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Thats the right term, right? Holding back a young K student. I hadnt thought about it yet because it is several years off. What do you do for homeschool, when did you start?The baby girl misses the date my state sets by 10 days and I know with all my heart Id keep her home the extra year if we went to ps just wondered how others handled this.

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Since you are homeschooling, there isn't anything to worry about.  Just start what she is ready for when she is ready for it.  What I did with my extensive experience of one easy child, was to look over all the future stuff and then starting slowly.  We had lots of stuff, so we could switch gears often. 

 

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Thats the right term, right? Holding back a young K student. I hadnt thought about it yet because it is several years off. What do you do for homeschool, when did you start?The baby girl misses the date my state sets by 10 days and I know with all my heart Id keep her home the extra year if we went to ps just wondered how others handled this.

 

I don't believe in red-shirting, especially not for homeschoolers, under almost any circumstances.

 

As a homeschooler, you will begin to teach your dc when you know that she's ready, and it will probably sneak up on you. :-) IOW, there's no reason that you have to start with Official First Grade materials just because she would be entering first grade if she were in school. And because of that, there's no reason on this earth *not* to refer to her as being "in" "first grade" that year. By holding her back that way, you're saying that because she's young for the cut-off date, she'll graduate a year later than all of her age-peers.

 

Things are much less messy if you just go with the grade-level designation whenever it's appropriate (e.g., Sunday school classes or other group activities that are based on grade level) and teach her whatever she's capable of learning (which could very well include teaching her above grade level ).

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I don't believe in red-shirting, especially not for homeschoolers, under almost any circumstances.

 

As a homeschooler, you will begin to teach your dc when you know that she's ready, and it will probably sneak up on you. :-) IOW, there's no reason that you have to start with Official First Grade materials just because she would be entering first grade if she were in school. And because of that, there's no reason on this earth *not* to refer to her as being "in" "first grade" that year. By holding her back that way, you're saying that because she's young for the cut-off date, she'll graduate a year later than all of her age-peers.

 

Things are much less messy if you just go with the grade-level designation whenever it's appropriate (e.g., Sunday school classes or other group activities that are based on grade level) and teach her whatever she's capable of learning (which could very well include teaching her above grade level ).

 

Red shirting as far as saying what grade level they are in does not mean restraining what curriculum you teach them with.

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Do you have to give grade level each year to the state?

 

I wouldn't let it matter until you do have to register or are preparing for high school. I'd just let it be fluid and not use grade level marked texts.

No I dont have to give a grade level. As of right now ( it could change) is to send them to public or private school for high school. I wouldnt want her to be the young one. Dh has a nov. bday and hos parents started him late and he never had a problem with it. As a kid and teen it was cool to be the oldest one, the first one ti get a liscence and so on.

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I redshirted my homeschooled summer-birthday K'er.

 

She was definitely not ready for K level work due to some severe speech delays and some mild physical delays. She was also taking a medicine that caused some pretty weird side effects that interfered with her learning abililty. In my state, we don't have to register homeschooled children, so no one really knew. I just made sure that she was still included in preschool level things in the community (so it was a no on any K level library classes, co-op classes, etc). 

 

She eventually mostly caught up, and she "skipped" 3rd grade. As a homeschooler, it didn't really make a difference on what was being taught. It really only mattered on outside classes. She will graduate high school as a 17 year old instead of where she originally would not have graduated until 18. 

 

It definitely was not the norm in my homeschool circles to not proclaim my child to be a K'er until she was 6. There were 4 year old children being called Kindergartners in the first co-op I attended. However, I do know of two families whose kids ended up "repeating" a grade later on which I think would be harder on a kid's self-esteem than being the oldest in the classes.

 

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My older three kids are July, June and August birthdays, respectively. #3 has a birthday 2 weeks before our state cutoff date.

 

As a homeschooler, I didn't worry about it. I used their grades by age for anything (like scouts) that required a grade. Otherwise, I just figured I'd delay starting high school by a year if they weren't ready. 

 

I'm very glad I didn't redshirt #1, because she started full-time college classes at 14, and went off to university at 16. I have no idea what I'd have done with her if I had to keep her home longer.

