We chose not to redshirt DS without considering the long-term consequences:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

Be a shame if you fall on the stairs and end up in a wheelchair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

lol at flexing for being a millionaire in late 40s. I’d guess that’s a third of college graduates are millionaires at that stage in life, so not as impressive as you think it is.

I find it amusing that your most notable accomplishments are getting degrees a year younger than your peers. To me, thats not an indication of being successful. It’s what you do with that knowledge. Often it’s having the maturity, social skills, and problem solving that is lagging behind, not getting the A in class and doing well on tests.

Taking one extra year, especially for boys can help. It doesn’t matter if it’s in kindergarten, gap year before college, or taking a year after college to strengthen a medical school application as an example.

Let families decide what’s best for them without interjecting in their decision. It’s tacky to give yourself as an example to others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

lol at flexing for being a millionaire in late 40s. I’d guess that’s a third of college graduates are millionaires at that stage in life, so not as impressive as you think it is.

I find it amusing that your most notable accomplishments are getting degrees a year younger than your peers. To me, thats not an indication of being successful. It’s what you do with that knowledge. Often it’s having the maturity, social skills, and problem solving that is lagging behind, not getting the A in class and doing well on tests.

Taking one extra year, especially for boys can help. It doesn’t matter if it’s in kindergarten, gap year before college, or taking a year after college to strengthen a medical school application as an example.

Let families decide what’s best for them without interjecting in their decision. It’s tacky to give yourself as an example to others.

Graduating high school at 17 is normal, as is graduating college at 21. And being a millionaire at any age is impressive, because most people never are at any point in their life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

lol at flexing for being a millionaire in late 40s. I’d guess that’s a third of college graduates are millionaires at that stage in life, so not as impressive as you think it is.

I find it amusing that your most notable accomplishments are getting degrees a year younger than your peers. To me, thats not an indication of being successful. It’s what you do with that knowledge. Often it’s having the maturity, social skills, and problem solving that is lagging behind, not getting the A in class and doing well on tests.

Taking one extra year, especially for boys can help. It doesn’t matter if it’s in kindergarten, gap year before college, or taking a year after college to strengthen a medical school application as an example.

Let families decide what’s best for them without interjecting in their decision. It’s tacky to give yourself as an example to others.

I’m not sure they were bragging. I think they were just trying to challenge the OP’s theory that not being redshirted was the reason their son didn’t graduate from college in four years.

[Anonymous]

I GREEN - SHIRTED my kid.

He had missed the cut-off by 15 days, and so we made him take the test to get early admitted to kindergarten.

He has always been academically advanced for his grade and was a high achiever in HS and now also in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

That’s sounds like an argument for redshirting. Despite graduating earlier by one year, you still ended up in the same average place as your peers. It didn’t dramatically made you more successful or gave you a leg up in your career.

If a kid is redshirted and starts later it is unlikely to have a negative impact. If the kid is struggling in kindergarten, it’s better to redshirt knowing that much, and likely will help a little because at that age one year matters a lot for getting to a maturity level where they can do well in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you give your son a handmade excuse for every failure. It's not your fault you didn't study for your math test; mommy didn't consider how lazy you'd be 11 years ago when she shipped you to Kindy!

Going to school on time is not why he took an extra year to graduate college. Possibly being raised by parents who told him, "it's not your fault, you're 3 months younger than your BFF how can you be held to the same standard??!" is the reason, though.

Three months can make a big difference when you’re a kid.

There will always be three month differences with kids in school! No, it’s not a big difference once they are past preschool. Not at all.

Ok but then the 3 months older a redshirted August kid is to an on-time October kid equally makes no difference.

That would be a 14-month difference.

No, a redshirted August kindergartener turns six the first week of school. The on time October birthday turns six the 8th-12th week of school.

Yes those kids are only a few weeks apart in age. That's how we end up with so many 18yr old seniors that people like PP refuse to acknowledge the existence of.

