Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a child who is socially or emotionally immature or not there academically, then sure, hold them back. But hold back a child who is ready in all ways to be challenged and let him be the oldest in a group of kids a year younger repeating all the same stuff he’s already done for an extra year? No.

This. OP is looking at PK3 where it's harder to gauge, honestly (and I would just send on time for that because it's not like you're doing significant academics in preschool anyway).

But for K, the determining factor shouldn't be how close to the cut off your child's birthday is. It should be their experience in preschool and their overall readiness. Some preschools do formal readiness assessments, but even when they don't have these, you can always just ask the teacher "I know Timmy is on the younger side for his cohort -- what are your thoughts on readiness for Kindergarten?" And they'll usually tell you if they have any concerns. Our preschool teachers also said, regarding our kid with a bday close to the cutoff, that they were ready. I trusted them, and they were right.

A preschool teacher does not have the ability to predict the future for a child. And, kids can do differently in different environments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will take an extra year of my life home being with my son than $20k in childcare. I was also redshirted and it was a big advantage for me (all-state, valedictorian), and I want to pass that on.

Smart kids do that regardless, not because they were held back.

No, anyone who has interacted with a variety of kids for 5 minutes realizes there’s a light year of inherent difference in EQ and soft skills between kids a year apart (though I’d guess you’re not one of them). Kids don’t typically excel in life by just knowing their times tables, and the parents who think they do are the ones posting that their kid went to school at 3 “because otherwise he’d be bored.” 🙄 good luck with that.

Clearly you haven’t if you have unrealistic expectations for a five year old and don’t see holding them back makes no sense. My kid read at three. How would starting k be good for them at age six when half the class could not read? Dumbing your kids down and not educating them speaks volumes of you as a parent if you are one.

Anonymous wrote:Most people make this decision based not on whether their 2.5 (or 4.5) year old “seems ready”, but thinking about 5/10/15 years down the line and preferring their kid to not be the youngest in the class at that point.

I don't get why people are so convinced that being younger will be a liability but being older would not be. For both boys and girls, being significantly older (a year plus) can create issues when they enter puberty before any of their classmates. Barring delays that could make it hard for them to keep up in PK/K, most kids will do better socially and academically if they stay with the age cohort closest in age to them, even if they are on the younger end of that range.

Anonymous wrote:If you have a child who is socially or emotionally immature or not there academically, then sure, hold them back. But hold back a child who is ready in all ways to be challenged and let him be the oldest in a group of kids a year younger repeating all the same stuff he’s already done for an extra year? No.

This. OP is looking at PK3 where it's harder to gauge, honestly (and I would just send on time for that because it's not like you're doing significant academics in preschool anyway).

But for K, the determining factor shouldn't be how close to the cut off your child's birthday is. It should be their experience in preschool and their overall readiness. Some preschools do formal readiness assessments, but even when they don't have these, you can always just ask the teacher "I know Timmy is on the younger side for his cohort -- what are your thoughts on readiness for Kindergarten?" And they'll usually tell you if they have any concerns. Our preschool teachers also said, regarding our kid with a bday close to the cutoff, that they were ready. I trusted them, and they were right.

Anonymous wrote:This is the best article on it from the Atlantic. It advocates all boys starting later. I don't disagree from my own experiences as a girl student and also from seeing my sons and daughters. Boys just aren't as good as students as girls and lag in sitting still, paying attention and emotional maturity. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/boys-delayed-entry-school-start-redshirting/671238/

+1 I used to teach middle school, and by that age is it very obvious which boys have summer birthdays (and were not redshirted)

Most people make this decision based not on whether their 2.5 (or 4.5) year old “seems ready”, but thinking about 5/10/15 years down the line and preferring their kid to not be the youngest in the class at that point.

Anonymous wrote:I find all the people claiming their kids would be “so bored” to be odd, but I generally think parents claiming their children are so smart that school bores them to be a little bit of a red flag. I didn’t redshirt, just my general life observations.

But what you are missing is that if you redshirt, your child could wind up 12+ months older than peers in their grade level, as opposed to 9-11 months younger. In K-2nd when there's already a pretty broad range of normal of things like learning to read, I'd rather my average kid be in the group closer to her actual age, even if she's the youngest, than be a whole year-plus older.

