Did a 180 and decided to redshirt my child- question for parents who decided to do the same

[Anonymous]

Michigan law entitles a resident child who is at least five years of age on or before
December 1 to enroll in kindergarten until the 2013-2014 school year [MCL 380.1147].
For the 2013-2014 school year, a child who resides in the school district may enroll in
kindergarten if the child is at least 5 years of age on November 1, 2013. For the 2014-
2015 school year, a child who resides in the school district may enroll in kindergarten if
the child is at least 5 years of age on October 1, 2014. Beginning with the 2015-2016
school year, a child who resides in the school district may enroll in kindergarten if the
child is at least 5 years of age on September 1 of the school year of enrollment. For the
district to be eligible to count the pupil in membership and receive state aid, the pupil
must meet these age requirements [MCL 388.1606(4)].

I didn't realize that Marland cut off at Aug 31, so I just checked MI, where my kids started. Wow, am I glad they started prior to 2013!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm wordy. You should see me on coffee.. people-pleaser too.

Really, I am satisfied with my decision, for me. I still think redshirting is unfair bc it favors those who can afford an extra year of prek. I think public schools should allow children to repeat at the K level if they want. But if everyone has equal access, then its just a personal decision. Each family can decide what to do, just like I did.

It seems the children are nicer than the adults sometimes...

Will check on this in a few days to see if there were any more helpful responses. If not, this is my last post. Night!

OP, I think you should do what you feel is right for your child. But you should realize that while adults AND children may not ask you directly, they will come to their silent conclusions about why your son was redshirted. Yes, the kids to notice, maybe not in the early elementary years, but later. If they are in a gifted or magnet program, they definitely notice. if you are a people pleaser, just be aware that this might bother you, but it comes with red shirting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So your kid will turn 7 in kindergarten? Yeah I wouldn't celebrate his 7th birthday with his kinder friends. My son who just finished 2nd grade is still 7.

I agree. That is insane. My child will celebrate their 5th birthday in kindergarten. The fact that your 7 year old may be in class with my 5 year old is ridiculous.

Just wait until he is a nineteen year old MAN in high school with the 13 & 14 year old girls who started school on time.

I think they need to look at this long term. If a child will be the age that it is a sex crime for them to date schoolmates that started at the age appropriate time, then red shirting should not be allowed.

High school state athletic boards could nip this issue in the bud by creating a rule thay if you turn 19 at any point during your senior year, you are ineliginletonparticipate in varsity or high school sports.

That would take care of 90% of the issues right there.

[Anonymous]

I think OP can do what she wants. But, this makes it much more likely (generally, not specifically OP) that I will redshirt my son who is 1 day before the cutoff. I can't in good conscience send him to a classroom in which some of the kids are 16 months older than him. That is too much stacked against him from a maturity perspective.

[Anonymous]

Strange world we live in now - seven-year-olds are finishing kindergarten and four-year-olds are still in diapers.

[Anonymous]

I agree that OP needs to look down the line. She'll have a kid who is 18 before his senior year. What if he doesn't want to go?

Moreover, the statutory rape question is very real.

OP is going her son a disservice. People will know, and they will either assume he has issues or (rightfully) assume that his parents redshirted him to give him a substantial edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So your kid will turn 7 in kindergarten? Yeah I wouldn't celebrate his 7th birthday with his kinder friends. My son who just finished 2nd grade is still 7.

I agree. That is insane. My child will celebrate their 5th birthday in kindergarten. The fact that your 7 year old may be in class with my 5 year old is ridiculous.

Just wait until he is a nineteen year old MAN in high school with the 13 & 14 year old girls who started school on time.

I think they need to look at this long term. If a child will be the age that it is a sex crime for them to date schoolmates that started at the age appropriate time, then red shirting should not be allowed.

High school state athletic boards could nip this issue in the bud by creating a rule thay if you turn 19 at any point during your senior year, you are ineliginletonparticipate in varsity or high school sports.

That would take care of 90% of the issues right there.

nope, not ineligible for sports, ineligible to continue your education in a traditional setting. 19 yr olds should have to attend night school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am only doing bc my child did not like being younger and hated hearing all year long how he was still 4 while others were 5 most of the year.

Congratulations. You've just made things that much worse for the kids born in May, June, July, August, and September who are in the proper grade.

