Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what is sad is my son who just turned 8, cannot play summer ball with all his friends. Half of them are almost nine so they need to "play up". Same in soccer. My son and his best friend can no longer play on the same club team bc he is almost 9. Try outs are in two weeks and the boys are so disappointed. They play town together but it is not the same. Seems like a small issue but kids want to be with their friends. My other son is the youngest in his class and he has to play down. So stupid.

But most organizations split by birth year, so the kids in one grade would be cut in half anyway.

not for summer ball and soccer has moved to a strict birth year policy-this is a national policy starting fall 2016 (club).

This is how it was for k registration too. By birth year. But states like Md had to push the age date in early 2000's from Dec, Nov, Oct to Sept.

Yet we STILL have parents that redshirt. Dumbing down America's kids even more

Bigger concern to me is how are many kids NOT prepared for school, including SN kids. Perhaps our play based preschools that do not have any academic focus are not the best choice for 4 year olds if kids are not going in know at least their letters, numbers, shapes and colors and start pre-reading. And, where is the parent responsibility to get the kids prepared for school?

This has everything to do with the increased poverty and immigrants. Kids going to play-based preschools are more than prepared for Kindergarten. In my child's elementary school in Rockville they had 9 ESOL kids out of 23. Five that could speak little to no English. Talk about unprepared.

OP here- It gas been interesting reading the responses. I feel like the red shirting does change the dynamics. There is a big difference between a 5 year old and a 6.5 year old and it's unfair to have the K standard be geared for a 6.5 year old. Red shirt in is very common in my community. My thought is that if you do red shirt, then be thankful that school is easy for your child so that you can work on whatever social issues your child has. If the social issues weren't that big of a deal, then you shouldn't have held your child back in the first place.


Maybe I wouldn't think of it as such a big deal if my child had a fall birthday but 17 months is a huge difference at this age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+2 That's right. Your big, mature, "advanced" child unsettles the social dynamic for the younger kids.

My end-of August redshirted boy is not the tallest or biggest in his class (he's in the middle of the pack) and is best friends with the non-redshirted boy who is almost exactly a year younger than him. They have the same sensibility and maturity level. Kids are all different.

My July birthday, non-red-shirted boy who is small is best friends with two very tall red-shirted boys who are a year or more older than him and one equally tall non-red-shirted October boy. The other boys are more advanced in terms of sports and really well academically but I just don't see the social problem people are talking about in terms of changing the social dynamic. I don't really see the younger kids hanging out with the younger kids or the older kids hanging out with the older kids. Parents like to make a big deal about the age difference but I would be surprised if the kids notice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what is sad is my son who just turned 8, cannot play summer ball with all his friends. Half of them are almost nine so they need to "play up". Same in soccer. My son and his best friend can no longer play on the same club team bc he is almost 9. Try outs are in two weeks and the boys are so disappointed. They play town together but it is not the same. Seems like a small issue but kids want to be with their friends. My other son is the youngest in his class and he has to play down. So stupid.

But most organizations split by birth year, so the kids in one grade would be cut in half anyway.

not for summer ball and soccer has moved to a strict birth year policy-this is a national policy starting fall 2016 (club).

This is how it was for k registration too. By birth year. But states like Md had to push the age date in early 2000's from Dec, Nov, Oct to Sept.

Yet we STILL have parents that redshirt. Dumbing down America's kids even more

Bigger concern to me is how are many kids NOT prepared for school, including SN kids. Perhaps our play based preschools that do not have any academic focus are not the best choice for 4 year olds if kids are not going in know at least their letters, numbers, shapes and colors and start pre-reading. And, where is the parent responsibility to get the kids prepared for school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what is sad is my son who just turned 8, cannot play summer ball with all his friends. Half of them are almost nine so they need to "play up". Same in soccer. My son and his best friend can no longer play on the same club team bc he is almost 9. Try outs are in two weeks and the boys are so disappointed. They play town together but it is not the same. Seems like a small issue but kids want to be with their friends. My other son is the youngest in his class and he has to play down. So stupid.

