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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote][b]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[/b]. Also, the director at his current school is strongly pro redshirting and suggests it for boys, even April. Actually, she doesn't use any month as a cutoff. Lastly my son never did a full-day and he isn't ready for a full-day yet. He's also very innocent and kind/gentle- he doesn't hit or name-call and he's very compassionate.. so I didn't think I needed to worry about him turning into a bully. He usually helps younger children or new children and his teacher said she thought his citizenship skills were his strongest attribute. She said another year would improve his fine motor skills and give him another year to play and mature (he is a class clown and doesn't sit still). As a mom, it makes me feel good to know that if there is a bully in the class, he/she likely won't be older than m child and won't be able to hurt him/her. [/quote]

By making this your primary reason for holding him back, you are putting the entire "blame" on him and absolving yourself of any responsibility for the consequences.  Your child is five years old.  You are the adult, and you need to make the decision that YOU feel is best for your child.  To say the "only" reason (although then you list some other equally weak ones) you are doing it is because he did not like being the youngest is to put this important decision in the hands of someone who is in no way capable of making it in an informed way.  Being upset that the other kids turned five first is a very four/five-year-old attitude.  Do you think he would continue to be mad about it when the others turn six, seven, twelve, eighteen, before he does?  This decision should be based on the long haul, because it will affect him throughout his school career.  You go on to list his teacher as another reason--again, shifting the responsibility to somebody else.  Given the way you describe her, it seems she would never have advising you to send him on time, so why consider her opinion when it appears to come with no consideration at all for the alternative of what she advised?
  
I'm a kindergarten teacher, and when she asked for my opinion, I encouraged my sister to redshirt my August nephew (now going into 2nd grade, seems to have been the right decision) because he was socially immature, still took a nap on occasion and was (and still is) a very small child.  Academically, he was probably ready for K at at 5.  As it is, he's usually in the highest reading group, but socially and physically he is on track with his "younger" (some by only a few weeks) grade-level peers.

Again, you need to decide what you need to do and ignore the haters, so to speak.  But I urge you to make the decision based on what you believe is ultimately what is best for your son, not because of his opinions, what he likes/doesn't like, and what his very-pro-redshirting-with-no-regard-for-age teacher thinks.  He has strong citizenship skills and is very innocent?  Great, sounds like most of the five-year-old boys in my classroom.  He would be able to make some great friends and be a good example to others.  Let me tell you, from my experience, those citizenship skills can disappear pretty fast when a tall seven-year-old is being teased--not necessarily by his actual classmates--for still being in kindergarten.  Younger children can also bully older children, so I would advise against assuming his age and size will protect him.[/quote]

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