Entering Kindergarten at 6

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m wondering the racial breakdown of red shirted kids. Because this seems like white foolishness to me.

I think you’re largely right. I only know one black kid (affluent family) who was redshirted. All the rest are white families.

"[Redshirting] is also significantly more common among white students – roughly 6 percent of white students are redshirted, compared to less than 3 percent of Asian students and 2 percent or less of black and Hispanic children."
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-06-16/how-much-does-it-benefit-a-child-to-delay-kindergarten-entry-for-a-year

And what's the racial breakdown of being retained/held back? that's right, disproportionaly African American. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010015/indicator4_17.asp

White kids get "redshirted" by their parents proactively; black kids get retained. What we should actually be doing is making sure more black kids can be redshirted if necessary and placed in excellent PK programs.

This is bass-ackwards thinking. Redshirting is a point of privilege, because it costs money to be able to pay for an extra year of daycare or child care. Additionally, AA students are more likely to lack access to the resources that are predictors of readiness for early childhood education. What we need is MORE Pre-K, Head Start, etc. -- not delaying access to ECE.

We're on the DCPS board, though. A kid could be redshirted and kept in an excellent DCPS PK4 program. And, I actually don't think retaining kids in K is necessarily a terrible thing either as long as they get the support they need the 2nd year. The point is there is little functional difference between redshirting and retaining in K - people just like to bag on the former because, I don't know, they think it's cheating. The race stuff here is really just a smoke screen.

But it's not redshirting if the school is recommending it. You can't go to PK-3, PK-4, and PK-4 again unless it's somehow school initiated, and I suspect it wouldn't be that way because of how the funding for PK comes in. Delaying starting PK is a luxury.

Argh. Schools, teachers, and doctors are almost ALWAYS involved in the decision to redshirt or not. My argument is that MORE parents should be able to redshirt; and that the prevalence of retention in K suggests a need for MORE redshirting. And it is possible to repeat PK4 - that would be at the principal's discretion. Calling it a "luxury" is a red herring.

And my bigger point is: stop being a hypocritical busybody pretending that your against redshirting due to social justice.

I'm not pretending to be against redshirting. I am against it. It screws up dynamics for classrooms and families who are using the cut-off as a guide. It's yet another attempt to try to get ahead at the expense of others.

I'm a WOC and no doctor in my community has EVER recommended "redshirting" to another family that I know of, which for definition's sake is the preemptive decision to hold back a child from enrolling in a school. I'll say it again, but it's a luxury to delay enrolling in schools that most families in my community simply can't afford.

It's idiotic to think that students who come from more at-risk backgrounds will be better off if they delay entering schools makes absolutely no sense.

oh, are you privy to the medical records of every child in your school? no, no you are not. and if you have a problem with redshirting, I recommend you take on retention in K as well. Because it happens with regularity in our DCPS, except magically it's ok because it's retention and not redshirting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I red-shirted and don't care if other parents are upset. Someone will always be able to do something that someone else can't do. Fun fact: Life is not fair nor equitable. I wish I was born a Hilton, but I'm not, so I carry on and work with the normal life granted to me.

Talk with your daughter about advocating/standing up for herself or alternatively speak with the child's parents. However, realistically she'll be fine.

It's good that you are impervious to the scorn of other parents. I imagine you have a lot of practice ignoring the opinions others have about you.

[Anonymous]

17:43 how many K students were held back?

[Anonymous]

OP, I just spoke today to an admission director for a well known catholic school in DC. She told me that being a little older is always better than being younger. My DD will be turning 6 just as her K class starts. Do what is best for your child and don’t honk about anything and anybody else. All of these parents that are against redshirting are only thinking about their kids too (that perhaps are born in May or June or they decide not not redshirt). We all try to do what is best for our kids. Don’t let people on an anonymous board guilt you into doing otherwise because it suits THEIR children’s needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I just spoke today to an admission director for a well known catholic school in DC. She told me that being a little older is always better than being younger. My DD will be turning 6 just as her K class starts. Do what is best for your child and don’t honk about anything and anybody else. All of these parents that are against redshirting are only thinking about their kids too (that perhaps are born in May or June or they decide not not redshirt). We all try to do what is best for our kids. Don’t let people on an anonymous board guilt you into doing otherwise because it suits THEIR children’s needs.