OMG. The real question is what is the age difference between the youngest child in the class and the eldest. Don’t be obtuse

Poor families need the free childcare of public school to be able to work so they tend to “ green shirt” their kids ie send them as early as possible so possibly 4 to K. Middle class families want to get every advantage that they can get so redshirt to make sure their kid is the eldest, so possibly 6 . The consequence is that the real time gap between the youngest and eldest in the classroom is over 12 months. Malcolm Gladwells research concluded that even in a 12 month age range there is a significant advantage to being on the older side academically and athletically so common sense should tell you that increasing that 12 month gap further will exacerbate the inequality.

4yr olds don’t belong in kindergarten. NY is completely behind the times. I don’t blame parents for doing the right thing.

They are turning five within a few weeks. Yes they do. The advantage is having a iq and support at home. My kids were reading by age three.

Mine too and I still didn’t send to K at 4. Its not developmentally appropriate, and would be considered child abuse in parts of Europe. You can read and write and learn without sitting at a desk for hours on end with 35 minutes outdoors like a prisoner.

Is that what they do in kindergarten? Sit at a desk for hours on end?

Yes, and on average spend fewer than 30 minutes per day outdoors. It’s not remotely appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The purpose is this post is to encourage parents of kids born between October and December to think long-term when deciding whether or not to send them to kindergarten at 4. Our son has a late November birthday, and when he was 4, all that mattered to us was that he was ready for Kindergarten. We didn't ask ourselves how he would do in high school or college. Thus, we sent him at 4, and he has ultimately been emotionally damaged because of it.

Now contrary to popular opinion, he didn't feel as bad about being the last to get his driver's license as one might expect. After all, it's a hard and fast rule in this country that if you're under 16, you're now allowed a driver's license. Thus, our son knew that his classmates weren't driving before him because of anything he had done wrong; he knew that it was just the law and there was no reason for him to blame himself. However, our son experienced other problems that I'm sure were an indirect result of his relative age. However, because these problems were an indirect result, he had a much harder time not blaming himself for them.

One such example is that he didn't make it into his high school's top orchestra until his senior year, while most of his orchestra friends made it in their junior year. Concerts were torture for him his junior year, as he had to sit in the audience watching his classmates perform some of the greatest classical pieces ever written.

Another example is that he failed Pre-Calculus his junior year, and had to retake it his senior year, meaning he graduated high school with no knowledge of Calculus. Whenever he got together with his friends to study during his senior year, he had to endure the shame of pulling out his Pre-Calculus textbook while all his friends pulled out their Calculus(and in some cases, Multivariable Calculus) textbooks.

But, most recently and most importantly, is that he failed to graduate from college in 4 years. Due to his immaturity when he entered college, he wasn't able to handle as much as most of his classmates, and the result was that he ended up falling a year behind. He should've graduated this spring, but he didn't. It's going to be another year before he graduates and he is miserable about it. These past weeks, he's had to endure his friends from high school as well as his friends from his first year at the university(including his old roommates) posting pictures of themselves in their caps and gowns on facebook. The moderator of that group, the other day, made a post saying, "Congratulations college grads!" which filled our son with shame. A parent of one of his friends from high school invited them to a college graduation party at their enormous house, to which our son had to gloomily decline. Even though he's graduating next year, the people he's going to graduate with are people he barely knows, whereas most people who graduate from college together have shared the full 4 years together, from start to finish.

I've never heard a parent say they regret redshirting, but I've heard many parents say they regret not redshirting, and now I understand why.

Sorry, the issue is with your child and your parenting. Not an issue with redshirting, greenshirting, rainbowshirting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The purpose is this post is to encourage parents of kids born between October and December to think long-term when deciding whether or not to send them to kindergarten at 4. Our son has a late November birthday, and when he was 4, all that mattered to us was that he was ready for Kindergarten. We didn't ask ourselves how he would do in high school or college. Thus, we sent him at 4, and he has ultimately been emotionally damaged because of it.