I have zero problems with redshirting but personally would not do it unless my kid was showing signs of an social or cognitive delay. In my experience with a kid with a birthday right before the cut off, even an average kid can essentially "play up" to the level of the older kids in class, as long as they have the same PK preparation and no LDs or special needs. My kid might be the youngest in class, but there are plenty of kids who are within only a couple months of her, so it honestly doesn't even register. There are only a few kids who are actually 11 months older, and yes, those kids seem more mature and catch on faster. But a redshirted would be a full year older and then some -- it would make the differences even more pronounced.

It's really not about thinking your kid is so advanced.

Anonymous wrote:We have a July bday and an August bday (girl and boy) and didn’t redshirt either. No regrets. Both are advanced in math and would have been bored. Socially they were ready.

That fabulous but are you implying that this is the universal truth for all children with the same or near same birthdays?

Of course not, that would be absurd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will take an extra year of my life home being with my son than $20k in childcare. I was also redshirted and it was a big advantage for me (all-state, valedictorian), and I want to pass that on.

Smart kids do that regardless, not because they were held back.

No, anyone who has interacted with a variety of kids for 5 minutes realizes there’s a light year of inherent difference in EQ and soft skills between kids a year apart (though I’d guess you’re not one of them). Kids don’t typically excel in life by just knowing their times tables, and the parents who think they do are the ones posting that their kid went to school at 3 “because otherwise he’d be bored.” 🙄 good luck with that.

We have a July bday and an August bday (girl and boy) and didn’t redshirt either. No regrets. Both are advanced in math and would have been bored. Socially they were ready.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that if you redshirt, you'll have an 18 year old adult to get through senior year of high school.

Oh stop. Seniors are 18 now starting in Sept/October senior year anyway, Rip Van Winkle.

Very few. I'd be embarrassed to hold my child back. But, I'd rather set them up to succeed vs. hold them back and hope that fixes things.

It’s natural law anti-redshirter!! Hi crazy. How are you doing in crazy land?

K. was meant for kids to go at age 5, not 6. Why would you unnecessarily hold your child back? It makes no sense.

I'm going to disagree with you there. Maybe the K a few decades ago was for 5 year olds. I remember napping, having playground time and lots of play. None of that exists anymore (my kids didn't get playground time until 2nd because there weren't playgrounds for the younger kids').

Never heard of that in k.

Anonymous wrote:This is the best article on it from the Atlantic. It advocates all boys starting later. I don't disagree from my own experiences as a girl student and also from seeing my sons and daughters. Boys just aren't as good as students as girls and lag in sitting still, paying attention and emotional maturity. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/boys-delayed-entry-school-start-redshirting/671238/

I hope you don’t have sone. That’s a horrible thing to say. No child should be mature at that age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that if you redshirt, you'll have an 18 year old adult to get through senior year of high school.

Oh stop. Seniors are 18 now starting in Sept/October senior year anyway, Rip Van Winkle.

Very few. I'd be embarrassed to hold my child back. But, I'd rather set them up to succeed vs. hold them back and hope that fixes things.

It’s natural law anti-redshirter!! Hi crazy. How are you doing in crazy land?

K. was meant for kids to go at age 5, not 6. Why would you unnecessarily hold your child back? It makes no sense.

I'm going to disagree with you there. Maybe the K a few decades ago was for 5 year olds. I remember napping, having playground time and lots of play. None of that exists anymore (my kids didn't get playground time until 2nd because there weren't playgrounds for the younger kids').

This is the best article on it from the Atlantic. It advocates all boys starting later. I don't disagree from my own experiences as a girl student and also from seeing my sons and daughters. Boys just aren't as good as students as girls and lag in sitting still, paying attention and emotional maturity. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/boys-delayed-entry-school-start-redshirting/671238/

If you have a child who is socially or emotionally immature or not there academically, then sure, hold them back. But hold back a child who is ready in all ways to be challenged and let him be the oldest in a group of kids a year younger repeating all the same stuff he’s already done for an extra year? No.