Academic Redshirting

Dcwtada · December 2016

Food for thought

https://www.scarymommy.com/why-we-redshirted-our-5-year-old/?utm_source=FB

I know it is too early to be thinking about kindergarten and redshirting but I figured this might be an interesting discussion especially since we will all be having babies close to the cut-off (I know around here it is August 31st).

I have two July babies already (my oldest is only two - so it is still early lol). My husband and I are completely different ends of this discussion, he is adamant about redshirting and I am not convinced by any stretch. Right now we have a tentative truce to see how they are developed socially, emotionally and academically when they are 4. While I don't want my children to always be playing catch-up with the older kids in their grade I think they will rise to the challenge and those differences will become less pronounced after a few years and disappear once school truly becomes challenging, plus someone is always going to have to be the youngest - I can see this spiraling out of control where parents aren't starting their kids until they are 18 to give them an advantage lol. My only concern is early school seems to be much different when I was young...very little to no emphasis on play, natural interaction and discovery and more on structured learning and testing which is tough on all young kids (but that is a topic for another thread lol).

What are your thoughts?

satsumasandlemons · December 2016

omg for the past 5 years I've been sitting in my Sept '11 bmb thinking this was only an issue for Sept moms (knowing that October and November sit squarely in the next school year and August is clearly the luckiest month because they can push back or continue forward).

I'm with you 100% - basically, there is no right answer to this question. there are so many factors to consider. I do think my daughter could rise up to the challenge academically, but socially, I'm glad she'll be the oldest in her class because she could really use the confidence.

I don't really agree with redshirting for things like... SPORTS. Or just to be more older and alpha (because there are people who do). But I can absolutely see how redshirting to build confidence or to match academically for kids that may need a bit more extra time in a play-based environment rather than an academic environment would be hugely beneficial because let's face it. TK and K are definitely more academic these days.

ashaw512 · December 2016

I really wanted DD to start pre-k this year. In texas you have to be 4 on or before September 1st, well she misses it by 11 days. There is no way around it, they daycare even tried to pull strings. I believe she's socially and academically prepared to start. DS will be the same if we stay in Texas (we have plans to move back to LA, so he could possibly start at 4 depending on how I feel.) In Louisiana the date is October 1st.

supermom83 · December 2016

I am redshirting my June '11 son this year. I enrolled him in a private school for kindergarten, so he's technically on schedule this year, but we will be re-enrolling him into kindergarten at public school next year, so he will be doing kindergarten twice in two places so he doesn't have any of the social awkwardness of repeating a grade.

My son has a speech delay and goes to speech therapy twice a week and can be difficult to understand, though he is doing well this year in Kinder, it's not success in kinder that I'm worried about, it's 3rd grade and beyond (especially middle school and high school). My older son is a December birthday and is struggling in 2nd grade with reading. The demands on kids and the expectations put for achievement in a classroom are so different than what you and I remember from our own childhood. I feel like letting my June kid repeat kinder is the best possible thing we could do for him. He's not close to reading, he's still learning letter sounds, and 30 years ago that would have been perfectly alright for a kinder kid, but nowadays, if you're not fluently reading by 1st grade than you are already behind. It's maddening. My 2nd grader is reading but has some fluency issues, basically he takes a longer time and still stumbles and sounds out words sometimes, and that's considered almost a whole grade level behind. He's expected to be a completely fluent reader and working on passage comprehension and making inferences, then writing summaries and perfect paragraphs. We work with him on reading every single day, it's just taking him a little longer. I'm not concerned for the long run (middle school and such) but omg the pressure right now in 2nd grade is tremendous. I don't want to set my June kid up for constant catching up and feeling like he's not smart enough just because nowadays the demands on elementary school kids is a bit skewed. No play, all being taught to take a test (the SOLs - called Standards of Learning here in Virginia). It's just too much. I'm all for redshirting if there is any doubt that your kid is not ready.

longhairdntcare · December 2016

My birthday is November and I actually started school early. I had to pass some test to start kindergarten at 4. So I was always the youngest in my class by a while, graduated high school at 17. Personally, I was fine with it but I was always super mature for my age. Flame if you want, but I know if this baby is a boy DH will want to 'redshirt' (if that's what we are calling it) mostly for sports reasons. And honestly, I will be fine with that. I think boys take longer to mature anyways, so I am OK with them being older when they go off to college and have to take care of themselves. My sister's son is a July birthday and she is just sending him to an extra year of Pre-K, so that is definitely an option.