[Anonymous]

Wow, where I live (Toronto), people brag when their kids are the youngest in the class. My sister brags nonstop that her daughter was still 17 when she started university.

There is no redshirting here. Everyone born in the calendar year starts at the same time. Cut off is December 31. I know people who get induced to have a baby that can start school sooner.

You Americans are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Wowza!

This is certainly a new take on red shirting.

It has zero to do with maturity or learning issues.

Heck, it has zero to do with athletic ability!

Instead, people are now red shirting so their kid is bigger than the possible bullies.

Wowza.

I have a bunch of boys...some with fall birthdays who missed the September cutoff (and are among the older kids in the class), and some with late summer birthdays who are among the youngest. We know some red shirted kids, and I don't think they have any advantage over the others. Some were redshirted for maturity/emotional/behavior issues. A couple were kept back for (an imagined) age/size/athletic advantage. It's something you notice in K, but you don't really think about. And you're reminded of it at the birthday party when the redshirted kid is much older than the others. And it comes up during certain sports that have age/weight cut offs (and the redshirted kid doesn't play with his friends from class because he much older and bigger). But I've never heard anyone ask a parent why their kid stayed back...rather, parents seem to make their own assumptions unless a parent volunteers the info.

You should rather defensive, which makes me wonder how confident you are with your decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, where I live (Toronto), people brag when their kids are the youngest in the class. My sister brags nonstop that her daughter was still 17 when she started university.

There is no redshirting here. Everyone born in the calendar year starts at the same time. Cut off is December 31. I know people who get induced to have a baby that can start school sooner.

You Americans are nuts.

It is not most of America. It is a rich, white DC thing.

[Anonymous]

Op, don't forget that if your son is academically advanced, he might be bored to tears and THAT may make him act out. If he's having trouble sitting in pre-k, then how do you think he's going to do if he's already mastered the subject and has to listen to the teacher teaching it all to the kids who are in the appropriate grade AND not academically advanced

Homeschooling sounds like a good option for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, where I live (Toronto), people brag when their kids are the youngest in the class. My sister brags nonstop that her daughter was still 17 when she started university.

There is no redshirting here. Everyone born in the calendar year starts at the same time. Cut off is December 31. I know people who get induced to have a baby that can start school sooner.

You Americans are nuts.

You are correct that redshirting isn't common in Canada. Yet one of the biggest, most statistically sound studies linking diagnosis of ADHD with relative age of the child in the classrooms came out of Canada: Influence of relative age on diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children, CMAJ. 2012 Apr 17:

Boys who were born in December were 30% more likely (relative risk [RR] 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23–1.37) to receive a diagnosis of ADHD than boys born in January. Girls born in December were 70% more likely (RR 1.70, 95% CI 1.53–1.88) to receive a diagnosis of ADHD than girls born in January. Similarly, boys were 41% more likely (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.33–1.50) and girls 77% more likely (RR 1.77, 95% CI 1.57–2.00) to be given a prescription for a medication to treat ADHD if they were born in December than if they were born in January.

OP is obviously nuts and likely a troll but that doesn't mean Canada has figured out how to group kids best. Unless, of course, you're totally okay with misdiagnosis of ADHD for younger children. I've come to the conclusion that some of the anti-redshirt people here are DCUM are fine with that, but YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question regarding red shirting, is pre-first still a thing? Could you send a kid on time and then repeat k or whatever if he or she isn't ready? That was my husband's path and it seems like a balanced solution all around...

It's a thing at Baltimore private schools. Our late-summer boy will be doing pre first next year, per the teacher's recommendation. I have mixed feelings aboug redshirting so I'm kind of glad that the school we're in makes strong recommendations for individual kids.

I will say that it was hard for him being one of the youngest in K. I'm glad that next year he'll be with a peer group and then next year he'll be in the middle if the pack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, where I live (Toronto), people brag when their kids are the youngest in the class. My sister brags nonstop that her daughter was still 17 when she started university.

There is no redshirting here. Everyone born in the calendar year starts at the same time. Cut off is December 31. I know people who get induced to have a baby that can start school sooner.

You Americans are nuts.

It is not most of America. It is a rich, white DC thing.

DC is not that special. Redshirting happens all over America.