Should we redshirt for Kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We sent our August boy on time because we thought it was where he should be. His preschool teacher recommended holding him back.

I wouldn't worry so much about fit -- in our school, there were lots of kids held back and several kids sent on time, so the age range of K was 4-6 at the beginning of the year and 5-7 at the end of the school year. For the rest of your questions, it's for you to evaluate. You know your child best.

+100
It's not a race. We all know some who didn't start or finish college "on time."

Disclaimer: I'm reposting my last response to this, as it was full of a lot of mistakes and hard to read:

I kind of wish you hadn't posted this. If one of my kids sees this, they might get the idea that it's okay to be in college past the age of 22. And this is precisely why I didn't redshirt either of my kids. There are repercussions such as having them on your payroll an extra year. The ultimate goal is to get your kids to be self-supporting. Getting a late start in life is something to be avoided at all costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We sent our August boy on time because we thought it was where he should be. His preschool teacher recommended holding him back.

I wouldn't worry so much about fit -- in our school, there were lots of kids held back and several kids sent on time, so the age range of K was 4-6 at the beginning of the year and 5-7 at the end of the school year. For the rest of your questions, it's for you to evaluate. You know your child best.

+100
It's not a race.

I completely agree, but like another PP said, it's a bit outrageous to accuse to someone who graduated high school at 17 of racing when there are people who graduate high school at 15 and 16. I fail to see how someone who didn't take an early entrance exam before school and didn't skip any grades in school was rushing.

[Anonymous]

There is tons of recent research showing that redshirting is not helpful to children and in many cases may be harmful. Take it to heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm reposting my last response to this, as it was full of a lot of mistakes and hard to read:

I kind of wish you hadn't posted this. If one of my kids sees this, they might get the idea that it's okay to be in college past the age of 22. And this is precisely why I didn't redshirt either of my kids. There are repercussions such as having them on your payroll an extra year. The ultimate goal is to get your kids to be self-supporting. Getting a late start in life is something to be avoided at all costs.

It certainly can be ok to be in college past the age of 22. We don't all have to be on the same schedule in life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm reposting my last response to this, as it was full of a lot of mistakes and hard to read:

I kind of wish you hadn't posted this. If one of my kids sees this, they might get the idea that it's okay to be in college past the age of 22. And this is precisely why I didn't redshirt either of my kids. There are repercussions such as having them on your payroll an extra year. The ultimate goal is to get your kids to be self-supporting. Getting a late start in life is something to be avoided at all costs.

It certainly can be ok to be in college past the age of 22. We don't all have to be on the same schedule in life.

Well, I can't imagine there are many people who want to wait until 23 or 24 to start their adult lives.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for all your responses. I was hoping use DCUM to prove to SO that we should send him on time, but there are too many people telling me it's a good idea to redshirt. It looks like I'll find another way to prove SO wrong. Thank you anyways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm reposting my last response to this, as it was full of a lot of mistakes and hard to read:

I kind of wish you hadn't posted this. If one of my kids sees this, they might get the idea that it's okay to be in college past the age of 22. And this is precisely why I didn't redshirt either of my kids. There are repercussions such as having them on your payroll an extra year. The ultimate goal is to get your kids to be self-supporting. Getting a late start in life is something to be avoided at all costs.

It certainly can be ok to be in college past the age of 22. We don't all have to be on the same schedule in life.

Well, I can't imagine there are many people who want to wait until 23 or 24 to start their adult lives.

You can live your adult life while being a student--literally millions of people do it. (In 2014, there were 8 million college students over age 25, compared to 12 million under 25.)

There are good reasons to redshirt, and good reasons not to. But deciding based on how old you want your child to be when he graduates from college is a little over the top. What if he takes a gap year? What if he doesn't go to college at all?

OP, just focus on where your child is today and what educational setting is going to best meet his needs next year. There are plenty of opportunities to adjust along the journey, and you can't possibly guess at what his needs will be 15 years from now. Just do the best you can with the information you have right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm reposting my last response to this, as it was full of a lot of mistakes and hard to read:

I kind of wish you hadn't posted this. If one of my kids sees this, they might get the idea that it's okay to be in college past the age of 22. And this is precisely why I didn't redshirt either of my kids. There are repercussions such as having them on your payroll an extra year. The ultimate goal is to get your kids to be self-supporting. Getting a late start in life is something to be avoided at all costs.

It certainly can be ok to be in college past the age of 22. We don't all have to be on the same schedule in life.

Well, I can't imagine there are many people who want to wait until 23 or 24 to start their adult lives.

You can live your adult life while being a student--literally millions of people do it. (In 2014, there were 8 million college students over age 25, compared to 12 million under 25.)

What if he takes a gap year? What if he doesn't go to college at all?