supermom83 · December 2016

I was 16 when I went to college. I hated it. I was always the youngest person in my class, and though I excelled academically (I skipped two grades), the social aspect of it was always annoying. I would never wish it upon any of my kids, especially college! My mom wouldn't let me take time off to work or travel between high school and college, so I went and just couldn't handle it. I got Ds in all my classes the first semester of my freshman year of college! I had to retake them all and it was basically a huge waste of money and time and it made me feel dumb. I really think the older a kid is the better off they are.

longhairdntcare · December 2016

supermom83 said:

I was 16 when I went to college. I hated it. I was always the youngest person in my class, and though I excelled academically (I skipped two grades), the social aspect of it was always annoying. I would never wish it upon any of my kids, especially college! My mom wouldn't let me take time off to work or travel between high school and college, so I went and just couldn't handle it. I got Ds in all my classes the first semester of my freshman year of college! I had to retake them all and it was basically a huge waste of money and time and it made me feel dumb. I really think the older a kid is the better off they are.

Man I was 17 in college and I thought that was bad. I would NEVER let my 16 year old go off to college. That is just way too early.

Xath · December 2016

In the UK it's completely by birthday, so we didn't have a choice. DS1's birthday is in July, and he's currently in Year 1 (their 2nd year of school; equivalent of K). He has an IEP for fine motor delays from when we were back in VA. He's definitely been struggling on the writing front, and I think he's just a bit behind everything. The teachers here aren't concerned.

But when we move back to VA this summer, we have to re-up his IEP and we'll likely work with the county to see where he'd be better off. Since it's an international move with a completely different grade system, I don't think he'll notice either way. That said, the academics here in the UK make the VA standards look like a cake walk, so he might be right on track when we move back. (They wanted him writing complete sentences at the end of Pre-K).

I'm not a huge fan of red-shirting as a general rule just because of a birthday. I think it really depends on your kid and their personality and readiness.

dancegurl1118 · December 2016

I think it depends on the child. My sisters and I were all born in that grey area (August, October and November). All started at 4.5, all succeeded academically. However, that was before kids were expected to be reading and writing in Kindergarten (that's another rant for another day).

DD is early June so I don't think that should even qualify for red shirting. Honestly, there are children that are going to be above average, average, and below average in every grade. I don't think trying to give them a leg up by holding them back for more prep is necessarily the right step. This LO will definitely be born in July if not earlier so i don't even think red shirting is an option as our cutoff is December 31.

tuxielove93 · December 2016

Oh god I didn't even think about this. I'm not sure how much of a choice I'll have with a july baby, but I was one of the oldest in my class and my husband was one of the youngest, so this debate should get interesting. Personally, I think I had an advantage being older. I was more mature, and I was just better prepared for everything because of it, but maybe that was just my personality. I'll probably wait to see how the kid is doing by then. Plus, we're still heavily leaning for home schooling, so that might affect it too.

star_beagle · December 2016

I agree that it really depends on the child and if they can handle it.

I was almost redshirted in kindergarten. We moved from VA (where the cutoff is Sept. 30) to GA (where the cutoff is Aug. 31) about a month after school had started. (My birthday is mid-Sept.) GA tried to force me back into pre-K, but my parents advocated hard for me to stay in K as I was already reading at a 2nd-grade level and was way above my K peers (not emotionally though). We stayed in GA for maybe 4 years and being the youngest all the time was strange. When we moved back to VA, it wasn't an issue at all. In K, I vividly remember reading to my class.

mrsdrmatney · December 2016

I would never red shirt. My mom was a huge advocate for us (8 kids) and if anyone needed extra help she made sure we got it. - I had a sister that had a speech delay, she went on to win academic awards and they wanted to hold her back, my niece they wanted to hold her back in 1st but my mom wouldn't allow it to happen ( yes I have that kind of mom) and she is now in 6th grade and she is just super artistic and a huge reader. My ds is 16 and has a December birthday, so almost 17 and instead of being 18.5 when he graduates he decided to graduate early and he will be a college sophomore next fall. He hated the idea that he was going to be almost 19 when he started college and just found waiting around to be a waste. My sister bypassed their state law by going into private kindergarten. I have an august 30th three year old who was dreadfully shy and cried when other kids came up to her she was in preschool for a few weeks before we had to pull her out for health reasons - those few weeks changed her socially and she still talks about going back to school after her surgery. I know preschool doesn't really matter academically but I'm a huge advocate to socialize and allow the child to develop with children their own age.

