Education

To Redshirt or Not To Redshirt

Amy,

I’m hoping you can give me some advice. I have four kids, and my third is a 4 year-old boy. His birthday is in March, so I assumed he would be the easiest for me as far as entering school. I have two that are September birthdays and another who is a late summer kid. My four year old is great. He is so much different than my other ones. He’s funny and energetic, definitely the family clown. I know a lot can happen in a year, but I don’t know if he will be ready for kindergarten next year. He is pretty immature, has a hard time sitting still and concentrating, and basically just goofs off all the time. I’m sure that describes a lot of 4 year olds.

I just had two years in a row of having a kindergartner and spent a lot of time helping out in the classes. We only do all day around here, and it’s pretty serious business. This past year my daughter had a lot of kids in her class that just weren’t ready and it made me really sad. These kids have to sit and do a lot of work. They are expected to be pretty proficient readers by the end of the year. My little guy knows his alphabet and sounds, and most other things they are expected to know. He doesn’t like to write and can’t really color in the lines. Those aren’t my concerns as much as just the maturity.

What should I be looking for? I will talk to his preschool teachers, but I just don’t know if they will be the best judges. It’s a great school (really the only option since we live in a VERY rural small town). As long as they can do the kindergarten checklist the teachers are happy. I really am fine with holding him back a year, but he will be quite a bit older than some of the kids if we do this. I am a former high school math teacher and my husband in an engineer. We both love and value learning so much. I want him to start off well and for it to be a good experience for him. Any advice would be really appreciated.

This is a really tough, loaded call to make. Like you, I had two kids with early fall birthdays so the kindergarten question was not even up for debate: They missed the September 1st cutoff and I had no interest in pushing them for early admission. So they did another year of preschool despite turning 5 years old just weeks into the school year.

It was 100% the best thing for them. Both of them! My oldest has ADHD and is on the Spectrum (though we had neither of those diagnoses at the time; he was in special education for general developmental delays), and my middle son is “typical.” Which still means he is a high-energy, goofy, easily distracted, wiggly, crazypants of a little boy. They both entered kindergarten closer to their 6th birthdays and the transition was STILL pretty intense. Our kindergarten here is exactly like yours: all day with very high academic expectations. Lots of sitting and concentrating and reading and writing. My older son had the benefit of an IEP that pulled him into a smaller, self-contained classroom; my middle son did not, and probably had more behavior “issues” reported to us as a result.

By the end of the year, however, both underwent a pretty dramatic transformation. They both learned to read and write, developed close friendships and were able to operate within the rules of the classroom and came home with glowing report cards and awards for good behavior.

And now I’ve got my 4 year old, with a June birthday, who is a total unpredictable firecracker-slash-question-mark of a child. Uhhh. Crap.

My son’s preschool teacher says he’s doing just great and will make amazing strides next year, but the school has its own kindergarten program and I know if I ask, she’ll push for him doing the full three-year Montessori Primary program. (He did one year in Toddler and will do two years of Primary before he turns 5.)

My mom pushed my older sister ahead (August birthday) and regretted it.

My son’s kindergarten special education teacher told me, “Nope nope nope. Redshirt a June birthday. Redshirt ANY kid you’re not sure about! It’s just not worth it.”

My husband is pretty much, “Oh my God we’ve been paying for preschool for almost a decade now stop stop with the preschool we need a breather before college noooooooo.” (He was a late June birthday who wasn’t held back and did just fine, FWIW.)

My son is like, “KINDERGARTEN KINDERGARTEN PLEASE I WANNA GO NOW.”

The good news is that you have time to wait and see and avoid making any sort of commitment — you don’t need to notify either school about your intentions for the next fall for quite awhile. And the difference a year makes at this age is pretty mind-blowing. See what happens by the end of this year of preschool and make up your mind then.

That’s pretty much what I’m planning to do this year. Wait and see. It’s too early to be stressing about it and I don’t want to spend this year frantically and constantly “assessing” my youngest in terms of his academic/social skills. He really (REALLY) wants to go to kindergarten and to the same school as his brothers, so for now I admit that’s the plan, unless I spot too many developmental red flags as we near his birthday. I probably won’t commit to a school (preschool or public) until next summer, when I’ll go with my own personal gut feeling as to his readiness.

Anecdotally speaking, I met plenty of little boys with late winter/spring birthdays in my son’s kindergarten classes who did just great. Or who made incredible progress between September and June. (I also, like you, spotted the kids who Were Not Ready Not Even Close That’s A Damn Shame.) But the reality is that not every family has the luxury of redshirting and paying for another year of preschool, and a good school can balance out an academically rigorous day with an understanding that these are very little children coming in at a wide variety of maturity/socialization levels.

That said, if YOU hold him back, understand that there’s NOTHING wrong with being one of the oldest kids in the class. I stressed about this with my oldest, who had the wonderful trifecta of a September birthday, special needs AND being tall for his age. I worried people would expect him to act older or more mature, when really he was more on par with his younger peers. He entered kindergarten as neither the oldest or tallest kid, thanks to other families making the call to hold their kids back. Your son will be 6 on the first day of school, but I’ll bet he’ll fit in maturity-wise, and probably be one of a few 6 year olds, or kids who turn 6 early in the year. (Plus, hey! In high school he’ll get his driver’s license before anyone else and SCORE MAJOR COOL POINTS.)

