Why don’t schools make you just through some hoops for redshirting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’ll have to reach out to your school board. A redshirted spring/summer birthday would be turning six before K not 7.

I’m talking about our current class. 3 kids are 7 already and it’s February. This is a Sep 1 cutoff public school.

If these kids are 7 by February 2024 that means they were 5 by February 2022. You’re telling me THREE kids were redshirted so they would start K at age 6.5 going on 7? That seems crazy to me for even 1 kid let alone 3. What is going on in this class?

The oldest kid in my K kid’s class has a June 2017 birthday and will turn 7 the last week of school. He also has SNs so it was deliberate to hold him (I know the mom and it makes sense the family didn’t start him on time). I always thought June redshirting was the absolute limit. Normally it’s July/Aug kids who need just a little longer to mature. And usually boys.

I have an August bday (graduated HS at 17) and as a girl was fine being younger.

That's great that's your experience, but it's not been mine (I'm not PP you are quoting). MOST redshirts are June/July/August, but I know of plenty of spring redshirts across multiple grades. I have heard people ask if they should redshirt January/February kids, which is really taking it too far. My late July girl was sent on time and she's doing just fine, so I just think it's odd to have such little faith in your kid's abilities that they need to be 18 months older than the youngest kid in the class.

+1
It’s really being pushed further and further back as a surefire advantage.

I'm PP you're quoting. I definitely agree that parents are taking advantage and there needs to be restrictions in place. I don't think it's fair to already over burdened teachers to teach to such a wide age range within one grade.

That being said I do not think being older is a surefire advantage. Maybe my kid is an outlier, but I actually think I would've regretted holding her back. Everyone says you'll never regret holding back, but I just don't agree with blanket statements like that.

+1 on this. My DD is an August birthday who is also small for her age and had some social delays, and I still don't regret starting her on time. She was ready for a more structured, academic environment. K was a tough year socially because she was definitely less mature than the other kids, but being around them helped her to mature more and by 1st there was no gap -- she's now on track socially and emotionally. I think being around other kids who were older and more mature helped her learn. If she'd spent another year at home with a nanny, I think there's no way she would have gotten that much peer influence, and I think she would have been starting K as an older kid who still had maturity deficits, which is worse than being among the youngest in the class with maturity deficits.

There are options besides staying home with a nanny. She could have done a structured pre-K experience. We have lots of programs for old 4s and young 5s in our area.

[Anonymous]

My youngest is a June bday, special needs (speech, motor mostly), and what is really frustrating is that kids with delays can't redshirt and still get in school IEP services. So they are all starting on time, and the redshirt kids are skewing the class even more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just enroll your kid in kindergarten already. Yes, your kid will be among the youngest and the early years of grade school will have more twists and turns, but in the long run it's better. That way, your student graduates from high school at 17 instead of 19 or 20.

Our summer birthday started college at almost 18 and will graduate with a bachelor's at 21. A lot of her redshirted peers in the same grade are already 23. They'll graduate with a bachelor's at 24/25/26. Half their 20s are already over, and now what? Grad school? They'll be almost 30 by the time they hit the workforce...

Look ahead 20 years, OP. Redshirting actually holds your kid back later.

Red-shirting delays everything by a single year. Please explain how you think red-shirting leads to graduating with a bachelor's at 26. I simply must know how your mind works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just enroll your kid in kindergarten already. Yes, your kid will be among the youngest and the early years of grade school will have more twists and turns, but in the long run it's better. That way, your student graduates from high school at 17 instead of 19 or 20.

Our summer birthday started college at almost 18 and will graduate with a bachelor's at 21. A lot of her redshirted peers in the same grade are already 23. They'll graduate with a bachelor's at 24/25/26. Half their 20s are already over, and now what? Grad school? They'll be almost 30 by the time they hit the workforce...

Look ahead 20 years, OP. Redshirting actually holds your kid back later.

Red-shirting delays everything by a single year. Please explain how you think red-shirting leads to graduating with a bachelor's at 26. I simply must know how your mind works.

You won’t get a reasonable answer.

It’s all imagination at work here. As usual, inability to do math, etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you all so obsessed with other people's kids? Maybe your problem is really with colleges and competitions with artificial grade-based boundaries for giving out prizes. Attack the real problem.

It’s the teasing, it’s the spots on select athletic teams sorted by grade… it’s an unfair advantage in elementary school and it puts the youngest kids at a disadvantage. My kid has been teased for his height and he’s in the 95 percentile for height for his age but in such a redshirt heavy school with a lot of tall peers he plays sports with, you would not be able to tell he’s tall for his age. He is still smaller than kids 14m older. He’s mid June birthday and has several early spring kids in his class. I don’t really care about the height thing but time and time again, the younger kids are held to higher standards. Most of the kids selected for the peer leadership team at our school are redshirted kids. I think the schools want to older kids to be honest. They have less to worry about all around, especially with academic. A 6.5 year old is much more read to read than a just turned 5 year old. Everything is just easier. They are usually behaved in the classroom, but many have issues with peers and teasing/bullying outside of the classroom. That’s been my experience. I’m not talking about redshirts within a month or two, Im talking about kids who were intentionally held back to have an advantage that are 6m from the cut off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you all so obsessed with other people's kids? Maybe your problem is really with colleges and competitions with artificial grade-based boundaries for giving out prizes. Attack the real problem.

