Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here who is slightly hesitant to revive this thread, but I just had to share something I found super surprising. We recently moved from DC to an area that sounds similar to the area where OP lives. Redshirting is apparently common, and not just for summer birthdays.

We took DD (who just turned 4) to the pediatrician yesterday. Her pediatrician was asking how preschool was going. I reported all was going well, etc. I mentioned offhand that DD is the youngest in her class but fits right in with the other kids. The pediatrician said something along the lines of “but you’ll wait until she’s 6 to start K, right?” I reminded her that DD’s birthday is a week before the public school cut off so she will likely go when she is 5, but I acknowledged that I knew we might have to wait a year if we decided to apply to certain private schools with earlier cut offs. The pediatrician told us in no uncertain terms that we should hold DD until she is 6. She said it’s not about academic readiness, but it’s about maturity in comparison to the rest of the cohort. She told us that some parents in this area hold kids with JANUARY AND FEBRUARY birthdays (?!?) - which the pediatrician said she does not agree with - but that our daughter would likely be significantly younger than many classmates if we start her on time.

Based on this anecdotal evidence, it seems like a number of parents in my redshirt-heavy area must be holding their normally developing young 5 YOs back from K solely to avoid having them grouped with a bunch of kids who will turn 7 months before the end of the school year. This is insane.

The pediatrician is giving you advice to follow the local herd so your DD doesn't stand out in a negative way. It's reasonable. My ped told us not to redshirt for similar reasons, because it's not very common around where we live and starting K on time is strongly encouraged by the local schools.

If you are going to enroll in public then you should start on time, but if all the privates are holding kids back to an extreme degree and you really really don't like the public schools, maybe the ped is right.

One of the most vocal anti-redshirting posters on here is a private school parent who is in her feels about how the state cutoff is 9/1 or whatever, but the private school’s “unofficial cutoff” is in the spring (probably 4/1). She sent her summer birthday kid on time and was then shocked and appalled that there were no other summer birthday kids and that her kid was the youngest by many months. Something to very much think about if you’re at a private school …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here who is slightly hesitant to revive this thread, but I just had to share something I found super surprising. We recently moved from DC to an area that sounds similar to the area where OP lives. Redshirting is apparently common, and not just for summer birthdays.

We took DD (who just turned 4) to the pediatrician yesterday. Her pediatrician was asking how preschool was going. I reported all was going well, etc. I mentioned offhand that DD is the youngest in her class but fits right in with the other kids. The pediatrician said something along the lines of “but you’ll wait until she’s 6 to start K, right?” I reminded her that DD’s birthday is a week before the public school cut off so she will likely go when she is 5, but I acknowledged that I knew we might have to wait a year if we decided to apply to certain private schools with earlier cut offs. The pediatrician told us in no uncertain terms that we should hold DD until she is 6. She said it’s not about academic readiness, but it’s about maturity in comparison to the rest of the cohort. She told us that some parents in this area hold kids with JANUARY AND FEBRUARY birthdays (?!?) - which the pediatrician said she does not agree with - but that our daughter would likely be significantly younger than many classmates if we start her on time.

Based on this anecdotal evidence, it seems like a number of parents in my redshirt-heavy area must be holding their normally developing young 5 YOs back from K solely to avoid having them grouped with a bunch of kids who will turn 7 months before the end of the school year. This is insane.

The pediatrician is giving you advice to follow the local herd so your DD doesn't stand out in a negative way. It's reasonable. My ped told us not to redshirt for similar reasons, because it's not very common around where we live and starting K on time is strongly encouraged by the local schools.

If you are going to enroll in public then you should start on time, but if all the privates are holding kids back to an extreme degree and you really really don't like the public schools, maybe the ped is right.

One of the most vocal anti-redshirting posters on here is a private school parent who is in her feels about how the state cutoff is 9/1 or whatever, but the private school’s “unofficial cutoff” is in the spring (probably 4/1). She sent her summer birthday kid on time and was then shocked and appalled that there were no other summer birthday kids and that her kid was the youngest by many months. Something to very much think about if you’re at a private school …

I agree that private school parents should follow the institutional culture. But I can see one argument for bucking the trend and letting your child be the youngest by not redshirting, and that is if you expect to move. If you expect to move, it's safest to send on time because a new school or public school district may not allow a child to be held back so far for no good reason.