Redshirting- when to hold back?
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Anonymous
| OP, even if your child is delayed or behind in some area now, there is no guarantee that he will be so at age 4 or 7 or 10. Some children are delayed early and when they get into the right class or have the right teacher, they catch up. So, you should only red-shirt your child when you see that he is not ready for whatever the next level is because you don't know if he will catch up or not. So, you continue advancing your child when he is ready for the next level and you hold him back when he is not. Talk to your son's teachers and get an external (to the family) opinion to help make the assessment whether your child is ready to move on or not. |
Anonymous
No, at our preschool it’s different. They divide the students in 6 months chunks except for the last year. So the last year of preschool has kids that were redshirted (6 out of 13 in my DD’s previous class) and kids with birthdays between September and March (not redshirted). Next year she will go to K right before (or right after) she turns 6. It makes perfect sense |
Anonymous
The point is, you can get services before K, whether privately or in school (public pre-K or compensatory services). DCUM-ites who are on top of it enough to consider redshirting are generally also on top of getting services. Where "redshirting" is developmentally harmful is when it's retention of students (often boys of color) once they enter school, instead of getting them IEPs. |
Anonymous
| Too early to tell. It does seem like children with older siblings are more ready for school when the time comes, so maybe redshirting won’t be necessary at all. |
Anonymous
Most kids have IEP's before entering if there is an identified need. |
Anonymous
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My son has a late June birthday and I agree with PP's that at two it's way to early to know. IF you don't think he's ready when he's in a 4yr old preschool class then you'd send him to a "jr kindergarten" program.
FWIW, we sent DS on time. We and the preschool had no concerns -- he was very social, confident, already reading and doing math above K level. He did have issues with behavior in school which we blamed on immaturity. After a couple years we had some discussions and evaluation with the school counselor and I said then I questioned if we should have held him back but her take on it was that if we'd held him back he'd still be having problems but out of boredom rather than immaturity so she thought we were right to start K on time. He was eventually diagnosed with ADHD which might have been ID'd sooner if we weren't blaming his issues on being young for his grade. He's in HS now and doing very well. All that to say, it's really hard to know long-term how these decisions will play out and you just have to look at the 4-5 yr old (not 2 yr old!) you have and do what makes sense for that child at that time. |
Anonymous
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I think the difference between a 2 year old and 3 year old is bigger than a 4 year old and 5 year old. I would not delay until the year before kindergarten, that way you also keep open the option of not redshirting.
Also, your child will eventually know no matter what year you delay. |
Anonymous
| Start your child on time |
Anonymous
| If I were you, I would keep my options open. When you DS is four, you can decide whether to send him on time or have him repeat a year of preschool. FWIW, we have a 2yo with a September birthday, who is attending a 2yo program at preschool now. If her teachers agree, we will move her to the 3s room next year, etc. When she is 4, we can either petition to send her early of have her stay an extra year at preschool. |
Anonymous
| Years ago when my November birthday boy was 2 my husband and I could not conceive of sending him to K at age 4, although there was a test he could take to go to K early. His preschool was very flexible and after six months in the 2 year old class, they told us they thought he would be happier in the 3 year old class, so we let them put him ahead. To make a long story short when he found out he would not be going to K with his class he pitched a fit, insisting he should go to K. and when we spoke to the pre school they agreed. So he took the early entrance exam and passed. He was also big for his age and VERY verbal. So with big doubts we sent him to K at age 4. Surprinsingly he did just fine and became a classroom leader. At home he was a holy terror. As he grew up he became a very top student with amazing energy and ambition. and with him pushing us we agreed for him to apply to a highly rated, and tough academically private school. He was admitted with a big scholarship. He ended up going to a top university and is now finishing a well known law school at 24. So I would wait and make each decision as it comes. You never know what will work the best for each child. |
Anonymous
| My late June son was in speech therapy from 3 to 8. He still occasionally stutters when stressed but he enjoys public speaking. In addition, he needed extra reading help from 1st to 3rd grade. We had him repeat 4 year preschool. He has a friend who had to repeat second grade and it was more noticeable for him. He switched schools. My son is now a freshman and doing very well in high school. He will be 18 when he graduates and 19 when he starts college. |
Anonymous
many families do the K year in Montessori and then come late Fall (if private school apps are due) or late Spring (if going to public school) apply as either a repeat K or go right into 1st grade as your age says to. You buy another whole year to see what their learning style is, what is sticking, behavioral issues or not, etc. At that young age every 4 or 5 months they step function up in ability to sit, listen, retain, practice, learn, etc. Exciting times! |
Anonymous
This is key--sometimes families don't have an identified need. My hunch is that for some kids who are felt to simply be "not ready" for school, there actually are unspecified behavioral or learning concerns that parents have not pursued formally. They are afraid of their kid being "labeled" and hope that an extra year will address their kid's readiness. |