Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Again, this makes no sense. If you are concerned your child will fall behind you spend the money and get them tutoring (or work with them yourself) and therapies to address the issues to make sure they are more successful. K. is not rigorous. Its parents who don't prepare their kids and whine about how rigorous it is. And, yes, I have a SN kid and yes, we spent a huge sum of money on therapies to get our child to the point they are at to make sure they are successful. If your non-special needs kid cannot cut it in K. at age 5, you need to get them fully evaluated and into therapies to support them as you lose the gift of time as the longer you wait to get your kid the help they need, the harder it is for those therapist to work.

You can do therapies AND give an extra year in preschool. it's not an either/or situation. and for social skills, there's really no substitute for extra time for some kids.

Most kids who are redshirted/held back aren't do therapies or social skill classes. They are being held back to get better test scores to get into the gifted programs or for sports. If we held my kid back, he easily would have made gifted since we work at home but he's borderline. I'd rather him be in regular where he fits better than hold him back with kids over a year younger and slower academics. Even now, elementary school is slow. I could not imagine holding him back.

No, that's not true. Kids who are redshirted (or repeat K) likely have specific concerns about maturity and ability. not to "get better test scores" (b/c wtf, even in our hard-core K, there aren't test scores that determine anything yet).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Redshirting is not new, but the term is. It used to be called "being held back." People don't like what that implies, so it's now the "gift of time."

+1,

SMH, held back is when you fail to progress to the next grade, not when you get a later start.

Anonymous wrote:I sent my August DD and she's fine in K now. Looking at my son, if he was born in August, I don't know if I'd make the same call. But he's a March kid, so it's moot. Hopefully, he'll grow out of his animal from the muppet babies stage after he turns 4.

I do think academically it's been great. Socially, DD has struggled. She's had meltdowns and stuff that I'd categorize as normal for a young 5. But there are kids in her class who turned 6 as early as June before the school year. Those kids are much more mature, but then again, DD will STILL be 5 when she attends these kiddos 7th birthday parties.

I assume the maturity thing will sort out. She's making friends and I like that she's doing Daises. If anything, it seems like over halfway in DD has matured dramatically this year.

Are they really that much more mature? No, they are a year older. They probably did the same things your daughter is doing now at the same age and outgrew it. She'll outgrow it too when she is their age. Its a false sense of maturity as if you took those same kids and bumped them up a grade, where would they fit in that grade? They'd probably act younger not having the experience of being with older kids. We find being the youngest helps our child as he's determined to keep up. Those kids aren't smarter or more mature, they are just a year older. Don't mix age with maturity. At 5, no kid should be "mature."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Again, this makes no sense. If you are concerned your child will fall behind you spend the money and get them tutoring (or work with them yourself) and therapies to address the issues to make sure they are more successful. K. is not rigorous. Its parents who don't prepare their kids and whine about how rigorous it is. And, yes, I have a SN kid and yes, we spent a huge sum of money on therapies to get our child to the point they are at to make sure they are successful. If your non-special needs kid cannot cut it in K. at age 5, you need to get them fully evaluated and into therapies to support them as you lose the gift of time as the longer you wait to get your kid the help they need, the harder it is for those therapist to work.

As a former K and First grade teacher, I can vouch for the fact that there are kids who are very smart --yet not ready for school. And, redshirting has gone on for far longer than you realize with late birthday kids. I think it is more common now, but I've known of some for a long time. I've also known people socially who started their kids early--and later regretted it. I'm not in favor of redshirting all late birthday kids--it depends on the kid. If my son had a late birthday, I would have redshirted him. There are exceptions to every rule--but I've known far more who should have redshirted than who did. And, I am talking about late birthdays--not all kids.

