I didn't. She was ready; holding her back would have been pointless.

We did, but only bc the child had special needs. I have to say, I heard stories a out so many kids red shirting...she among the oldest in her grade, but only by a couple of weeks. For all the talk of redshirtinf, I would have expected a bunch of kids older than her.

21:21 again. Forgot to say that she’s never had any major problems socially; she’s pretty easygoing once she warms up. She’s on the shy side, but speaking as a mental health professional, if her anxiety started to really interfere in her life, I don’t think holding her back would necessarily “fix” it. Instead, I’d try to get her some evidence-based treatment for the anxiety with an experienced child psychologist rather than holding her back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did not. She's now in high school.

It was a bit rough in early grade school because some kids in her class were a full year (or more) older. But now you can't tell the difference. Always being the youngest taught her to work harder academically. Nothing was ever handed to her; she had to reach. It is paying off now right when it needs to.

You know your kid best. If she's strong-willed, go for it.

This.. we sent our Aug DD on time. She is doing fairly well academically at 10. Her personality is such that she is kind of lazy. If we had held her back, I think she would have coasted without having to try. Not a good thing for a lazy kid.

Our experience too. Mine does far better being challenged and pushed. He'll work harder trying to keep and surpass his peers vs. if he was a year behind he'd be coasting through (well, technically he is anyway) and it would be a disaster not being challenged.

Same here. Our kid started PK3 in DCPS at age 2 (Aug. due date, born in Sept. with a 9/30 cutoff, so one of the youngest). She has a good buddy a year older in the same grade who always hits milestones way before her, and that’s okay—as long as she works hard, we’re happy.

We’ve since switched her to private for language immersion, and she’s doing well. We’d prefer her to be challenged academically and have to hustle a bit to keep up, rather than coasting through. Like others, she can be a bit lazy, but if she sees other kids working hard she tends to rise to the challenge.

Not a factor at the time, but she’s always been one of the tallest kids in her class—she would absolutely tower over the other 1st graders if held back. Also, I began puberty earlyish at age 8—if she follows suit, that would be potentially a little tough to be a 2nd grader hitting puberty.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send your child to school. What is the drama? Why does it matter what someone else did?

+1
Redshirting is for cowardly parents without faith in their kids

Wow! So mean! You sound jealous and bitter

Jealous of what exactly? That you are projecting to your own kid they can’t hack it?

Anonymous wrote:I hate the term redshirt when used in this context. This isn’t about playing a college sport. It’s about developmental appropriate expectations in kindergarten and your child’s readiness.
I did however send my August birthday girl to kindergarten when she was 6, not 5. I’ve taught kindergarten for nearly 20 years, it was an easy choice. She is now in middle school and I’m even happier with my choice than I was when she was 5/6.

I'm interested in this. What about your experience as a kindergarten teacher made it an easy choice, and what benefits have you seen now that she is in middle school?

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would ban redshirting without documented special needs. It annoys me to no end. I was an August birthday and went to school on time. The only time I had obvious disadvantages or maturity/academic gaps were with kids who were redshirted and should never have been in my grade to begin with. If I turned 18 and still had a whole year of high school left I would have been embarrassed—it felt much more natural to be headed off to college at 18.

Could not agree more.

Our daughter turned 5 in July and we held her back because we adopted her at age 2.5 from China with a cleft lip and palate. At that time, she had had only 2.5 years to adjust to life in a family, in a new country, have surgeries on her face, begin hearing English, and work on verbal language.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send your child to school. What is the drama? Why does it matter what someone else did?

+1
Redshirting is for cowardly parents without faith in their kids

Wow! So mean! You sound jealous and bitter

Or she’s just rightfully annoyed that she followed the rules and now her kid has kids more than a year older in the class and playing against them in sport.

She had the choice (maybe still has)... if she is unhappy how things turned out for her kid, she should have made a different decision.

If the rules allow it, why should my kid be the youngest? Let it be her kid

My child is the youngest. Its not about being the youngest but going on time. I feel bad for your kid that you either think they are too dumb or immature to attend school or your poor parenting and choices in preschool didn't prepare them. Your child isn't smarter because they are a year older. So, you keep bragging how smart your kid is when they are average or actually behind because you held them back a year academically.

Actually I am not the one insulting you or your kid... that does not speak highly of you. No, I did not redshirt for an academic advantage at all. My DD is smart (not a genious as proven by the WPPSI), but she is sensitive and insecure and definitely not a go getter. We are sending her to perhaps the best preschool in DC (as judged by DCUM)... I really don’tbunderstand why you are so angry and bitter... maybe you regret your choices... yes, it must be it

DP. To the PP, you need to read your post again. You said that your daughter is not a "go getter" and that's the reason you held her back. Do you understand that the phrase "go getter" implies an exception? Meaning that not everyone is a go getter, just a few, and that's what makes them special and deserving of a special label like "go getter".

We don't do redshirting and our kids aren't "go getters" either. And one of them is quite sensitive indeed. And that's okay.

Serious question: If the SATs started normalizing based on months of birth, would you regret your decision to redshirt? Or would you feel that her social insecurity was such an issue that it was worth the drop in score?

Since I am not American and never took the SAT, I don’t even know how to answer your question. I am holding her back because I think she will fit better socially. If you think I am doing it so she can get better grades or scores you are wrong.