Or, you know, we are just following the guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I just spoke today to an admission director for a well known catholic school in DC. She told me that being a little older is always better than being younger. My DD will be turning 6 just as her K class starts. Do what is best for your child and don’t honk about anything and anybody else. All of these parents that are against redshirting are only thinking about their kids too (that perhaps are born in May or June or they decide not not redshirt). We all try to do what is best for our kids. Don’t let people on an anonymous board guilt you into doing otherwise because it suits THEIR children’s needs.

Or, you know, we are just following the guidelines.

So are the people who redshirt. Please tell me that you are honestly not thinking of your own child when you try to convince OP to not redshirt... convince me

[Anonymous]

Most hilarious thing is these rich white liberals who redshirt and then pretend like they are so pro-equal education for everyone. They don’t even get why that’s hypocritical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most hilarious thing is these rich white liberals who redshirt and then pretend like they are so pro-equal education for everyone. They don’t even get why that’s hypocritical.

Yup!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I just spoke today to an admission director for a well known catholic school in DC. She told me that being a little older is always better than being younger. My DD will be turning 6 just as her K class starts. Do what is best for your child and don’t honk about anything and anybody else. All of these parents that are against redshirting are only thinking about their kids too (that perhaps are born in May or June or they decide not not redshirt). We all try to do what is best for our kids. Don’t let people on an anonymous board guilt you into doing otherwise because it suits THEIR children’s needs.

Or, you know, we are just following the guidelines.

So are the people who redshirt. Please tell me that you are honestly not thinking of your own child when you try to convince OP to not redshirt... convince me

I’m following “there has to be a cut off so listen to it unless you have a good reason and ‘my kid is not ready in my opinion’ isn’t a reason”

My kid turns 5 the day before the cut off so I’m practicing what I preach.

[Anonymous]

IMHO, it's better to redshirt at the ECE level than older grades. The kids don't even notice. So many parents only want to acknowledge the academic piece but school is just as social and emotional too. If your child struggles to be confident, share, be kind, takes weeks to deal with new change, doesn't make friends easily, can't self-advocate without mom/dad ........these are reasons to review prek3 or 4. I would not say reviewing prek is staying back because preschool is not really academic it's more social-emotional

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I just spoke today to an admission director for a well known catholic school in DC. She told me that being a little older is always better than being younger. My DD will be turning 6 just as her K class starts. Do what is best for your child and don’t honk about anything and anybody else. All of these parents that are against redshirting are only thinking about their kids too (that perhaps are born in May or June or they decide not not redshirt). We all try to do what is best for our kids. Don’t let people on an anonymous board guilt you into doing otherwise because it suits THEIR children’s needs.

Or, you know, we are just following the guidelines.

So are the people who redshirt. Please tell me that you are honestly not thinking of your own child when you try to convince OP to not redshirt... convince me

I’m following “there has to be a cut off so listen to it unless you have a good reason and ‘my kid is not ready in my opinion’ isn’t a reason”

My kid turns 5 the day before the cut off so I’m practicing what I preach.

My child is the youngest/Fall child after the cut off and we still sent them and they had SN. If anything going on time/early depending on how you look at it helped with the SN and everything else. Teachers recommend to hold back as its easier on them to have older kids. Its not about your kid, its about them. Even with preschool, its easier on them to have an older child. Kids will be ok and catch up. If they are the oldest, they will act the age of the kids around them and that can create and artificial delay.

[Anonymous]

One of our children barely made the cut-off but thank God he did. He was ready and it was obvious.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:How do some of you reconcile red shirting but then also taking advantage of the free prek3 and 4. They are either ready for all day school or not.

I am the pp poster above who regrets not redshirting. I didn't send my child to all day PK3. We chose a 1/2 day 3-day a week private program. We did send him to an all day PK4, but it was a play-based program. Wish now I would have kept him in it another year. How different the last three years would have been! And not just for my kid - for yours too. He has been rather disruptive in class. You non-redshirting parents, do you really want immature, disruptive summer birthday boys in your kids' classrooms?! My kid takes up A LOT of the teacher's time and attention both in term of behavior and academics.