If you have a 4 year old in preschool going to K the following year, baring any SN, as a parent, what are you doing to prepare them? Moving them to a more academic/structured preschool that will prepare them for the requirements, teaching them basics of reading and writing and numbers, working on social skills? Most of the parents I know who held back did it because they don't feel it is their job to get their kids ready or pressure from friends/family/teachers. I am always suspect of preschool teachers saying hold back as most are minimally trained and don't have the diagnostic skills to really assess. Most teachers don't for that matter. When we transferred to public, because my child was the youngest and we bypassed the entry date, they made a huge assessment he was one of the slower kids and put him in the basic groups. Funny, when test scores came, initially they thought it was a fluke and when the second testing came around they finally moved him up realizing they were wrong. Thank goodness for standardized testing.

I sent my August DD and she's fine in K now. Looking at my son, if he was born in August, I don't know if I'd make the same call. But he's a March kid, so it's moot. Hopefully, he'll grow out of his animal from the muppet babies stage after he turns 4.

I do think academically it's been great. Socially, DD has struggled. She's had meltdowns and stuff that I'd categorize as normal for a young 5. But there are kids in her class who turned 6 as early as June before the school year. Those kids are much more mature, but then again, DD will STILL be 5 when she attends these kiddos 7th birthday parties.

I assume the maturity thing will sort out. She's making friends and I like that she's doing Daises. If anything, it seems like over halfway in DD has matured dramatically this year.

Anonymous wrote:Redshirting is not new, but the term is. It used to be called "being held back." People don't like what that implies, so it's now the "gift of time."

+1,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Again, this makes no sense. If you are concerned your child will fall behind you spend the money and get them tutoring (or work with them yourself) and therapies to address the issues to make sure they are more successful. K. is not rigorous. Its parents who don't prepare their kids and whine about how rigorous it is. And, yes, I have a SN kid and yes, we spent a huge sum of money on therapies to get our child to the point they are at to make sure they are successful. If your non-special needs kid cannot cut it in K. at age 5, you need to get them fully evaluated and into therapies to support them as you lose the gift of time as the longer you wait to get your kid the help they need, the harder it is for those therapist to work.

You can do therapies AND give an extra year in preschool. it's not an either/or situation. and for social skills, there's really no substitute for extra time for some kids.

Most kids who are redshirted/held back aren't do therapies or social skill classes. They are being held back to get better test scores to get into the gifted programs or for sports. If we held my kid back, he easily would have made gifted since we work at home but he's borderline. I'd rather him be in regular where he fits better than hold him back with kids over a year younger and slower academics. Even now, elementary school is slow. I could not imagine holding him back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Again, this makes no sense. If you are concerned your child will fall behind you spend the money and get them tutoring (or work with them yourself) and therapies to address the issues to make sure they are more successful. K. is not rigorous. Its parents who don't prepare their kids and whine about how rigorous it is. And, yes, I have a SN kid and yes, we spent a huge sum of money on therapies to get our child to the point they are at to make sure they are successful. If your non-special needs kid cannot cut it in K. at age 5, you need to get them fully evaluated and into therapies to support them as you lose the gift of time as the longer you wait to get your kid the help they need, the harder it is for those therapist to work.

As a former K and First grade teacher, I can vouch for the fact that there are kids who are very smart --yet not ready for school. And, redshirting has gone on for far longer than you realize with late birthday kids. I think it is more common now, but I've known of some for a long time. I've also known people socially who started their kids early--and later regretted it. I'm not in favor of redshirting all late birthday kids--it depends on the kid. If my son had a late birthday, I would have redshirted him. There are exceptions to every rule--but I've known far more who should have redshirted than who did. And, I am talking about late birthdays--not all kids.

+100 Thanks for a rational analysis!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Not that the PP was totally accurate in their views, but the original poster did not have specific reasons for concern other than "my kid might be younger than his classmates." This was an early post in this thread: DS has been able to do all of the tasks listed on the checklists since he was 3 and is mature for his age. He is bored with pre-k and is more than ready to go to kindergarten.

And I have family in CA that "redshirted" mainly because of sports, so in some communities it's very common.