My DD is sweet and nice and does not have a mean bone in her body. Unfortunately this is not true for most/all the other kids and I have seen her hurt over and over by mean girls behavior. I am trying to protect her as much as I can. Had I had a different daughter, I don’t think I would hold her back. My secon is tough and does not get hurt easily... unfortunately she was born in October so she will be aMing the eldest no matter what...
We made different decisions trying to do our best for our kids. I could not care less about sports and test scores. My DD is not athletic anyway so whether she is the youngest or the oldest won’t make a difference

I hate the term redshirt when used in this context. This isn’t about playing a college sport. It’s about developmental appropriate expectations in kindergarten and your child’s readiness.
I did however send my August birthday girl to kindergarten when she was 6, not 5. I’ve taught kindergarten for nearly 20 years, it was an easy choice. She is now in middle school and I’m even happier with my choice than I was when she was 5/6.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send your child to school. What is the drama? Why does it matter what someone else did?

+1
Redshirting is for cowardly parents without faith in their kids

Wow! So mean! You sound jealous and bitter

Or she’s just rightfully annoyed that she followed the rules and now her kid has kids more than a year older in the class and playing against them in sport.

She had the choice (maybe still has)... if she is unhappy how things turned out for her kid, she should have made a different decision.

If the rules allow it, why should my kid be the youngest? Let it be her kid

My child is the youngest. Its not about being the youngest but going on time. I feel bad for your kid that you either think they are too dumb or immature to attend school or your poor parenting and choices in preschool didn't prepare them. Your child isn't smarter because they are a year older. So, you keep bragging how smart your kid is when they are average or actually behind because you held them back a year academically.

Actually I am not the one insulting you or your kid... that does not speak highly of you. No, I did not redshirt for an academic advantage at all. My DD is smart (not a genious as proven by the WPPSI), but she is sensitive and insecure and definitely not a go getter. We are sending her to perhaps the best preschool in DC (as judged by DCUM)... I really don’tbunderstand why you are so angry and bitter... maybe you regret your choices... yes, it must be it

DP. To the PP, you need to read your post again. You said that your daughter is not a "go getter" and that's the reason you held her back. Do you understand that the phrase "go getter" implies an exception? Meaning that not everyone is a go getter, just a few, and that's what makes them special and deserving of a special label like "go getter".

We don't do redshirting and our kids aren't "go getters" either. And one of them is quite sensitive indeed. And that's okay.

Serious question: If the SATs started normalizing based on months of birth, would you regret your decision to redshirt? Or would you feel that her social insecurity was such an issue that it was worth the drop in score?

Since I am not American and never took the SAT, I don’t even know how to answer your question. I am holding her back because I think she will fit better socially. If you think I am doing it so she can get better grades or scores you are wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send your child to school. What is the drama? Why does it matter what someone else did?

+1
Redshirting is for cowardly parents without faith in their kids

Wow! So mean! You sound jealous and bitter

Or she’s just rightfully annoyed that she followed the rules and now her kid has kids more than a year older in the class and playing against them in sport.

Not all sports go by grade. We swim. It strictly goes by age so you are with your age peer group, not grade.

Sent mine on-time. She’s in first grade now, and just won her grade’s spelling bee. She’s a smarty-pants, and fairly socially mature (I think having an older brother helps).

The only time it bothered me was last year when some boy told her she should be in preschool because she was still 5 in kindergarten. It does bug me that redshirting skews the ages in the grade.

We’re in a catholic school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did not. She's now in high school.

It was a bit rough in early grade school because some kids in her class were a full year (or more) older. But now you can't tell the difference. Always being the youngest taught her to work harder academically. Nothing was ever handed to her; she had to reach. It is paying off now right when it needs to.

You know your kid best. If she's strong-willed, go for it.

This.. we sent our Aug DD on time. She is doing fairly well academically at 10. Her personality is such that she is kind of lazy. If we had held her back, I think she would have coasted without having to try. Not a good thing for a lazy kid.

Our experience too. Mine does far better being challenged and pushed. He'll work harder trying to keep and surpass his peers vs. if he was a year behind he'd be coasting through (well, technically he is anyway) and it would be a disaster not being challenged.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send your child to school. What is the drama? Why does it matter what someone else did?

+1
Redshirting is for cowardly parents without faith in their kids

Wow! So mean! You sound jealous and bitter

Or she’s just rightfully annoyed that she followed the rules and now her kid has kids more than a year older in the class and playing against them in sport.

She had the choice (maybe still has)... if she is unhappy how things turned out for her kid, she should have made a different decision.

If the rules allow it, why should my kid be the youngest? Let it be her kid

My child is the youngest. Its not about being the youngest but going on time. I feel bad for your kid that you either think they are too dumb or immature to attend school or your poor parenting and choices in preschool didn't prepare them. Your child isn't smarter because they are a year older. So, you keep bragging how smart your kid is when they are average or actually behind because you held them back a year academically.

Actually I am not the one insulting you or your kid... that does not speak highly of you. No, I did not redshirt for an academic advantage at all. My DD is smart (not a genious as proven by the WPPSI), but she is sensitive and insecure and definitely not a go getter. We are sending her to perhaps the best preschool in DC (as judged by DCUM)... I really don’tbunderstand why you are so angry and bitter... maybe you regret your choices... yes, it must be it

DP. To the PP, you need to read your post again. You said that your daughter is not a "go getter" and that's the reason you held her back. Do you understand that the phrase "go getter" implies an exception? Meaning that not everyone is a go getter, just a few, and that's what makes them special and deserving of a special label like "go getter".

We don't do redshirting and our kids aren't "go getters" either. And one of them is quite sensitive indeed. And that's okay.

Serious question: If the SATs started normalizing based on months of birth, would you regret your decision to redshirt? Or would you feel that her social insecurity was such an issue that it was worth the drop in score?

Holding her back isn't going to help. Getting her support now, suck as counseling and working with her and sending her on time will help. Sending to the best preschool is great but if its not the best fit for your child, its worthless. Give your child a chance to succeed rather than decide now her fate and label her when she may be very different in a few years.