Now contrary to popular opinion, he didn't feel as bad about being the last to get his driver's license as one might expect. After all, it's a hard and fast rule in this country that if you're under 16, you're now allowed a driver's license. Thus, our son knew that his classmates weren't driving before him because of anything he had done wrong; he knew that it was just the law and there was no reason for him to blame himself. However, our son experienced other problems that I'm sure were an indirect result of his relative age. However, because these problems were an indirect result, he had a much harder time not blaming himself for them.

One such example is that he didn't make it into his high school's top orchestra until his senior year, while most of his orchestra friends made it in their junior year. Concerts were torture for him his junior year, as he had to sit in the audience watching his classmates perform some of the greatest classical pieces ever written.

Another example is that he failed Pre-Calculus his junior year, and had to retake it his senior year, meaning he graduated high school with no knowledge of Calculus. Whenever he got together with his friends to study during his senior year, he had to endure the shame of pulling out his Pre-Calculus textbook while all his friends pulled out their Calculus(and in some cases, Multivariable Calculus) textbooks.

But, most recently and most importantly, is that he failed to graduate from college in 4 years. Due to his immaturity when he entered college, he wasn't able to handle as much as most of his classmates, and the result was that he ended up falling a year behind. He should've graduated this spring, but he didn't. It's going to be another year before he graduates and he is miserable about it. These past weeks, he's had to endure his friends from high school as well as his friends from his first year at the university(including his old roommates) posting pictures of themselves in their caps and gowns on facebook. The moderator of that group, the other day, made a post saying, "Congratulations college grads!" which filled our son with shame. A parent of one of his friends from high school invited them to a college graduation party at their enormous house, to which our son had to gloomily decline. Even though he's graduating next year, the people he's going to graduate with are people he barely knows, whereas most people who graduate from college together have shared the full 4 years together, from start to finish.

I've never heard a parent say they regret redshirting, but I've heard many parents say they regret not redshirting, and now I understand why.

Sorry, the issue is with your child and your parenting. Not an issue with redshirting, greenshirting, rainbowshirting.

My thoughts exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

Be a shame if you fall on the stairs and end up in a wheelchair

DP, but what’s that supposed to mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

lol at flexing for being a millionaire in late 40s. I’d guess that’s a third of college graduates are millionaires at that stage in life, so not as impressive as you think it is.

I find it amusing that your most notable accomplishments are getting degrees a year younger than your peers. To me, thats not an indication of being successful. It’s what you do with that knowledge. Often it’s having the maturity, social skills, and problem solving that is lagging behind, not getting the A in class and doing well on tests.

Taking one extra year, especially for boys can help. It doesn’t matter if it’s in kindergarten, gap year before college, or taking a year after college to strengthen a medical school application as an example.

Let families decide what’s best for them without interjecting in their decision. It’s tacky to give yourself as an example to others.

Graduating high school at 17 is normal, as is graduating college at 21. And being a millionaire at any age is impressive, because most people never are at any point in their life.

It can be fairly easy to become a millionaire these days, depending on timing and luck. I am a Sept baby who also graduated at 17/21 and was able to get that extra year of income into the market during the cheapo prices of 2008 crash, which has compounded significantly. So even though I am not a high earner and have a few years I didn't work at all, I am almost there myself at 40.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you give your son a handmade excuse for every failure. It's not your fault you didn't study for your math test; mommy didn't consider how lazy you'd be 11 years ago when she shipped you to Kindy!

Going to school on time is not why he took an extra year to graduate college. Possibly being raised by parents who told him, "it's not your fault, you're 3 months younger than your BFF how can you be held to the same standard??!" is the reason, though.

Three months can make a big difference when you’re a kid.

There will always be three month differences with kids in school! No, it’s not a big difference once they are past preschool. Not at all.

Ok but then the 3 months older a redshirted August kid is to an on-time October kid equally makes no difference.

That would be a 14-month difference.

No, a redshirted August kindergartener turns six the first week of school. The on time October birthday turns six the 8th-12th week of school.

Yes those kids are only a few weeks apart in age. That's how we end up with so many 18yr old seniors that people like PP refuse to acknowledge the existence of.