 

#2 stayed right on target, and went off to college at 18.

 

#3 was a delayed reader. All along, I really thought I'd probably redshirt him for high school, but during his middle school years he took off academically. He ended up being very ready for high school, and now he's a rising 11th grader. He'll be 16 next month, and my most avid reader.

 

So the short version is... you don't need to worry about redshirting for kindergarten as a homeschooler. Just do whatever your child is ready to do, when they're ready to do it. Don't worry about assigning them a grade level until you need to.

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If you don't have to file anything official with your state then don't worry about this, at least not right now.  Start them with more official academics when you think they are ready, go at the pace they can successfully navigate and feel free to do different things for different subjects.  If they fly through math one year, let them go.  If they struggle with reading, slow them down on skill reading and do some targeted phonics instruction at whatever pace they will do well while still exposing them to vocabulary/grammar/concepts through audio books and read alouds.  Don't stress about a grade label if your state does not require you to file anything official.

 

Unlike public school, as a homeschooler you can customize your academics to the specific needs of your child for each subject/area.  Even though your goal is public high school you have YEARS to get there.

Edited by OneStepAtATime
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I have kids who meet the cut off by three days. I do have to give a grade. I didn't redshirt. But also, they've always been homeschooled, so it really hasn't mattered. If I had sent them to school, I think it likely would have been the right call to hold them back. But luckily I didn't have to make that decision. I would start when you start. You can always insert a gap year or adjust if a child starts school. The main thing is to keep your own expectations in line. A child who's ready for kindy level work at age four years and 11 months might not be ready for 6th grade work at age 10 years and 11 months. Or might be ready for 9th grade level work. Just always stay flexible in your thinking and focus on the child, not the grade level.

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Red shirting as far as saying what grade level they are in does not mean restraining what curriculum you teach them with.

 

I know that. It's all the outside activities that the children are kept behind because of the red shirting. It is deciding that children will graduate a year later than their age peers because when they are 5 they are "immature." It is not as easy as some people think to bump the children ahead when they are older, to where they should have been all along. There's just no real point in red-shirting a homeschooled child. Children in classroom schools...yeah, I'm not so fond of that, either, especially when some people do it specifically for sports, so their children will be a year older than the children in the same grade so they'll have an advantage.

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... I'm not so fond of that, either, especially when some people do it specifically for sports, so their children will be a year older than the children in the same grade so they'll have an advantage...

 

Agree.

 

 

...It is deciding that children will graduate a year later than their age peers because when they are 5 they are "immature" ... There's just no real point in red-shirting a homeschooled child....

 

Absolutely disagree. This must be considered on a child-by-child basis. And thank goodness homeschoolers DO have that ability!

 

We had one who was physically and emotionally immature and stayed that way all throughout growing up. Would have been a *horrible disaster* for him to be forced to be "at age/grade" and graduate at 18yo. He would not have been able to clear the emotional/physical hurdle to do activities based on chronological age. Allowing him to be with his emotional/physical peers (1-2 years younger) placed him right on target and allowed him to succeed: socially, academically, emotionally, physically.

 

Numerous homeschoolers in our area have had children with academic delays (a big reason why a lot of them were homeschooling!), and it would have served these students VERY poorly to push them through a grade faster based on their age. Every one of them has been able to go on to community college or a university BECAUSE they were allowed to go at their own slower pace of development. Most would have run out of time to accomplish the needed required academics to be eligible for college if they had been forced to run through the academics a year younger/earlier just to be with their "age-peers". NONE of these students "suffered" from or were "scarred" by graduating a year older than the average.