But most organizations split by birth year, so the kids in one grade would be cut in half anyway.

not for summer ball and soccer has moved to a strict birth year policy-this is a national policy starting fall 2016 (club).

This is how it was for k registration too. By birth year. But states like Md had to push the age date in early 2000's from Dec, Nov, Oct to Sept.

Yet we STILL have parents that redshirt. Dumbing down America's kids even more

Anonymous wrote:what is sad is my son who just turned 8, cannot play summer ball with all his friends. Half of them are almost nine so they need to "play up". Same in soccer. My son and his best friend can no longer play on the same club team bc he is almost 9. Try outs are in two weeks and the boys are so disappointed. They play town together but it is not the same. Seems like a small issue but kids want to be with their friends. My other son is the youngest in his class and he has to play down. So stupid.

Horrible. I can see that your child will be scarred for life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a teeny-tiny kindergartener who was the size of a three year old (bottom five percent of the growth curve). She would have found it challenging to be with kids her own age who were so much bigger than she was. Yes, by all means, put her in with kids who are two years older than her and also big for their age. That sounds like a great plan.

Did you really red-shirt your daughter based on her size and the fact that others red shirt?? Wow, I have heard it all.

No, she was the size of a 3 year old but reading on a sixth grade level so we sent her to kindy. What else would you do?

Uh, not say kindy?

That poster is unbelievably annoying for so many reasons.

+1 million. Her kindergartener was reading on a 6th grade level. Had to protect the tiny smart thing from all the big bad boys. Ugh!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a teeny-tiny kindergartener who was the size of a three year old (bottom five percent of the growth curve). She would have found it challenging to be with kids her own age who were so much bigger than she was. Yes, by all means, put her in with kids who are two years older than her and also big for their age. That sounds like a great plan.

Did you really red-shirt your daughter based on her size and the fact that others red shirt?? Wow, I have heard it all.

No, she was the size of a 3 year old but reading on a sixth grade level so we sent her to kindy. What else would you do?

Uh, not say kindy?

That poster is unbelievably annoying for so many reasons.

Maybe he is not challenged?

Anonymous wrote:Most of the red shirted kids I know who were held back for social reasons seemed perfectly normal to me. Different from what the parents wanted... (Introvert rather than extrovert, nerdy rather than sporty, etc) but not really socially behind. Waiting a year isn't going to fundamentally change your child's nature.

**** exception for true, diagnosed issues.

This is very very true.

My kids don't play club sports yet, but wouldn't this sports issue even be a problem with kids who are "supposed" to be in that grade? For example, one of my kids had a late November birthday, so he would have to play with older kids rather than his grade-level peers? There is always going to be some division anyway with a September cutoff date for school.

My three kids are/will be all over the map in terms of age within the grade - one is the youngest, one is right in the middle, and one is one of the older ones with a late fall birthday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what is sad is my son who just turned 8, cannot play summer ball with all his friends. Half of them are almost nine so they need to "play up". Same in soccer. My son and his best friend can no longer play on the same club team bc he is almost 9. Try outs are in two weeks and the boys are so disappointed. They play town together but it is not the same. Seems like a small issue but kids want to be with their friends. My other son is the youngest in his class and he has to play down. So stupid.

But most organizations split by birth year, so the kids in one grade would be cut in half anyway.

not for summer ball and soccer has moved to a strict birth year policy-this is a national policy starting fall 2016 (club).

Anonymous wrote:Agree with op is it ridiculous! They should just test the kid and move him up in grades.

I agree.

some folks redshirt for legitimate reasons. Others are looking to game the system.

Anonymous wrote:what is sad is my son who just turned 8, cannot play summer ball with all his friends. Half of them are almost nine so they need to "play up". Same in soccer. My son and his best friend can no longer play on the same club team bc he is almost 9. Try outs are in two weeks and the boys are so disappointed. They play town together but it is not the same. Seems like a small issue but kids want to be with their friends. My other son is the youngest in his class and he has to play down. So stupid.

But most organizations split by birth year, so the kids in one grade would be cut in half anyway.