OMG. The real question is what is the age difference between the youngest child in the class and the eldest. Don’t be obtuse

Poor families need the free childcare of public school to be able to work so they tend to “ green shirt” their kids ie send them as early as possible so possibly 4 to K. Middle class families want to get every advantage that they can get so redshirt to make sure their kid is the eldest, so possibly 6 . The consequence is that the real time gap between the youngest and eldest in the classroom is over 12 months. Malcolm Gladwells research concluded that even in a 12 month age range there is a significant advantage to being on the older side academically and athletically so common sense should tell you that increasing that 12 month gap further will exacerbate the inequality.

4yr olds don’t belong in kindergarten. NY is completely behind the times. I don’t blame parents for doing the right thing.

They are turning five within a few weeks. Yes they do. The advantage is having a iq and support at home. My kids were reading by age three.

Mine too and I still didn’t send to K at 4. Its not developmentally appropriate, and would be considered child abuse in parts of Europe. You can read and write and learn without sitting at a desk for hours on end with 35 minutes outdoors like a prisoner.

Is that what they do in kindergarten? Sit at a desk for hours on end?

Yes, and on average spend fewer than 30 minutes per day outdoors. It’s not remotely appropriate.

That’s a third rate kindergarten class. Kind of sad.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but there’s no excuse for taking longer than four years to graduate from college unless you have to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you give your son a handmade excuse for every failure. It's not your fault you didn't study for your math test; mommy didn't consider how lazy you'd be 11 years ago when she shipped you to Kindy!

Going to school on time is not why he took an extra year to graduate college. Possibly being raised by parents who told him, "it's not your fault, you're 3 months younger than your BFF how can you be held to the same standard??!" is the reason, though.

Three months can make a big difference when you’re a kid.

There will always be three month differences with kids in school! No, it’s not a big difference once they are past preschool. Not at all.

Ok but then the 3 months older a redshirted August kid is to an on-time October kid equally makes no difference.

That would be a 14-month difference.

No, a redshirted August kindergartener turns six the first week of school. The on time October birthday turns six the 8th-12th week of school.

Yes those kids are only a few weeks apart in age. That's how we end up with so many 18yr old seniors that people like PP refuse to acknowledge the existence of.

OMG. The real question is what is the age difference between the youngest child in the class and the eldest. Don’t be obtuse

Poor families need the free childcare of public school to be able to work so they tend to “ green shirt” their kids ie send them as early as possible so possibly 4 to K. Middle class families want to get every advantage that they can get so redshirt to make sure their kid is the eldest, so possibly 6 . The consequence is that the real time gap between the youngest and eldest in the classroom is over 12 months. Malcolm Gladwells research concluded that even in a 12 month age range there is a significant advantage to being on the older side academically and athletically so common sense should tell you that increasing that 12 month gap further will exacerbate the inequality.

4yr olds don’t belong in kindergarten. NY is completely behind the times. I don’t blame parents for doing the right thing.

They are turning five within a few weeks. Yes they do. The advantage is having a iq and support at home. My kids were reading by age three.

Mine too and I still didn’t send to K at 4. Its not developmentally appropriate, and would be considered child abuse in parts of Europe. You can read and write and learn without sitting at a desk for hours on end with 35 minutes outdoors like a prisoner.

Is that what they do in kindergarten? Sit at a desk for hours on end?

Yes, and on average spend fewer than 30 minutes per day outdoors. It’s not remotely appropriate.

That’s a third rate kindergarten class. Kind of sad.

Nope that’s “public school in the United States in 2025”

https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-education/media/pdfs/Recess_Data_Brief_CDC_Logo_FINAL_191106.pdf

Truly no place for a four year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Because of where we lived at the time, ours started kindergarten at 4 despite turning 5 in late November, and never had any problems. This sounds specific to your son, not all boys born at the same time.

Thank you. Signed late Dec. baby who graduated at 17, college at 21, Phd by 25, postdoc now millionaire in late 40s. And, grad school was free.

Be a shame if you fall on the stairs and end up in a wheelchair

Wasn’t a millionaire until late 40s? What took so long?