It’s the teasing, it’s the spots on select athletic teams sorted by grade… it’s an unfair advantage in elementary school and it puts the youngest kids at a disadvantage. My kid has been teased for his height and he’s in the 95 percentile for height for his age but in such a redshirt heavy school with a lot of tall peers he plays sports with, you would not be able to tell he’s tall for his age. He is still smaller than kids 14m older. He’s mid June birthday and has several early spring kids in his class. I don’t really care about the height thing but time and time again, the younger kids are held to higher standards. Most of the kids selected for the peer leadership team at our school are redshirted kids. I think the schools want to older kids to be honest. They have less to worry about all around, especially with academic. A 6.5 year old is much more read to read than a just turned 5 year old. Everything is just easier. They are usually behaved in the classroom, but many have issues with peers and teasing/bullying outside of the classroom. That’s been my experience. I’m not talking about redshirts within a month or two, Im talking about kids who were intentionally held back to have an advantage that are 6m from the cut off.

When are you going to stop external supplementation and education for your child? When are you going to move to an at-risk school district? Since you claim to care so much about parents not doing anything that might advantage their child, I assume you are going to be consistent. Please update us!

[Anonymous]

upper middle class, or upper upper middle-class families and wealthy families can redshirt. LMC or MC cannot typically because it's another year of expensive daycare or preschool.

I have a friend whose kid is turning 4 and is the size of my 6-year-old, who is above average for his age. She plans on redshirting him because he isnt emotionally ready.....its still another 1.5 years until he would start. He will be the size of an 8- or 10-year-old by 6 years old.

I agree there should be a cut-off and you can't just arbitrarily say I want my kid to be the oldest in school because its an advantage. If its an advantage to be older in school than we should have later starting times for public school (i.e must be 6 not 5).

[Anonymous]

If you can't be 'em, join 'em.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you all so obsessed with other people's kids? Maybe your problem is really with colleges and competitions with artificial grade-based boundaries for giving out prizes. Attack the real problem.

It’s the teasing, it’s the spots on select athletic teams sorted by grade… it’s an unfair advantage in elementary school and it puts the youngest kids at a disadvantage. My kid has been teased for his height and he’s in the 95 percentile for height for his age but in such a redshirt heavy school with a lot of tall peers he plays sports with, you would not be able to tell he’s tall for his age. He is still smaller than kids 14m older. He’s mid June birthday and has several early spring kids in his class. I don’t really care about the height thing but time and time again, the younger kids are held to higher standards. Most of the kids selected for the peer leadership team at our school are redshirted kids. I think the schools want to older kids to be honest. They have less to worry about all around, especially with academic. A 6.5 year old is much more read to read than a just turned 5 year old. Everything is just easier. They are usually behaved in the classroom, but many have issues with peers and teasing/bullying outside of the classroom. That’s been my experience. I’m not talking about redshirts within a month or two, Im talking about kids who were intentionally held back to have an advantage that are 6m from the cut off.

There are a bunch of kids 6m from the cutoff at your school? Sounds like you're a bad fit for the culture of this school. No way this is a public school, why do you stay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just enroll your kid in kindergarten already. Yes, your kid will be among the youngest and the early years of grade school will have more twists and turns, but in the long run it's better. That way, your student graduates from high school at 17 instead of 19 or 20.

Our summer birthday started college at almost 18 and will graduate with a bachelor's at 21. A lot of her redshirted peers in the same grade are already 23. They'll graduate with a bachelor's at 24/25/26. Half their 20s are already over, and now what? Grad school? They'll be almost 30 by the time they hit the workforce...

Look ahead 20 years, OP. Redshirting actually holds your kid back later.

Red-shirting delays everything by a single year. Please explain how you think red-shirting leads to graduating with a bachelor's at 26. I simply must know how your mind works.

How do we go from graduation at 17 to 19 or 20? What happened to 18? The age most redshirted kids will be when they graduate? Like almost all of the other kids? I have a late May birthday and even I was 18 at HS graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you all so obsessed with other people's kids? Maybe your problem is really with colleges and competitions with artificial grade-based boundaries for giving out prizes. Attack the real problem.

It’s the teasing, it’s the spots on select athletic teams sorted by grade… it’s an unfair advantage in elementary school and it puts the youngest kids at a disadvantage. My kid has been teased for his height and he’s in the 95 percentile for height for his age but in such a redshirt heavy school with a lot of tall peers he plays sports with, you would not be able to tell he’s tall for his age. He is still smaller than kids 14m older. He’s mid June birthday and has several early spring kids in his class. I don’t really care about the height thing but time and time again, the younger kids are held to higher standards. Most of the kids selected for the peer leadership team at our school are redshirted kids. I think the schools want to older kids to be honest. They have less to worry about all around, especially with academic. A 6.5 year old is much more read to read than a just turned 5 year old. Everything is just easier. They are usually behaved in the classroom, but many have issues with peers and teasing/bullying outside of the classroom. That’s been my experience. I’m not talking about redshirts within a month or two, Im talking about kids who were intentionally held back to have an advantage that are 6m from the cut off.