AdaByron · December 2016

This absolutely depends on the kid. I have a July birthday and started K right after I turned 5. One of my best friends in school had a July birthday and was a full year older than me. We both did just fine academically and socially. I really don't see how a person can be for or against this issue without putting it in context of the needs and abilities of a specific child.

mrs35 · December 2016

As a teacher I just want to say from my point of view it really depends on the kid. I teach 3rd grade and my youngest student just turned 8 a few weeks ago. (Our cut off date used to be Dec. 1, now it is Sept. 1) She is one of my most mature and intelligent students. I didn't believe her and had to look up her info when she told me she was turning 8. I also have students that academically and socially could have benefited from starting school a year later. It really depends on the kid from my standpoint.

Edit: she was 7... Just turned 8.

ladipale · December 2016

I have two January girls so they were easy but a July baby is right on the cutoff. My girls go to private school and they do asssements before entering TK and K do we will follow their recommendations.

Dcwtada · December 2016

See I want to wait on an assessment - and my husband wants to redshirt our son not our daughter (whom he is convinced is a genius - she is smart but I do think he is more than slightly optimistic - to say he is soft on her would be a grave understatement) our son actually was quicker on the developmental milestones but I have a feeling it has more to do with sports than he is admitting. I am so happy to read all your opinions/advice! thank you!

LoveLee85 · December 2016

My early S15 baby has no choice but to be turning six days after school starts since the cut off is Sept. 1st. This LO will be all depending how on they are at that time. I would selfishly love an extra year before school starts! I'm so excited about the extra year I get with DS1!!!!

cssme13 · December 2016

If we have a boy he will start late if this baby is a girl then she will start at the normal time. I skipped a grade so I was the youngest girl in my class and that was fine I never had issues or thought I missed out or whatever. I had a cousin who skipped the exact same grade at the exact same time and he struggled a lot being the youngest boy in the class.

Hdhtk4 · December 2016

I've been thinking about this already, but I am a teacher. In our district students must be 5 by August 1st to enroll in Kindergarten. With a due date of July 25th, this baby will be really close to the cut off date!

As others have stated, it will really just depend on the child. If this baby is mature emotionally, socially, and intellectually like DD, I will definitely enroll him/her the first year possible. However, if this baby has a more immature personality, which will be even more likely if it is a boy, we will keep her/him in preschool one more year.

My nephew's birthday is July 22nd and he was technically old enough to be enrolled in Kindergarten this year, but due to his immaturity and speech issues SIL is keeping him home until next year.

Also, I have never heard the term redshirting. Kind of embarrassing to admit as a teacher.

Edited because TB ate half my post.

DarkSerendipity · December 2016

It's different for every child. Some are absolutely ready for school at a slightly earlier age, but I loathe the idea of kids being in school for so long.
With my son, he just wasn't ready for kindergarten at 5 (May '07). He's autistic, and we had a hell of a time getting him potty trained because of sensory issues. It was the best decision really. He was better prepared mentally and socially when he was 6.
My daughter will definitely be ready at 5 for school, but she gets to stay with her grandma during the day.

megandchase · December 2016

I'm a teacher and have taught kinder and 1st for several years. My June '13 lo is a boy and while pregnant I swore I would redshirt him because most of the young boys I had in my class really could have benefitted from another year. Well now that he is older, he has always been so mature, can sit still in groups for story time, he is extremely articulate and always has been. His daycare teachers are always shocked at how mature he is for his age. That being said knowing his personality I think he will really do well starting school and holding him back a year I think would be doing him a disservice. Before he was born my husband was also onboard for red shirting him and flame away his reasoning was sports but now even he thinks we need to start him and not redshirt. I think every kid is different and if this next lo needs a year we will red shirt if not we will start we will just wait and see.

manillabar · December 2016

Wow guys I'm so behind. I didn't even know what redshirting was before this thread! I was always the youngest in my classes, born jan 89 and went to school with all the 88'ers. Not sure what the cutoff was in our district but there were some late 88'ers in our class so it was never *too* bad. I was 17 though when I started college, 21 when I started med school, etc but I never felt out of place or too young. I guess it would depend on how my child was doing developmentally but I don't think I would hold him/her back on purpose just because they might be on the younger side (if i'm correctly understanding what redshirting is).

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