Why is redshirting so common around here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why is redshirting so common around here?

Because we have a lot of educated parents who understand that their kids need another year to play.

I'm an educated parent who understood that my kid was ready for kindergarten, and therefore sent her.

+1000. We are educated parents and saw our child outgrew just playing at school and switched him since he missed the cutoff and his progress has in al areas has been huge. Kids do not need an extra year of play. There is a balance and that tells me parents are ent giving their kids time to play at home and at the playground, so that is what they expect schools to do. Kids need a balance of play, learning and structured activities.

I'm going to +1000 your +1000. My child enjoyed playing was that wasn't enough all day long. And especially considering we have always had an active at-home life. He didn't need another year of daycare, he wanted to move on to Kindergarten with real learning and structure but also plenty of play included.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why is redshirting so common around here?

Because we have a lot of educated parents who understand that their kids need another year to play.

I'm an educated parent who understood that my kid was ready for kindergarten, and therefore sent her.

+1000. We are educated parents and saw our child outgrew just playing at school and switched him since he missed the cutoff and his progress has in al areas has been huge. Kids do not need an extra year of play. There is a balance and that tells me parents are ent giving their kids time to play at home and at the playground, so that is what they expect schools to do. Kids need a balance of play, learning and structured activities.

I'm going to +1000 your +1000. My child enjoyed playing was that wasn't enough all day long. And especially considering we have always had an active at-home life. He didn't need another year of daycare, he wanted to move on to Kindergarten with real learning and structure but also plenty of play included.

Which school did he attend with plenty of play in K?

[Anonymous]

My child enjoyed playing was that wasn't enough all day long. And especially considering we have always had an active at-home life.

Five years old and playing after 4 p.m. is enough? Strongly disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My child enjoyed playing was that wasn't enough all day long. And especially considering we have always had an active at-home life.

Five years old and playing after 4 p.m. is enough? Strongly disagree.

I get the impression that you think kindergarten consists of sitting at a desk, pencil in hand, doing worksheets, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.

[Anonymous]

I get the impression that you think kindergarten consists of sitting at a desk, pencil in hand, doing worksheets, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.

Nope. Mostly sitting in a circle or at a table. Or a computer.

[Anonymous]

Because the advantages are enormous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because the advantages are enormous.

The advantages of redshirting are enormous? What advantages, and how do you know this?

[Anonymous]

My child has a fall birthday, went to school on time (means almost 6 at the start of K). We were in a play-based preschool. I think the last year of preschool was a bit tough because my child was ready for more. It was tough on teacher because she had to work hard to keep my child engaged, and I heard a lot of "I'm bored" complaints. I later found a program that would have been perfect - also play-based, but more challenging subject matter/discussion/activities, without keeping them seated at a desk, or working on work sheets, etc. I would have considered starting K a year early, but not in the public school - it isn't that it is too academic there, but the expectation of kids to sit still and work on worksheets was not appropriate for my child either. I think if I had a child who was more capable of sitting still, early entrance to K would have made more sense, so it really does depend on the whole child, not just the academics. Parents generally can tell what is best for their child.

[Anonymous]

The whole 19 year old senior thing is real. Recall what YOU were doing when you were 19. Living under your parents roof as a senior? I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

The whole 19 year old senior thing is real. Recall what YOU were doing when you were 19. Living under your parents roof as a senior? I don't think so.

Better than away at college at 17. There was a sad incident much in the news lately. Victim was a sophomore at 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The whole 19 year old senior thing is real. Recall what YOU were doing when you were 19. Living under your parents roof as a senior? I don't think so.

Better than away at college at 17. There was a sad incident much in the news lately. Victim was a sophomore at 18.

That's like saying that people shouldn't get in cars because there was a bad car wreck in the news recently.

I went away to college at 17. Nothing bad happened. Therefore I wasn't in the news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The whole 19 year old senior thing is real. Recall what YOU were doing when you were 19. Living under your parents roof as a senior? I don't think so.

Better than away at college at 17. There was a sad incident much in the news lately. Victim was a sophomore at 18.

That's like saying that people shouldn't get in cars because there was a bad car wreck in the news recently.

I went away to college at 17. Nothing bad happened. Therefore I wasn't in the news.

Different Strokes for Different Folks, that's all it is. The school system allows parents to make the decision of when to first enroll their kid - either at age 5 or age 6. Our kid has an August bday and we opted for age 6 because we thought that was what was right for our kid. And that covers 90%+ of the "redshirt" kids I am aware of - a summer bday (generally Aug or Sept, rarely Jun) and parents for different reasons decided to wait a year.

It took a while to decide and I am not completely sure whether we made the best decision or not. It is good in some ways, not so good in others. It has been eye opening seeing how frequently these threads start and how long they get. I used to be pretty open in talking about this but now really try to avoid it. Still get asked at times what my kids birth month is and now wonder what is on that person's mind.

[Anonymous]

I have to say, all the redshirters make a very poor case for their suburban public schools and private schools, in which kindergarten is a miserable, toiling workplace. If that's the case, do you really want your 6yo there?

So maybe there is a third reason people redshirt: a bad school that they want to put off attending as long as possible. Anyone? Nah, I don't think anyone will admit to that. Must be a child that's behind (or that parents fear is behind) or a parent seeking an advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to say, all the redshirters make a very poor case for their suburban public schools and private schools, in which kindergarten is a miserable, toiling workplace. If that's the case, do you really want your 6yo there?

So maybe there is a third reason people redshirt: a bad school that they want to put off attending as long as possible. Anyone? Nah, I don't think anyone will admit to that. Must be a child that's behind (or that parents fear is behind) or a parent seeking an advantage.

Broken record

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to say, all the redshirters make a very poor case for their suburban public schools and private schools, in which kindergarten is a miserable, toiling workplace. If that's the case, do you really want your 6yo there?

So maybe there is a third reason people redshirt: a bad school that they want to put off attending as long as possible. Anyone? Nah, I don't think anyone will admit to that. Must be a child that's behind (or that parents fear is behind) or a parent seeking an advantage.

Broken record

This whole thread is a broken record. All I know is, I'm an anti-redshirter with faith in my children's abilities and faith in their school. That's a pretty good place to be and I'm sorry not all parents feel that way.