But he was three years more mature and still being disruptive, so may be you are focusing on the wrong thing as a cause.

Maybe you should MYOB, because these kids are very complicated and it's not always clear what the right thing is, and parents do what they can to help, which may include redshirting.

Or, you can just go on bashing parents with struggling kids.

NP. I don't think that the PP was bashing parents with struggling kids at all. I actually feel that it's the opposite. I think she's saying that it sounds like there was an underlying reason for the disruptive behavior that doesn't have to do with "well you let your preschooler run wild and didn't parent him properly and that's why they weren't ready for school but in a year he'll hopefully settle down and it will be fine to start then". If after several years of formal schooling the child is still having behavioral or learning issues then I don't think people can claim that delaying school until they're physically older and bigger would help much. It's more of a case of "there's something else going on here, like maybe a medical issue, whether that's a simple thing like food allergies making them more hyperactive or something more serious, that isn't going to magically fix itself".

To the PP who regrets not redshirting, have you considered holding your child back now? Do you think it would make him less disruptive if the work is a bit easier and the expectations are a bit lower? If you think that, then maybe you should talk to the teachers and see whether they think the same. Maybe the teachers don't think you'd be open to it. Some kids do get held back when they're struggling academically, and if you really think it the lower grade would solve a lot of the issues then it's better to make a correction in third grade than to never do it and struggle all the way to grade 12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do some of you reconcile red shirting but then also taking advantage of the free prek3 and 4. They are either ready for all day school or not.

I am the pp poster above who regrets not redshirting. I didn't send my child to all day PK3. We chose a 1/2 day 3-day a week private program. We did send him to an all day PK4, but it was a play-based program. Wish now I would have kept him in it another year. How different the last three years would have been! And not just for my kid - for yours too. He has been rather disruptive in class. You non-redshirting parents, do you really want immature, disruptive summer birthday boys in your kids' classrooms?! My kid takes up A LOT of the teacher's time and attention both in term of behavior and academics.

But he was three years more mature and still being disruptive, so may be you are focusing on the wrong thing as a cause.

Maybe you should MYOB, because these kids are very complicated and it's not always clear what the right thing is, and parents do what they can to help, which may include redshirting.

Or, you can just go on bashing parents with struggling kids.

NP. I don't think that the PP was bashing parents with struggling kids at all. I actually feel that it's the opposite. I think she's saying that it sounds like there was an underlying reason for the disruptive behavior that doesn't have to do with "well you let your preschooler run wild and didn't parent him properly and that's why they weren't ready for school but in a year he'll hopefully settle down and it will be fine to start then". If after several years of formal schooling the child is still having behavioral or learning issues then I don't think people can claim that delaying school until they're physically older and bigger would help much. It's more of a case of "there's something else going on here, like maybe a medical issue, whether that's a simple thing like food allergies making them more hyperactive or something more serious, that isn't going to magically fix itself".

To the PP who regrets not redshirting, have you considered holding your child back now? Do you think it would make him less disruptive if the work is a bit easier and the expectations are a bit lower? If you think that, then maybe you should talk to the teachers and see whether they think the same. Maybe the teachers don't think you'd be open to it. Some kids do get held back when they're struggling academically, and if you really think it the lower grade would solve a lot of the issues then it's better to make a correction in third grade than to never do it and struggle all the way to grade 12.

PP here. I've stayed out of the ensuing discussion, but yes, we are talking to teachers about holding him back and about how to do so without making him feel like a failure. This is my biggest worry now. They do think that 1. his behavior is much more developmentally appropriate for a 1st grader than a 2nd grader and 2) some of his goofing off in class is because he can't do the work. In 1st grade he was reading at the K level and in second grade he is reading at a 1st grade level, so he is making progress. Had we redshirted, I imagine he would have always been on track and we'd not now be faced with how to get him in the appropriate grade without damaging his self esteem and having him label himself as not good at school.

[Anonymous]

I'm a K teacher and I've never suggested someone be held back because having older kids is easier on me. What in the world?