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I never redshirted my kids. My older 3 were born Feb and Mar. My youngest was born in September with an October cut off date. But she was ready to go. It would have never occured to my ex and I that was even an option.
My youngest was born in September with an October cut off date. But she was ready to go. It would have never occured to my ex and I that was even an option.
Our youngest was born in the fall with a Dec 1 cut off date, took the pre-kindergarten written test and passed "with flying colors." However, the test did not measure emotional readiness. As her teacher pointed out that fall, she could not hold scissors correctly, preferred to play on the swings vs sit at a table and cut out shapes, etc. All her friends in that classroom were 10-11 months older than she, and the difference in maturity was obvious. She repeated kindergarten the following year, and was much more confident.
So I guess I can't imagine that redshirting would hinder a child.
Our youngest was born in the fall with a Dec 1 cut off date, took the pre-kindergarten written test and passed "with flying colors." However, the test did not measure emotional readiness. As her teacher pointed out that fall, she could not hold scissors correctly, preferred to play on the swings vs sit at a table and cut out shapes, etc. All her friends in that classroom were 10-11 months older than she, and the difference in maturity was obvious. She repeated kindergarten the following year, and was much more confident.
So I guess I can't imagine that redshirting would hinder a child.
Anecdotally, I know a family that red-shirted two of their three kids. With the oldest, the dad said it worked out well in the early grades, something you read in some of the studies, but was not advantageous in high school. She was driving, etc before the other kids in her grade level. By senior year in high school she was more than ready to get to college. The younger one actually went to summer school to get enough credits to graduate with her age-mates.
There have been a few threads on kindergarten retention here in the past which have mentioned the information in your links. I agree that it definitely depends on the individual.
I recall that, long after our youngest was out of high school, a school psychologist mentioning at a meeting, "You never retain a girl, even if it's recommended. Girls catch up; boys don't." I thought, well, too late for my kid, and I'm not sure that I agree with his advice, but it was interesting to hear.
There have been a few threads on kindergarten retention here in the past which have mentioned the information in your links. I agree that it definitely depends on the individual.
I recall that, long after our youngest was out of high school, a school psychologist mentioning at a meeting, "You never retain a girl, even if it's recommended. Girls catch up; boys don't." I thought, well, too late for my kid, and I'm not sure that I agree with his advice, but it was interesting to hear.
I have an old friend (don't see her as much any more) who has a son born in August. His pre-school teacher thought he was ready for kindergarten at age 5. My friend had a friend who was a first grade teacher (who my daughter later had) who told her, "Every child with a summer birthday struggles if they start at 5". So she red-shirted him. He was no stand-out as a student, IIRC.
When you hear a blanket statement like that, ignore it. Sounds like you did the right thing for your child.
I didn't vote either, as I don't see it as a black and white issue.
I sent all 3 of my kids to kindergarten at their "regular" time. Of those 3 kids, one was a summer birthday, as well as being extremely petite. She was barely 5 when she started school, but looked like a 3 year old. She did perfectly fine, both academically and socially.
My 3rd child was 5.5 years old when he started kindergarten, but if he'd been the summer birthday, I would have wanted to hold him back. His level of maturity, when he turned 5 in February, was pretty low. He was disruptive in preschool and didn't seem particularly interested in anything academic. But, over the course of 6 months, he matured quite a bit. He's in kindergarten now and doing very well. He behaves himself and is at the top of his class academically. Somewhere in that time frame, the switch flipped. I'm glad he had that extra time, due to his birth date, but if he hadn't, as a parent, I would considered red-shirting.
I think my middle son would have been helped by redshirting him. He turned 5 in July and started school in August. He had trouble sitting still as long as required. He had trouble making friends because he seemed babyish to some of the kids. He did fine academically but struggled socially until he was in high school. He is now in college and doing well.
I had a couple of friends (they are both in their 30s now) with summer birthdays who were red shirted and I think it worked out well for both of them. One was class president, captain of several sports teams, etc. The other has a learning disability, but was able to overcome it and is now a partner at a law firm.
I have one friend whose kid was born around the last week of August and this girl was pretty much where kids a year older than her were even as a toddler. Holding her back would have been a gigantic mistake. She's now in Gifted classes.
I had another friend with a kid who had a birthday the same time who had the standard problems of lack of maturity and academic problems and she refused to hold him back. She was just putting him into intense tutoring after kindergarten to try to get him to catch up and I think it was just stressing him out. He was a kid who really needed to give kindergarten another whirl because he didn't excel the first time either academically or socially.
What is done today to give a child an advantage becomes the thing you have to do in the future just to keep up. What happens when everyone redshirts their kids? Who will have the advantage then?
I don't think redshirting helps. Teens are very self conscious about the fact they are older than the other kids in their grade.
We have a small, shy, sensitive boy who turns 5 this summer, and are planning on waiting a year for him to start K. Our reasons aren't academic. Our state's early childhood screening and his preschool teacher both say he would be ready to go this fall, and he shows all the signs of readiness provided by our elementary school. I also think he's pretty good at sitting still and focusing on a task, which seems to be the common reason for holding back younger boys.
We're planning to wait a year because of where he fits socially - which has nothing to do with us wanting him to have any sort of temporary 'advantage' over his peers. I see a world of difference in his confidence if he is around a group of peers primarily older than himself (shuts down, doesn't make eye contact, avoids others) vs. younger than himself (much more open, friendly, interested in engaging with others). All of his friends in his mixed-age preschool are younger than him, and all but one are not eligible to go to K until the following year. I think that for him, going on time vs. waiting a year could mean the difference between having a school career of being a target for bullying who has trouble making friends, vs. having a normal, healthy social life. In addition, we learned that about 50% of kids with summer birthdays wait a year in our (middle to upper middle class) community, meaning fewer kids his age or younger than him going to K this fall.
I am somewhat concerned about delaying academics, as I feel he would absolutely be ready for K work next year, and wonder if he'll already know a lot of the material when he does go. But school isn't just academics. We can't send him to K this fall with a cohort of children primarily younger than him. Learning is easier and a much more positive experience if a child feels comfortable in his surroundings. We feel it would be easier to find ways to challenge him academically if needed, rather than to force him to fit in with a group of peers with which he just isn't comfortable.
Time will tell the positive and negative consequences of the decision we plan to make. I agree though that every kid is different, and you can't make a blanket assumption about all children/boys with summer birthdays; the decision needs to be made taking each child's uniqueness in to account.
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