If he takes a gap year, he can pay for college himself. Since I was posting on DCUM, I thought you would take it for granted that DS would go to college. Going to college isn't a question for DCUM users. People who go on DCUM generally have above-average intelligence and just about everyone who posts on here has gone, or will go, to college. Only lazy people skip out on college. And as for the 2014 statistic, it's really none of my business what other people do. If they want to waste away, that's their prerogative. In our family, that isn't an option.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are right that most kids with summer birthdays are ready to start at 5. However, you need to do what's right for your kid, not what's right for most children. For instance, it's okay for most people to have a slice of cake once in a while, but DH is diabetic, so he never eats any cake or anything with sugar in it, as that would be a death sentence for him. He needs to be more careful about what he eats most people because he has more health problems than most people. Similarly, you need adjust your child's academic path to their developmental path. If his brain is developmentally a year behind, redshirting him would be the smartest move. DS was born 6/9, and at the end of Kindergarten, his teachers thought it best to skip 1st grade, as he was way ahead of his peers. So we sent him straight to 2nd grade, not because we think that's what most kids should do, but because that was the right move specifically for DS. He just turned 11 and is about to finish 6th grade with very stellar marks. He is reading at 10th grade level and will be taking Geometry next year as a 7th grader. If he were in his age-appropriate grade, he would literally be in danger of dying of boredom. Conversely, if someone developmentally behind were in their age-appropriate grade, they would flounder greatly.

If this is the case with your son, I would strongly encourage you to redshirt. You are right that, for most summer kids, sending them to Kindergarten at 5 is not rushing them. However, if they have developmental delays, sending them on time is rushing them. Conversely, we did not rush DS by skipping a grade because that was where he, personally, needed to be. I know you're afraid of him being embarrassed to be a year behind, but look at it this way. 20 years down the line, nobody will care that he graduated high school a year late, just like nobody will care that our DS graduated high school a year early. However, if you send him on time when he's not ready, that could yield much longer-lasting consequences.

[Anonymous]

As someone who sent my child to school when he was supposed to go, I really dislike it when others redshirt for no apparent reason other than wanting their kid to be the oldest. This results in large age differences in the classroom. Someone has to be the oldest and someone has to be the youngest. If we all sent our kids when we are supposed to, these large gaps age gaps wouldn't exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If he takes a gap year, he can pay for college himself. Since I was posting on DCUM, I thought you would take it for granted that DS would go to college. Going to college isn't a question for DCUM users. People who go on DCUM generally have above-average intelligence and just about everyone who posts on here has gone, or will go, to college. Only lazy people skip out on college. And as for the 2014 statistic, it's really none of my business what other people do. If they want to waste away, that's their prerogative. In our family, that isn't an option.

How old is your child?

I hope, for your child's sake, that his choices meet your expectations. For your sake, though, you might consider a bit more flexibility. People with rigid expectations may have difficulties when life doesn't go as planned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who sent my child to school when he was supposed to go, I really dislike it when others redshirt for no apparent reason other than wanting their kid to be the oldest. This results in large age differences in the classroom. Someone has to be the oldest and someone has to be the youngest. If we all sent our kids when we are supposed to, these large gaps age gaps wouldn't exist.

You made your decision based on your perceptions of the best interests of your child. Let others do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm reposting my last response to this, as it was full of a lot of mistakes and hard to read:

I kind of wish you hadn't posted this. If one of my kids sees this, they might get the idea that it's okay to be in college past the age of 22. And this is precisely why I didn't redshirt either of my kids. There are repercussions such as having them on your payroll an extra year. The ultimate goal is to get your kids to be self-supporting. Getting a late start in life is something to be avoided at all costs.

It certainly can be ok to be in college past the age of 22. We don't all have to be on the same schedule in life.

Well, I can't imagine there are many people who want to wait until 23 or 24 to start their adult lives.

You can live your adult life while being a student--literally millions of people do it. (In 2014, there were 8 million college students over age 25, compared to 12 million under 25.)

What if he takes a gap year? What if he doesn't go to college at all?

If he takes a gap year, he can pay for college himself. Since I was posting on DCUM, I thought you would take it for granted that DS would go to college. Going to college isn't a question for DCUM users. People who go on DCUM generally have above-average intelligence and just about everyone who posts on here has gone, or will go, to college. Only lazy people skip out on college. And as for the 2014 statistic, it's really none of my business what other people do. If they want to waste away, that's their prerogative. In our family, that isn't an option.

Wow. Only lazy people skip college? How about people who work in trades and work very hard? You don't sound like you get out much.

[Anonymous]

We did it & it was by far the greatest thing we could have done for our son.

Our principal told us that she's never once had a parent say that they were unhappy with their decision to redshirt, but has heard from many, many parents who regretted the decision to put their child through anyway, even though they didn't feel their child was ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did it & it was by far the greatest thing we could have done for our son.

Our principal told us that she's never once had a parent say that they were unhappy with their decision to redshirt, but has heard from many, many parents who regretted the decision to put their child through anyway, even though they didn't feel their child was ready.

Well, no, it's probably not the kind of thing you'd come to regret by the end of kindergarten. Later on, though...