Redshirting is a never-ending spiral. People want to give their kid every advantage so they wait to send their September kids... then their August kids... pretty soon people are wondering if they should send their May kid. In the meantime, the parents of the September kid that is perfectly ready for K suddenly second guess because while they're not explicitly looking to give their kid an advantage, they certainly don't want to DISadvantage him.

someone's got to be the youngest. If your kid is ready, send him and hope for the best.

Redshirting is not new, but the term is. It used to be called "being held back." People don't like what that implies, so it's now the "gift of time."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Again, this makes no sense. If you are concerned your child will fall behind you spend the money and get them tutoring (or work with them yourself) and therapies to address the issues to make sure they are more successful. K. is not rigorous. Its parents who don't prepare their kids and whine about how rigorous it is. And, yes, I have a SN kid and yes, we spent a huge sum of money on therapies to get our child to the point they are at to make sure they are successful. If your non-special needs kid cannot cut it in K. at age 5, you need to get them fully evaluated and into therapies to support them as you lose the gift of time as the longer you wait to get your kid the help they need, the harder it is for those therapist to work.

You can do therapies AND give an extra year in preschool. it's not an either/or situation. and for social skills, there's really no substitute for extra time for some kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Again, this makes no sense. If you are concerned your child will fall behind you spend the money and get them tutoring (or work with them yourself) and therapies to address the issues to make sure they are more successful. K. is not rigorous. Its parents who don't prepare their kids and whine about how rigorous it is. And, yes, I have a SN kid and yes, we spent a huge sum of money on therapies to get our child to the point they are at to make sure they are successful. If your non-special needs kid cannot cut it in K. at age 5, you need to get them fully evaluated and into therapies to support them as you lose the gift of time as the longer you wait to get your kid the help they need, the harder it is for those therapist to work.

As a former K and First grade teacher, I can vouch for the fact that there are kids who are very smart --yet not ready for school. And, redshirting has gone on for far longer than you realize with late birthday kids. I think it is more common now, but I've known of some for a long time. I've also known people socially who started their kids early--and later regretted it. I'm not in favor of redshirting all late birthday kids--it depends on the kid. If my son had a late birthday, I would have redshirted him. There are exceptions to every rule--but I've known far more who should have redshirted than who did. And, I am talking about late birthdays--not all kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.

Again, this makes no sense. If you are concerned your child will fall behind you spend the money and get them tutoring (or work with them yourself) and therapies to address the issues to make sure they are more successful. K. is not rigorous. Its parents who don't prepare their kids and whine about how rigorous it is. And, yes, I have a SN kid and yes, we spent a huge sum of money on therapies to get our child to the point they are at to make sure they are successful. If your non-special needs kid cannot cut it in K. at age 5, you need to get them fully evaluated and into therapies to support them as you lose the gift of time as the longer you wait to get your kid the help they need, the harder it is for those therapist to work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Red shirting is not a new phenomenon. People have been doing this for 30-40 years (that I'm aware of - I have teachers in my family and kids that "started K late"). Relatively middle-middle class family. We also did this with two DS.

Most teachers will say it can't hurt, and if you're unsure, to do it.

I'm 40 and the only kids who were held back were the ones who failed the grade. We have a fall kid and we sent him early. He also does sports. Sports go by age, not grade so being younger has its advantages. Kids who start the sport younger clearly have an advantage. Mine started it about 2 years later and is much slower but catching up. Most of the really good kids have private coaches as well, which we started to do. There is usually more to it all once you actually look into it. It makes no sense to hold kids back.

Thanks for your completely uniformed opinion. Nobody cares that your fall kid was ready and did great. Those of us considering redshirting do it because there's a specific reason for concern. And personally I've never met anyone whose concern was limited to sports (either way). BTW part of the idea behind redshirting is to prevent kids from failing the grade later on. Doesn't necessarily always work out that way and the data may not support it, but the REASON some people redshirt is to give the child more time to be ready for kindergarten, which is universally understood to be more "rigorous" than 35 years ago when you were in K.