When are you going to stop external supplementation and education for your child? When are you going to move to an at-risk school district? Since you claim to care so much about parents not doing anything that might advantage their child, I assume you are going to be consistent. Please update us!

They do that too. There is a big difference between getting tutoring and just holding your kid back so they are a full year older than most kids and 18m older than the younger kids. The fact that you don’t see the difference says a lot. I think once people make up their minds they just don’t see it as gaming the system, which it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just enroll your kid in kindergarten already. Yes, your kid will be among the youngest and the early years of grade school will have more twists and turns, but in the long run it's better. That way, your student graduates from high school at 17 instead of 19 or 20.

Our summer birthday started college at almost 18 and will graduate with a bachelor's at 21. A lot of her redshirted peers in the same grade are already 23. They'll graduate with a bachelor's at 24/25/26. Half their 20s are already over, and now what? Grad school? They'll be almost 30 by the time they hit the workforce...

Look ahead 20 years, OP. Redshirting actually holds your kid back later.

Red-shirting delays everything by a single year. Please explain how you think red-shirting leads to graduating with a bachelor's at 26. I simply must know how your mind works.

How do we go from graduation at 17 to 19 or 20? What happened to 18? The age most redshirted kids will be when they graduate? Like almost all of the other kids? I have a late May birthday and even I was 18 at HS graduation.

The discussion is about the redshirted outliers who are at least 6m from the cutoff. I think 19.5 is old to graduate personally. I can see many kids in that situation being frustrated the last year and just wanting to get out of the house. I know I did as a 17 year old senior. I can’t imagine being 2 years older and not being so ready to go away to college and have some independence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just enroll your kid in kindergarten already. Yes, your kid will be among the youngest and the early years of grade school will have more twists and turns, but in the long run it's better. That way, your student graduates from high school at 17 instead of 19 or 20.

Our summer birthday started college at almost 18 and will graduate with a bachelor's at 21. A lot of her redshirted peers in the same grade are already 23. They'll graduate with a bachelor's at 24/25/26. Half their 20s are already over, and now what? Grad school? They'll be almost 30 by the time they hit the workforce...

Look ahead 20 years, OP. Redshirting actually holds your kid back later.

Red-shirting delays everything by a single year. Please explain how you think red-shirting leads to graduating with a bachelor's at 26. I simply must know how your mind works.

How do we go from graduation at 17 to 19 or 20? What happened to 18? The age most redshirted kids will be when they graduate? Like almost all of the other kids? I have a late May birthday and even I was 18 at HS graduation.

The discussion is about the redshirted outliers who are at least 6m from the cutoff. I think 19.5 is old to graduate personally. I can see many kids in that situation being frustrated the last year and just wanting to get out of the house. I know I did as a 17 year old senior. I can’t imagine being 2 years older and not being so ready to go away to college and have some independence.

No it's not about the outliers. It's about redshirting in general. The majority are very close to the cutoff which makes the hyperbole about 20yr old high school graduates ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just enroll your kid in kindergarten already. Yes, your kid will be among the youngest and the early years of grade school will have more twists and turns, but in the long run it's better. That way, your student graduates from high school at 17 instead of 19 or 20.

Our summer birthday started college at almost 18 and will graduate with a bachelor's at 21. A lot of her redshirted peers in the same grade are already 23. They'll graduate with a bachelor's at 24/25/26. Half their 20s are already over, and now what? Grad school? They'll be almost 30 by the time they hit the workforce...

Look ahead 20 years, OP. Redshirting actually holds your kid back later.

Red-shirting delays everything by a single year. Please explain how you think red-shirting leads to graduating with a bachelor's at 26. I simply must know how your mind works.

How do we go from graduation at 17 to 19 or 20? What happened to 18? The age most redshirted kids will be when they graduate? Like almost all of the other kids? I have a late May birthday and even I was 18 at HS graduation.

The discussion is about the redshirted outliers who are at least 6m from the cutoff. I think 19.5 is old to graduate personally. I can see many kids in that situation being frustrated the last year and just wanting to get out of the house. I know I did as a 17 year old senior. I can’t imagine being 2 years older and not being so ready to go away to college and have some independence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’ll have to reach out to your school board. A redshirted spring/summer birthday would be turning six before K not 7.

I’m talking about our current class. 3 kids are 7 already and it’s February. This is a Sep 1 cutoff public school.

What do you want the school to do?

This is a serious question.

Those kids didn’t attend kindergarten last year. Do you want them to start school in 1st grade? What are their teachers supposed to do?

Put them in a remedial class.