How does redshirting actually work?

[Anonymous]

I know there are strong opinions on whether or not people should redshirt, but I am confused about how this actually happens. If DS with a mid-August birthday goes to a private preschool in September at 3, and then we did the DCPS lottery the following year, wouldn't he be automatically enrolled in pk-4? Is it even possible to redshirt within the DCPS system? Thanks for any clarification!

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know who redshirted kept their kids in private preschool until age 5, then enrolled kids in private or public kindergarten at age 6.

[Anonymous]

Why would you do that? You just keep your kid in private preschool and don't enroll him in public.

[Anonymous]

In DC, you can't redshirt unless you keep your kid in private preschool until kindergarten. You can't lottery for a grade other than the one that DCPS says is right for age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I know who redshirted kept their kids in private preschool until age 5, then enrolled kids in private or public kindergarten at age 6.

This is similar to what we did. We were both redshirted (with October birthdays) and DC has a July birthday, which meant they’d be really young or really old for their grade. We opted for really old: we did private preschool and K up until right before their 6th birthday, then enrolled at a K-8 for another year of K, which DC started at 6 and 2 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I know who redshirted kept their kids in private preschool until age 5, then enrolled kids in private or public kindergarten at age 6.

This is similar to what we did. We were both redshirted (with October birthdays) and DC has a July birthday, which meant they’d be really young or really old for their grade. We opted for really old: we did private preschool and K up until right before their 6th birthday, then enrolled at a K-8 for another year of K, which DC started at 6 and 2 months.

This is similar to what we did, with a September birthday, except instead of repeating K, we did two years of PK4 at a private preschool, then enrolled in public K just before she turned 6.

[Anonymous]

Any opinions about whether it’s better to repeat PK or K, assuming you switch schools for K?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any opinions about whether it’s better to repeat PK or K, assuming you switch schools for K?

Depends on kid and what they need. I would repeat Pre-K for a wiggly kid who needs a lot of play and running around. I would repeat K for a kid who likes letters, numbers, and "reading"