Redshirting next year?

[Anonymous]

Our four year old is in half day pre-K this year (remote at a private school), and we have always been pretty anti-redshirting. He's an August boy, but he's tall, seems bright, and has no problem sitting still and listening, etc. I was expecting to have to go to bat against his school (where most people in our position would redshirt without much thought).

This pandemic though, whew! We're almost definitely going to redshirt him and send him to junior K next year, so he will start "real" K when he has just turned six. If he can easily have a do-over of this year, I'm going to let him have it.

[Anonymous]

Here's a good response from a blog I like.
(This psychologist is local, interestingly.)
I'd say home-school and send to the next grade next year.

https://www.drpsychmom.com/2020/10/03/should-i-red-shirt-my-child-so-they-arent-the-youngest-in-their-class/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you hold back? Recess is your priority? Keep your kid home about 3 more years.

Recess is not a priority, just an example of how socially distanced learning isn't developmentally appropriate for K.

What benefits do you think of redshirting? What "developmentally appropriate" things you plan to do with him at home or at the daycare? How will he feel when he finally enters K but looks and feels much older than the rest of the kids? Is that developmentally appropriate? I know you mean well OP, but the constant redshirting questions have me wondering why would parents not let their kids be and at least give them a chance to be a part of the cohort that they are meant to be. This preemptive negative thinking of how they'll fail in K is baffling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you hold back? Recess is your priority? Keep your kid home about 3 more years.

Recess is not a priority, just an example of how socially distanced learning isn't developmentally appropriate for K.

What benefits do you think of redshirting? What "developmentally appropriate" things you plan to do with him at home or at the daycare? How will he feel when he finally enters K but looks and feels much older than the rest of the kids? Is that developmentally appropriate? I know you mean well OP, but the constant redshirting questions have me wondering why would parents not let their kids be and at least give them a chance to be a part of the cohort that they are meant to be. This preemptive negative thinking of how they'll fail in K is baffling.

Kindergarten is a lot more academic then it used to be. There’s a lot of sitting still that is not developmentally appropriate, especially for boys. There are lots of studies on this. There’s a lot of focus on academics, when at the age of five, kids are still learning through play. And all of the developmentally appropriate things that kids do undertake in kindergarten, such as recess, learning together, playing together, learning collaboratively, learning social skills and forming bonds with teachers and friends, are going to be significantly reduced during pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 4YO with a September birthday and a 5YO with a February birthday. 5YO is in K this year and I was surprised at how many kids either started school already being 6 or have had birthdays since school started. It's at least half the class (21 kids). There's another 5YO down the street who also has a Feb birthday and his mom redshirted him this year, meaning if we do have DS2 start K next year he'd be going to school with a kid exactly the same age as DS1, which just boggles my mind. It's making me feel like I'm being forced to redshirt DS2 because he could realistically be 23 months younger than kids in his class!

There needs to be a rule against this- it’s ridiculous!

[Anonymous]

Do they even allow us to redshirt? I believe Virginia did but now I'm in Maryland and I didn't think we had any option - it's a strict deadline of Sept 1. My DD is late September.

[Anonymous]

Base your decision on your specific child and their readiness, maturity and abilities. Do not base this decision on the pandemic and what others are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you hold back? Recess is your priority? Keep your kid home about 3 more years.

Recess is not a priority, just an example of how socially distanced learning isn't developmentally appropriate for K.

What benefits do you think of redshirting? What "developmentally appropriate" things you plan to do with him at home or at the daycare? How will he feel when he finally enters K but looks and feels much older than the rest of the kids? Is that developmentally appropriate? I know you mean well OP, but the constant redshirting questions have me wondering why would parents not let their kids be and at least give them a chance to be a part of the cohort that they are meant to be. This preemptive negative thinking of how they'll fail in K is baffling.

Kindergarten is a lot more academic then it used to be. There’s a lot of sitting still that is not developmentally appropriate, especially for boys. There are lots of studies on this. There’s a lot of focus on academics, when at the age of five, kids are still learning through play. And all of the developmentally appropriate things that kids do undertake in kindergarten, such as recess, learning together, playing together, learning collaboratively, learning social skills and forming bonds with teachers and friends, are going to be significantly reduced during pandemic.

+1. I don't remember reading instruction happening until 1st grade when I was in school. And writing was definitely not happening in K. Forcing early reading doesn't provide an advantage and can actually cause negative effects. The school I used to work at made JrK students practice handwriting (their hands haven't even fully formed yet!) and the K students would cry in aftercare as they were forced to sit and do math worksheets for homework. It was awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Base your decision on your specific child and their readiness, maturity and abilities. Do not base this decision on the pandemic and what others are doing.

This is the best advice. I know it's worrying to think about the larger graduating class and its effects down the line, but there are ways to deal with that when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

Don't redshirt your spring child. If there are more kids, there will be more classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you hold back? Recess is your priority? Keep your kid home about 3 more years.

Recess is not a priority, just an example of how socially distanced learning isn't developmentally appropriate for K.

What benefits do you think of redshirting? What "developmentally appropriate" things you plan to do with him at home or at the daycare? How will he feel when he finally enters K but looks and feels much older than the rest of the kids? Is that developmentally appropriate? I know you mean well OP, but the constant redshirting questions have me wondering why would parents not let their kids be and at least give them a chance to be a part of the cohort that they are meant to be. This preemptive negative thinking of how they'll fail in K is baffling.

Kindergarten is a lot more academic then it used to be. There’s a lot of sitting still that is not developmentally appropriate, especially for boys. There are lots of studies on this. There’s a lot of focus on academics, when at the age of five, kids are still learning through play. And all of the developmentally appropriate things that kids do undertake in kindergarten, such as recess, learning together, playing together, learning collaboratively, learning social skills and forming bonds with teachers and friends, are going to be significantly reduced during pandemic.

Your precious little boys.

#boymom, amirite?

[Anonymous]

My boy is immature with winter birthday, and I am not going to redshirt him. He has 3 options below, and I will send him to public school to attend first grade in person the following year ( it should be no argument that public school will be in person 2022-2023).

1) public school K in person/hybrid/DL,
2) Homeschool k
3) private school k

[Anonymous]

DD will be 5 in January, starting K in 2021. We have given no thought at all to redshirting.

We have started to talk about what it might look like financially to send her to in-person private school, or have one of us approach our employer about a reduced workload/LWOP to facilitate homeschool if DCPS does not open in the fall.

I know a number of families with K kids this year and while I’ve read about redshirting on here I don’t know anyone IRL who is actually doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they even allow us to redshirt? I believe Virginia did but now I'm in Maryland and I didn't think we had any option - it's a strict deadline of Sept 1. My DD is late September.

Yes, In MD you can apply for a one-year maturity waiver. You can also apply for your child to be tested for early entrance to K if their birthday falls in between September 2 - October 13. We considered this with my early September kid but decided not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even allow us to redshirt? I believe Virginia did but now I'm in Maryland and I didn't think we had any option - it's a strict deadline of Sept 1. My DD is late September.

Yes, In MD you can apply for a one-year maturity waiver. You can also apply for your child to be tested for early entrance to K if their birthday falls in between September 2 - October 13. We considered this with my early September kid but decided not to.

Thanks!