But really: You know your son better than anyone, and you have all the right instincts to make this decision. When it’s time to make this decision, that is, which is totally not right now. Give him another year of preschool and let the academic/social stuff fall where it falls by next summer. (Although if your preschool has a full-day option, consider upgrading him to that for at least one semester. We did that with our middle son and it helped a LOT.) And then hey, write me back next June and let me know what you decide, as I’m sure I’ll be less level-headed and more freaking out about our decision.

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Rebekah

8 years ago

I have never met one parent who has regretted redshirting their preschooler. However I have met many parents who have regrets because they sent their child to kindergarten and they weren’t ready. I am a preschool special education teacher turned stay at home mom.

Erin

I love that the early-drivers-license factors in, Amy! I’ve been thinking that my August baby will be able to buy all of his college buds beer earlier. (Also: That it’s wildly inappropriate since he’s not even two yet.)

Jean

My son was a march boy. He was 5 when he started kindergarden and it wasn’t redshirting. All of his friends who had February, March, April, May birthdays were 5 when they started Kindergardent too. Hope this helps.

Karen

Would like to suggest an option that I never hear mentioned. I have an August bday kid who was was reading and writing when she started K as a fresh five year old. Socially though, it just wasn’t working out and I witnessed the struggle of having such a broad range of competencies and behaviors. I ended up taking her out of school at Christmas and we spent the rest of the school year playing, doing cool stuff, and about 30-60 min a day of reading/phonics/K level math. We did some grade one age camps this summer. She is now… Read more »

Reply to Karen

And for working moms who can’t just pull kids out of school, there are lots of options springing up in our area to offer an alternative to K for kids who aren’t ready for full on K, half day or full day, but don’t want to hold back a year either. Many are extensions of existing daycare/preschool programs.

Jen

When is your school cutoff date? I think that makes a big difference, as well as how frequently people red shirt in your district. My younger child’s birthday is on the cutoff date. At 2, we chose to keep her as one of the oldest in her preschool class because she was a very late walker and talker, and very shy. We figured if we needed to, we would have her skip a final year of preschool and go to kindergarten right as she turned 5. For her, it has been the right decision to remain one of the older… Read more »

Paige

I wish more states would create a program like the one we have here in California. We have “Transitional Kindergarten” for those children with fall birthdays. My daughter, with her October birthday, did TK last year, and will enter Kindergarten this year. A friend’s son, who has a June birthday, started Kindergarten last year. Within the first month of school, his teacher, principal and parents were able to agree to move him to the TK program. He’s not repeating Kindergarten this year, in his mind, he’s just going to the next grade. TK … K… 1. His parents liked it… Read more »

I was the oldest(without failing) in my grade. With a first day of school or before birthday. At the time it was done it was necessary(I’ll admit that). We moved into our house a couple days before 5 which was also the first day of school. I was extremely shy. Like… selectively catatonic shy. They wouldn’t let me in to kindergarten. So I did a nursery school that year. I ended up being one of the only kids with my license in my grade… but it worked out for.the next year too,when they changed the rules about when and how… Read more »

the grumbles

We have a September birthday boy, and our local cutoff is Sept. 30th. We decided to go ahead with Kinder right after his 5th birthday, because even though he was not reading or writing, he was very verbally advanced. I definitely had worries! But watching his transformation that year was amazing. He did great and rose to the challenge. It helped that it’s a Montessori program, so we were able to work with the teacher to make sure he was engaged. I know many people favor red shirting these days, and definitely do what feels best, but for us it… Read more »

Jenny

Up here in the Vancouver area in Canada, there is no such thing as red shirting. People just send their kids to K the year they turn 5. However, I think our K may be a lot more play based than what you are all describing.

Diana

Something I haven’t seen addressed is that by redshirting, my August birthday girl gets another year of childhood. Kids don’t really grow up and leave until they graduate so she gets one more year to mature before she is out making life changing decisions. She has another year before facing peer pressures.

She is going to kindy in the fall and I’m fully confident she will be fine.

