sending a kid a little too early or pushing them to reach their full potential, only applies to pushing them to do more than they can. KWIM? Sending a kid way too late has as many potential problems.

TunaTown · July 2012

smerka:
Last night on 60 Minutes there was a segment on redshirting kids with summer birthdays so they start kindergarten having just turned six instead of five. Both my kids have September birthdays and are technically in the same grade since the younger one's birthday is on the cutoff date for the older one's class. I know it's years away and everything will depend on their readiness for school, but what say ye Parenting board? Kids in the same graduating class or redshirt the younger one?

If I'm grasping the concept correctly, LO's bday is in late fall, so she'll start K when she's just about turning 6.

I don't think I'd red shirt her. She's a pretty smart cookie. And she's already showing a love for athletics and is quite the adrenaline junkie. But, when it comes down to it - I'll follow her lead. When she's ready for K, I'll enroll her.

I didn't know 60 minutes did a segment on this. I'll try to pull it up. (I read an article a few months back).

Sherbet Lemon · July 2012

CupcakeKaper:
I think it depends on the kid and how he demonstrates readiness for Kindergarten. As a Kindergarten teacher, I have always hated when parents put their kids in just because they meet the age requirement, but are clearly not ready. A year makes a HUGE difference in development at that age. I would rather hold my kid an extra year and have him be successful in Kindergarten than rush to get him in only to struggle through school.

ITA with this.

Also, someone said their kid could just repeat a grade if needed. I really don't like that idea. Kids know who has been retained and there's definitely a stigma attached to it. Why put your kid in that situation if you don't have to. If your kid is ready to go, fine, but don't send them if they're no ready just to hold them back later.

Full disclosure: I have an April birthday and when I went to school the cut off was in June. I went to kindergarten, then readiness, then 1st grade. It worked out well for me.

ktusten · July 2012

As a Kindergarten teacher I would strongly say thats YOUR call based on their readiness. Our school only has two of each grade and we have had brothers before that were in Kindergarten at the same time but were 11 months apart. Of course everyone just assumed they were twins and we had to tell them that no they were just close in age. I have to say that the younger one SHOULD HAVE BEEN redshirted in this case for both social and academic maturity but I think those parents were just anxious to get out of paying daycare etc. If it were my kids and they were boys I would give it a lot of thought but I would err on the side of keeping the younger one home an extra year. Give them each a chance to be their own person in their own classes and enjoy the being apart from each other side of life.

Mama_SAS · July 2012

TunaTown:
smerka:
Last night on 60 Minutes there was a segment on redshirting kids with summer birthdays so they start kindergarten having just turned six instead of five. Both my kids have September birthdays and are technically in the same grade since the younger one's birthday is on the cutoff date for the older one's class. I know it's years away and everything will depend on their readiness for school, but what say ye Parenting board? Kids in the same graduating class or redshirt the younger one?
If I'm grasping the concept correctly, LO's bday is in late fall, so she'll start K when she's just about turning 6.
I don't think I'd red shirt her. She's a pretty smart cookie. And she's already showing a love for athletics and is quite the adrenaline junkie. But, when it comes down to it - I'll follow her lead. When she's ready for K, I'll enroll her.
I didn't know 60 minutes did a segment on this. I'll try to pull it up. (I read an article a few months back).

If she?s redshirted she?ll start when she?s about to turn 6. If she?s not she?ll start when she?s about to turn 5.

halfbakedbecca · July 2012

We've decided to keep MJ home and teach her important life skills like farming and how to fart correctly. Its hard to get to school on time when our... garden... is so deep in the woods.

TunaTown · July 2012

smerka:
Last night on 60 Minutes there was a segment on redshirting kids with summer birthdays so they start kindergarten having just turned six instead of five. Both my kids have September birthdays and are technically in the same grade since the younger one's birthday is on the cutoff date for the older one's class. I know it's years away and everything will depend on their readiness for school, but what say ye Parenting board? Kids in the same graduating class or redshirt the younger one?

To answer your question - follow your LO's lead. If they are ready, then enroll.

Nothing wrong with siblings being in the same grade. It could be fun for them!

TunaTown · July 2012

Mama_SAS:
TunaTown:
smerka:
Last night on 60 Minutes there was a segment on redshirting kids with summer birthdays so they start kindergarten having just turned six instead of five. Both my kids have September birthdays and are technically in the same grade since the younger one's birthday is on the cutoff date for the older one's class. I know it's years away and everything will depend on their readiness for school, but what say ye Parenting board? Kids in the same graduating class or redshirt the younger one?
If I'm grasping the concept correctly, LO's bday is in late fall, so she'll start K when she's just about turning 6.
I don't think I'd red shirt her. She's a pretty smart cookie. And she's already showing a love for athletics and is quite the adrenaline junkie. But, when it comes down to it - I'll follow her lead. When she's ready for K, I'll enroll her.
I didn't know 60 minutes did a segment on this. I'll try to pull it up. (I read an article a few months back).

If she?s redshirted she?ll start when she?s about to turn 6. If she?s not she?ll start when she?s about to turn 5.

Thank you, Turd Craply.

(one of my have lines from P&R)

TunaTown · July 2012

halfbakedbecca:
We've decided to keep MJ home and teach her important life skills like farming and how to fart correctly. Its hard to get to school on time when our... garden... is so deep in the woods.

When will you advance to the skill of farting on coworkers?

halfbakedbecca · July 2012

TunaTown:
halfbakedbecca:
We've decided to keep MJ home and teach her important life skills like farming and how to fart correctly. Its hard to get to school on time when our... garden... is so deep in the woods.
When will you advance to the skill of farting on coworkers?

Well first you wanna start with close family and build up.

Probably around 12 we'll make her get a paper route, it'll be a great cover for sell our... uhhh flowers. And we'll teach her to fart on the buyers.

Mama_SAS · July 2012

TunaTown:
Mama_SAS:
TunaTown:
smerka:
Last night on 60 Minutes there was a segment on redshirting kids with summer birthdays so they start kindergarten having just turned six instead of five. Both my kids have September birthdays and are technically in the same grade since the younger one's birthday is on the cutoff date for the older one's class. I know it's years away and everything will depend on their readiness for school, but what say ye Parenting board? Kids in the same graduating class or redshirt the younger one?
If I'm grasping the concept correctly, LO's bday is in late fall, so she'll start K when she's just about turning 6.
I don't think I'd red shirt her. She's a pretty smart cookie. And she's already showing a love for athletics and is quite the adrenaline junkie. But, when it comes down to it - I'll follow her lead. When she's ready for K, I'll enroll her.
I didn't know 60 minutes did a segment on this. I'll try to pull it up. (I read an article a few months back).

If she?s redshirted she?ll start when she?s about to turn 6. If she?s not she?ll start when she?s about to turn 5.
Thank you, Turd Craply.
(one of my have lines from P&R)

?I don?t know what you mean, but it had the cadence of a joke."

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