Summer birthdays....do you redshirt them, or put them in the big leagues?

[Anonymous]

I am the OP, and while I'd rather my daughter, who has a Summer birthday, not be the youngest in her class, I do feel she is ready to move into K. I'm really interested in the general age of kids who enter K; are there more older or younger, or is there a good mix? Anyone with kids in K have input on the ages?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Oh no, here we go again. This tends to be an explosive topic.[/quote]

I looked for a forum on this topic and didn't see one... it must have been a while. do you have an opinion? can you share what the other sentiments were?

[Anonymous]

July girl, moving forward. Was offered the "older" spot at four DC privates this year, so I feel confident that she's ready.

[Anonymous]

"here we go again" pp again. This thread has been FAR more respectful than past red shirting threads. I don't even want to bring up prior threads because everyone here seems to be posting helpful information.

We did red shirt DC, who was completely ready academically but delayed socially and it was clearly the right thing to do. He is very socially successful now, and does not feel at all older than his classmates. Then again, he's not the only one who waited a year.

The thing to avoid, i think, is trying to have your child repeat later. I've seen families try this because they found out too late that their child just wasn't ready, or could use an extra year. At that point, the kids will resist and it will affect self-esteem.

[Anonymous]

We were on the fence, and are red-shirting because it is what the school that is our strong favorite recommended. Our son will be starting pre-K next year at a "Big 3" (crazy term) and we are very pleased with pre-k program there, so we're confident he'll be challenged and engaged.

[Anonymous]

We're glad that we decided NOT to redshirt our daughter last year. She was accepted at 2 of the Big 3 schools and is doing very well--lots of friends and academically challenged.

[Anonymous]

late august girl. plan to redshirt. enough people do it that i'd be surprised if she stands out

[Anonymous]

Similar question: What to do about September birthdays? Girl who is ready for K, just through 4 year old program, teachers think she should be in K but she just misses cut-off date. Will privates consider her for K?

[Anonymous]

I would talk to the school.... if a top/big 3 private school admits them, then they are ready. I also noticed that in my DD's pre-K class at a so-called 'big 3' there was just 1 child already 5 at the start of the school year. In other words, at least one big 3 private seems to not redshirt the kids or accept redshirted kids. There are also a few August birthdays... as in the kids will not turn 5 until this summer.

[Anonymous]

Good!

Anonymous wrote:I would talk to the school.... if a top/big 3 private school admits them, then they are ready. I also noticed that in my DD's pre-K class at a so-called 'big 3' there was just 1 child already 5 at the start of the school year. In other words, at least one big 3 private seems to not redshirt the kids or accept redshirted kids. There are also a few August birthdays... as in the kids will not turn 5 until this summer.

[Anonymous]

Child with late August birthday. We will not redshirt.

[Anonymous]

August birthday boy. Redshirted and so far it seems like the right thing for him. When I asked around at schools it seemed like about half the August boys were being redshirted. I suspect the percentage is lower for girls but as it happens there were no August girls in my son's school.

[Anonymous]

Girl with late June birthday and we are not redshirting. Although I don't like the fact that she will be one of the youngest (and thus arguably might not be as "competitive" in certain areas than girls a year older), that would be the only reason we held her back and we concluded that was not a good enough reason in our case. I talked to at least two current parents at the private my daughter will attend who currently have August-birthday girls who also were not redshirted. Although redshirting seems to be expected by certain private schools, it seems (anecdotally at least) like the trend might now be shifting somewhat away from the practice. From speaking with lots of parents (again no hard evidence here), parents in our local public schools typically don't hold boys back and it's even rarer to hold back girls.

[Anonymous]

If competing in athletics is a concern (mostly for boys) as an overall component of the educational experience, then definitely redshirt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If competing in athletics is a concern (mostly for boys) as an overall component of the educational experience, then definitely redshirt.