Autumn

My daughter has a late August birthday. When the time comes, she will be 5 for just over a week when she starts kindergarten. She goes to preschool 3 days a week, and I look at what the kids in pre-k are doing, and I know she will be bored and into mischief if I hold her back a year. It will be tough at first, but I have confidence in her. (I have a late July birthday and was one of the youngest and and the valedictorian. . . I might be biased) My other suggestion is to contact… Read more »

Stephanie

My kids both have fall birthdays. In our state, at the time (they’re both in high school now), the cutoff was December 1st. I struggled mightily to decide what to do with our oldest. She was definitely ready academically, but really shy. We ultimately opted to send her to kindergarten as a 4 year old (she turned 5 in October). It was a bumpy start of the school year, with some issues with the teacher in particular, but by Christmas, she was thriving and doing very well. Still shy, but very much less so. With our youngest, it was a… Read more »

Julia

Please take this only as an outsiders opinion: I’m a neuropsychologist with course and internship knowledge but not personal experience (my kids are too young) with red-shirting, and I do not have any personal experience with the american school system, as I live in Europe. But here is what I learned: There is no advantage, and if anything an academic disadvantage for children who are older than their classmates, compared to children of the same age and similar circumstances who went to school “on schedule”. I personally believe that academic skills are not the only important part of school, social… Read more »

Rachel

I don’t remember this much fretting about when to start kindergarten back when I was a kid. I turned 5 in August, so in September I started school. My husband was born at the end of October, my SIL was born at the beginning of November and so was my best friend. They all started kindergarten when they were 4. And they went off to college at 17. Everyone was fine.

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Sarah

As an elementary school teacher, I recommend paying attention to your instincts to have your child wait, especially if your child is the type that will have trouble sitting still, listening, and doing required work. It’s heartbreaking to me to have children who are immature in this way in my classroom, because what they hear all day long is their name coupled with a redirection or a consequence for disrupting, which is difficult for them to control. They can easily end up hating school or feeling like a bad kid when this is their seven-hour-a-day experience. As far as gaps… Read more »

Additionally, some other commenters have had high-achieving children or family members who went early and did fine. The thing that stands out to me in the original post is that the child is the family clown. High achievers are motivated by the good job that that do and by earning the approval of the teacher. “Funny guys” are motivated by the entertainment they give others. They aren’t going to push themselves to show how brilliant they are. Conversely, it can be hard to tell how brilliant they are because they’re usually off- task and getting into trouble. It’s a different… Read more »

But the child in question here would not be “starting early,” he will be five-and-a-half! I’ve never heard of keeping a kid born in March back in pre-K for an additional year. He will be 5.5 in pre-K with fresh 4-year-olds!

yasmara

Reply to Rachel

I agree with @Rachel Meeks – this question totally confuses me. Holding back a March bday isn’t redshirting…it’s actually holding them back to be *behind* their age-appropriate grade. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that if there’s some kind of legitimate learning/developmental issue, but it’s not redshirting. Redshirting (and I think it’s a stupid name since it’s supposed to apply to *college sports* not kindergarteners) is not sending a kid to kindergarten who is right on the cusp of the age cut-off. In our district, that cut-off is September 1st (kid should be 5 on/before September 1st to enter kindergarten). So,… Read more »

MJH

Reply to yasmara

Right? This makes me wonder where it stops. Are schools going to have to start implementing a “no child older than 6.5 can start kindergarten without an approved developmental reason for waiting” policies because people are taking red-shirting too far?

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Isabel Kallman

It depends.

In NYC, for private schools boys are enrolled when their birthdays are May 1 20XX through April 30, 20XX +1. So, my son who was a late April birthday is the youngest boy in his grade. When he was in preschool there was a child born April 1 of his same year that was redshirted. Similarly, in my son’s current class there’s a boy or two who turn a whole year older before or soon after my son because they were redshirted. Hope that helps put some context around the possible confusion.

Leslie

I couldn’t agree more. Where does it stop? I completely understand this quandary when it involves birthdays that fall right around the cut-off date, especially when it comes to boys, who tend to mature later. But six months before the cut-off date? Isn’t that taking things a bit far? If held back, this child would be 6.5 when he starts kindergarten. 6.5! It just blows my mind that this is even a consideration. When I was a kid, the cut off was Dec 1 (it’s now Sept 1), and so several of my friends started kindergarten while they were still… Read more »

Suzy Q

Boy, things have changed! I was 5 years old in first grade, and a year younger than everyone else after that. (I could not WAIT to get out of kindergarten.) Never hindered me, and I even graduated high school early, at 16. I am not some über intellectual nor, sadly, a rocket scientist; just a regular person with a stressful, niche-profession job. However, my relative youth has been fun at the HS reunions!

Bethany

Reply to Suzy Q

Same here, mostly. My dad was military, so we moved every 1-3 years. When I was about to start kindergarten, we lived in Georgia, and my birthday was just a few days after the cutoff, but my parents enrolled me early anyway. (Thanks to my mom, who has a master’s degree in education, I’d been reading for a year and a half anyways.) I’d been at a private school where they were letting me do advanced work in 2nd grade, but when I got to third grade, the school wanted me to do all third grade work. My parents thought… Read more »

Katie

The real problem is that full day, academic pressure-filled K is not developmentally appropriate for ANY child that age. Sure the majority do fine, it’s more convenient for working parents, it’s free, etc., but the expectations put on Kindergarten students (public school at least) are outrageous. My advice would be to look for a half day program if at all possible (many preschools, churches, montessori schools have them where I live). I don’t put my kids in public school K, though I realize that is a luxury not everyone has. Best of luck, I hope you find an option that… Read more »

To Redshirt or Not To Redshirt

Amy Corbett Storch

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