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I really don't think when the cutoff is matters but it needs to be enforced throughout the state. The problem now is that everyone is redshirting. If you have a child that is an Oct-Dec baby and you place them in school at the appropriate time, they are in a class with kids that are all a year older than them and they can really struggle. If everyone in the class was the appropriate age, there wouldn't be as much variation and the teaching should be appropriate for the skill level of the class. I work in the city where nobody redshirts and some of the younger kids struggle a bit in kindergarten but we give them time and they do fine. In Westchester, everybody redshirts and younger kindergarteners stay behind their peers because they are competing with kids that are often a full year older than them. The policy should be uniform except in situations with kids that have special needs such as ESL or autism or something along those lines.
I do not blame parents for redshirting in Westchester because everyone else is doing it and nobody wants their children to lag behind. I just think it would be better to level the playing field so that everyone in Kindergarten is within a calendar year and adjust the curriculum to the level of the students.
...The problem now is that everyone is redshirting. ...
I don't agree. 'Everyone' isn't redshirting at all. We have two elementary age children and I don't see a lot of it. Some, but certainly not 'everyone'.
As many people here have noted, it very much depends on the individual child. Parents I know of summer/fall kids put a lot of thought into it and make their decision based on what their child is ready for. I haven't seen anyone hold a summer birthday child back, but some that are late fall indeed are held back.
Honestly, I don't really consider waiting a year to send an October+ birthday child as 'red-shirting'. Some kids aren't ready for K at age 4, and that's just the way it is. Some are. Parents are wise to take a good look at their child and do what's best for them. The past several years I've seen a couple of kids in my sons' classes that are on the young side which would have been better served to have been held back. Being put in too soon put them at a disadvantage mentally/academically and physically...and their confidence seemed to suffer for it.
Maybe different towns are different but I feel that more people redshirt than not. I even stated that I do not think parents are wrong for redshirting because of the way the system is. I would redshirt my kids if they had late birthdays as well regardless of their maturity level just because they would be competing with kids a full year older. I just don't think it is developmentally appropriate to ask kids that are 4 to be in a classroom where a majority of kids are six. Even a mature 4/5 year old would and should be less mature than 5/6 year old. I think that NY should mandate a cutoff and make kindergarten developmentally appropriate for kids that are 4/5. I know someone who is a late October birthday and she has struggled in Kindergarten. Her mother took her for a full educational evaluation and she was considered perfectly appropriate for her age. The problem is that most of her class is a full year older than her and that is who she is judged against. That is unfair to her. I am sure she is not the only one. I think it should be more uniform. If the cutoff is Sept 1, than that should be the cutoff except in extreme situations.
Agree completely. They should do it like NYC does in that K is not mandatory and that there is an upper limit on age for K, so unless your child is truly not developmentally on par with the rest, if you hold them back until 6 they go straight to 1st grade.
My son will be almost 5.5 but has ADHD and is definitely more inmature than others but still, holding him back until 6.5 seems absurd, even though I have seen it happen and some have even recommended it. Redshirting is always common in hypercompetitive metro areas...it was big in LA too. At some point the schools need to stop it as it has clearly gotten out of hand, but the cutoff needs to be changed to 9/1 - 4 is just too young in almost all cases.
When kindergarten was half a day and consisted of mostly play-based activities, learning numbers, the alphabet and some letter sounds, etc, it was perfectly appropriate for the 4-5 age group. Then "they" started pushing more academics in kindergarten, with a full day of reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Why did they do this? Who knows, but all requirements seem to be shifting downwards, so that now what is done in K is what used to be done in 1st or 2nd, etc. That's all fine and dandy, but evidently it isn't that simple, as many parents now feel that their 4 year olds are not ready for K, and we now have basically the same situation as we had before - the kids in K are first grade age and learning what used to be taught in first grade.
For most of you who have decided to "redshirt" your child, did you send them back to the pre-school they were in for one more year or choose a different pre-K program?
I haven't decided either way yet for my son, but almost all decent preschools in Westchester have a 'young 5' program specifically for kids that are being held back from K. I would never make my son repeat preschool at 5...he would be bored out of his mind.
Does anyone have any idea how common redshirting or waiting a year to start a child in kindergarten is in Westchester County? NY has one of latest cut-off dates- so wondering if it is as common as I have been hearing. Do people generally hold back late summer birthday boys? What about Fall? Is this not as common as it seems? thanks!
Pretty rare, seeing as how most kids don't have fall birthdays.
FYI, since the OP was in 2009, kid done gradumated now.
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