 

The only student I have seen suffer was exactly *because* the family kept him at his age/grade when he was so very clearly academic-developmentally NOT quite "there" and was on his own later timetable. The family chose not to repeat kindergarden, even though the school recommended it, because they didn't want him to be older than his peers. He struggled all the way through until 8th grade -- at which point they had to repeat 8th at a different school. So not only did the young man struggle academically all through grades 1-8 and felt "stupid", he then felt like a complete *failure* having to repeat a grade because he finally could not keep up. :(

 

There is no reason why homeschoolers must follow public education's age/grade categorization of students. As homeschoolers, we are all for advancing a young-aged student who is academically advanced, so that they end up doing dual enrollment at age 12-14, or graduating from high school at 16 to move on to college -- we don't hold them back to stay with their "age/grade peers". Sadly, we do not grant the same consideration to the student who is on a slower developing timetable (emotionally, physically, and/or academically), by allowing these students to school and socialize with their developmental (academic, social, emotional, physical) peers, regardless of chronological age. :(

 

 

 

In response to OP -- agreeing with previous posters who have encouraged you to not worry about declaring a grade right now unless you have to. Take the next year or two and see where your student falls not just academically, but emotionally, physically, and in readiness. It will likely be very clear where your student falls for grade-labeling. :)

Edited by Lori D.
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I redshirted two of mine.  One of whom would have been old for his grade even if he went at the right time.

 

However - we do have to register here.   I registered them as if I was doing so for public school, because the only time it becomes really important is if they have to enter school.  As it happens, that is also when I started a little more formal academics, since its when they seemed really ready for that.

 

As far as outside classes, I didn't necessarily tie that to the grade they were registered as.  But generally speaking, it followed anyway - my son wasn't ready for things that were targeted for K kids until the year I would have registered him as a K student.

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Thats the right term, right? Holding back a young K student. I hadnt thought about it yet because it is several years off. What do you do for homeschool, when did you start?The baby girl misses the date my state sets by 10 days and I know with all my heart Id keep her home the extra year if we went to ps just wondered how others handled this.

If she misses the ps cut-off and wouldn't be allowed to start K yet, then it's not really red-shirting to wait a year for homeschooling. You're just following the ps cut-off dates.

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I just do what my kids need & want at the early ages. That means I have one that is young for her grade, two that are right on, and two that are old for their grade. Some are ahead of where the grade level materials are and some are behind. We work where they are.

 

I finally declared a grade for eldest last year when she took the PSAT. For everyone else, we are just playing by ear until high school.

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I red shirted my son even though he has a spring birthday. He absolutely 100% was not ready to do Kindergarten work when he was 5. He was finally ready at the age of 6, late into his age 6, to begin formal learning.

 

This year at the age of 7 I'm calling him first grade whereas all the other kids with his birthday would be in second grade in public/private and most homeschools. I did this for one main reason. He isn't reading yet. He still isn't reading fluently yet, but he's progressing nicely now.

 

When your child is labelled as first grade, at least around here, they assume your child can read. I knew that this would cause no end of embarrassment for my sensitive boy when he would be expected to read aloud in Sunday School class or at co-op, so I called him Kindergarten last year so he would not be placed in the first grade classes.

 

I fully expect to have him "skip" a grade at some point in the future when his reading really takes off and he reaches grade level. He's right where he needs to be on math, so it's really just the reading I'm waiting on to catch up.

 

Red-shirting is not an always behind your peers proposition. At least in homeschooling it's not.

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I agree with OneStep. You don't have to worry about this until your kid is in middle school, getting ready to decide when to start high school. So, don't. Maybe call it K/1 if you feel you must. I have to declare a grade level, but even then it doesn't really affect real life, for the most part. Even outside activities that go by grade level don't always appreciate it if your kid's grade is too different from their age.

Edited by luuknam
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I red shirted my son even though he has a spring birthday. He absolutely 100% was not ready to do Kindergarten work when he was 5. He was finally ready at the age of 6, late into his age 6, to begin formal learning.

 

This year at the age of 7 I'm calling him first grade whereas all the other kids with his birthday would be in second grade in public/private and most homeschools. I did this for one main reason. He isn't reading yet. He still isn't reading fluently yet, but he's progressing nicely now.

 

When your child is labelled as first grade, at least around here, they assume your child can read. I knew that this would cause no end of embarrassment for my sensitive boy when he would be expected to read aloud in Sunday School class or at co-op, so I called him Kindergarten last year so he would not be placed in the first grade classes.

 

I fully expect to have him "skip" a grade at some point in the future when his reading really takes off and he reaches grade level. He's right where he needs to be on math, so it's really just the reading I'm waiting on to catch up.

 

Red-shirting is not an always behind your peers proposition. At least in homeschooling it's not.

