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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] My kid is only three, but their preschool is already talking about kindergarten readiness, and as they decide classrooms for next year the administrators asked some questions about our kindergarten plans. I had never heard of redshirting before, but my kid  was born in early August. We live in Alexandria if that makes a difference. Sorry if this is all very obvious to everyone else but I am a first-time parent and I wasn’t sure about the logistics of this.   It sounds like I can just choose whether to put my child in kindergarten right after he turns five or wait and do it right after he turns six, right? So far he is a little small for his age and tends to be very active and fidgety. I could see where giving him an extra year to mature and get a little bit more impulse control would probably make sitting at a desk for longer stretches a lot easier  for him.  On the other hand, he tends to do better with older kids, so it might be that he’d be happier  as the youngest kid in the class versus being one of the older ones. I would love to hear perspectives and general information about how people make this decision so that I have some time to ponder and keep track of what’s happening with him. [/quote]
You have the general idea. Studies have shown red shirting benefits initially. Long term there are various studies that show positive / negative, but it all depends on the SES of the parents.
I had the reverse issue - missed the K cutoff by 5 days, but could have pressed him ahead. He was / is very smart academically but immature emotionally, and he was small for his age (“failure to thrive” small). We figured best to keep him in his “correct” kindergarten class - also figuring with a lot of redshirting, if we pushed him ahead he would be the youngest by far and have kids almost 2 years older than him in class.
He is in second grade now and completely bored. He acts out because he is bored. He did not qualify for gifted... but after months of asking they have him doing accelerated work. Which in his school means he is on his iPad learning on his own but at least he’s not acting out.
Every child is different and every situation is different.  But three is awefully young to try and decide whether to hold him back or not.[/quote]

Thanks for your perspective. Fortunately, we don’t have to make any real decisions now, but the preschool has two classes for next year.  One is 4 days a week and will have 3.5-4.5 yos at the start of the year and will be geared towards those who plan to have 2 more years of preschool (less structure, more play).  The other will have 4-5 yos at the start of the year and is geared as a preK (more academics, 5 days a week).  We can choose either, and he can always take the pre-K or twice or go straight from the younger class to kindergarten,  but I wanted to get some information on how people make this kind of decision since it is all new for us. [/quote]

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