Why is redshirting so common around here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's common pretty much everywhere, just not around here.


It's not that common in other places. IT's common here because people work too much and don't have time to parent their kids. When the kids get to K age, they aren't ready socially or academically because their parents neglected them.

I don't have a choice as my child was born in Oct. They will start when they are 5 turning 6. My concern was that my child will be very bored that extra year they are forced to stay out of kindergarten. I also appear to have a fairly smart child (at least my pediatrician tells me this). Luckily we are a two working family and we will socially and academically stunt our child's development due to the neglect. That just means my child will be average like the charming parent above who posted this. Anyways, I need to go find my child. They are probably playing with dangerous cleaners... If only I had time to parent my child instead of working... .

Lol! I like you, PP.

[Anonymous]

Also different regions have different cutoffs. We're in NY now, and I was surprised to learn the districts here have either a Dec 1 or Dec 31 cutoff. So fall birthdays start K at 4 here. Which honestly seems very young given how academic K has become.

DS has a March birthday, so he's one of the oldest in his preK class. I'm just grateful he's not a fall birthday, since we're likely to be returning to NoVa in a couple of years. I don't know how the schools would handle that situation.

[Anonymous]

I have a sept 30th baby girl in fairfax. School cutoff day baby!

Unless I have some reason not to, she will start on time and be the youngest.

[Anonymous]

Also different regions have different cutoffs. We're in NY now, and I was surprised to learn the districts here have either a Dec 1 or Dec 31 cutoff. So fall birthdays start K at 4 here. Which honestly seems very young given how academic K has become.

DS has a March birthday, so he's one of the oldest in his preK class. I'm just grateful he's not a fall birthday, since we're likely to be returning to NoVa in a couple of years. I don't know how the schools would handle that situation.

Both MD and VA would admit the child into the next grade. Once a child is enrolled in a school system they can continue on at their current grade placement. Nothing to worry about there. I know in VA you can also get around the cutoff by placing the child early into a registered Pre-k. My friend places both of their Dec children in Howard's Prek program to get them into the regular school system early.

[Anonymous]

The vast majority of families in my social circle don't have a stay at home parent. I don't know anyone who holds kids back -- an extra year before school starts means an extra year of paying for daycare. I know kids who started PS 3 a couple of weeks after their 3rd birthday.

[Anonymous]

This hasn't been our experience in MCPS. Both of my kids have summer birthdays and they are far from being the youngest. In fact one of my children has a birthday the last week in August and there are 5 or so kids with birthdays even later that week. All went on time. My kids are still in elementary school FWIW.

[Anonymous]

OP are you sure that all the summer/fall birthday kids were born in 2008?
In our MCPS K there are a ton of summer/fall birthday kids but they were almost all born in 2009. We know mostly because DD gets invited to their birthday parties.

[Anonymous]

The problem with any of these arguments in favor of red shirting is that SOMEONE HAS TO BE THE YOUNGEST IN THE CLASS. You can make all the excuses about how your kid is special, immature, whatever, but the acceptable cut off is being pushed further and further back and it will just keep happening if people don't stop the madness. I was astounded when someone asked if I was going to hold back my child with a June birthday. Clearly I will not, but I fully expect her to be one of the youngest in class when in reality the deadline is October.

[Anonymous]

The birthday board in DD's class does not show the year. So I wouldn't have the slightest idea if any kids were held back. And honestly I don't really care. To each his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has a September birthday. He will be in K for only a few weeks before he turns 6. Is that ok with you?

This. We had no choice or he would have gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP's post does not add up. Even if there were a redshirting phenomenon going on there would still be an equal distribution of birthdays throughout the year. Is she saying parents are purposefully having summer and fall babies now?

l

Because all the summer babies are now being redshirted, spring kids have now become the youngest in the class.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's all about being deemed "gifted".

"Tracked" in elementary/middle school.

It's evil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to K at 4 yo, but it sounds like K is very different now than when I went. It was only a half day and we even had nap/quiet time during that half day.

This is an excellent point that people tend to forget. Kindergarten is very different than it used to be. There is less free play time and more time spent sitting down and listening and then completing tasks. Most Ks are full-day now, with no nap time, which is tough for a 4-turning-5-year-old child.

Yes. We decided to "red shirt" because we felt the current K environment is more appropriate for 5-6 year olds instead of 4-5 year olds.

[Anonymous]

I didn't redshirt my August boy and I am most glad about it except for one aspect - he's enjoying school, doing well, has plenty of friends. But he doesn't enjoy team sports because he is the littlest one physically by far and can't keep up with kids who are pretty much all a year older than him. I find that a shame, because he's reasonably athletic. Not a reason to redshirt, but it is a shame.

[Anonymous]

Parents want their children to succeed (which means be above average) and they will do what they need to do to support that. Schools encourage this by pushing academic curriculum to younger ages creating early elementary grades that are challenging for children who are young-for-age or even the appropriate age. Nowadays, a child leaving K without being able to read is unfathomable, whereas when I was a child it wasn't uncommon for kids to be in 2nd grade before they really started to become readers.

Because of testing, it is important to schools that children have certain skills at certain times, even if the range for acquiring those skills is broader. An 8 year old in 3rd grade who is still an emerging reader is on target, but will not test as well as an 8 year old who has been reading fluently since Kindergarten. Rather than adjust testing to handle appropriate ranges in development, it's easier to encourage parents to hold back that child giving them the "gift of time" or some other nonsense rhetoric designed to whitewash the fact that our schools are not appropriately serving our children.

One of the benefits of common redshirting is that those of us with smart children and late birthdays get the benefit of them being in a more academically challenging environment in the early grades when gifted programs often don't begin until around 3rd grade. Perhaps use that to look on the bright side?