 

Yup, this is it with my boy.  He is going into grade 1 at 7.5 and only beginning reading.  He has to be able to manage any activities he does within that limitation for now.

 

I've found it interesting with a late boy, as opposed to an average and precocious girl with my two older kids, to see how the kids activities are weighted. Things like music lessons, sports, and so on.  They really seem to be directed more toward the earlier developers to me.  It's actually been a little awkward at times to fit ds in.  And I notice that in mixed sex activities, girls really seem to dominate at these pre-school and early elementary ages, so I don't think its just us.

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I have redshirted 3 sons in a row, without regret.

 

One of them is gifted, and two of them are profoundly dyslexic.  Still happy with the choice.

 

My just turned 9 year old (yesterday) will start 3rd grade this year.  I teach the kid I have (of course), which for him looks like not reading yet.  He is fully aware that he is behind most kids his age, but the extra year in Sunday school and homeschool group settings has allowed him to participate without an even bigger gap.  For him, it's been really good.  Even though he is a BIG kid.  Like 99.999% in height and weight, and being the oldest, plus big, he often towers above other kids.  But it's still been good.

 

My oldest is gifted.  But as the emotional maturity of a gnat.   :)  So it's been good for him, too.

 

I've long told my kids that I would allow them to skip 8th grade if it seemed appropriate so that they would graduate at almost 18 instead of almost 19.  Things could surprise me, but if things continue the way they are, that probably won't happen.  They are going into 1st, 3rd, adn 5th.

Edited by Zinnia
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I'm sure I've commented on these types of threads before. If my youngest were attending B&M school, I would redshirt him. He has a summer birthday and the K cutoff is Aug 1.

 

The kindergarten expectations here are too high and he isn't ready for 7 hour school days. We homeschool though so I'm calling this school year his K year. Instead of learning to read and starting basic math like I did with my older children, we will be working on recognizing letters. He will learn to trace shapes and use scissors, basic things that were common skills in kindergarten years ago. He will sit in on history and science with his siblings, but to observe and partipate if he wants to. If he someday goes to regular school we can make a determination at that time as to whether to redshirt or not.

 

My school district only requires that we provide the child's name and age, not a grade level.

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When you say she misses the cut-off by 10 days, do you mean if she were 10 days older she could start? In that case, you would not be red-shirting, because according to the state she should start K at almost 6.

What I mean is it says any child that is 5 before or on Sept. 30th must attend school that year. Her bday is Oct 10th, but some people send them on at 4 turning 5 instead of 5 turning 6.

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What I mean is it says any child that is 5 before or on Sept. 30th must attend school that year. Her bday is Oct 10th, but some people send them on at 4 turning 5 instead of 5 turning 6.

 

Since the law says Sept. 30th, you'll just be calling your child a grade according to the law, regardless of what other people do. That's not redshirting. Redshirting would be if your child's birthday was, say Sept. 25th, but you decided not to send her to K this year but wait another year to start K.

 

Either way, you will teach the child you have, no matter the grade label. :)

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Eldest was born in May, and I didn't redshirt him. All going according to plan he will turn 18, then graduate highschool a month later.

 

Youngest was born in November, and I didn't redshirt him. He will still be 17 when he finishes highschool. If he goes onto college or university, he will still be 17 when he starts school. Happily, in Ontario A student can spend 5 years in highschool. I think 1/4 of students spend 5 years in highschool. So if he wants at that time he could spend an extra year in highschool, or just an extra half year.

 

If it wasn't for the fact Youngest can decide to have an extra year in highschool I would be wondering how well highschool would go for him.

 

(In Ontario the cut off is December 31st.)

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Since the law says Sept. 30th, you'll just be calling your child a grade according to the law, regardless of what other people do. That's not redshirting. Redshirting would be if your child's birthday was, say Sept. 25th, but you decided not to send her to K this year but wait another year to start K.

 

Either way, you will teach the child you have, no matter the grade label. :)

Well see I wasnt quite sure. Thanks for clearing that up.

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Well see I wasnt quite sure. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

Yes, definitions are important, lol.

 

I think what others were getting at is just not getting stuck on the grade label, whether redshirting or not. You see the child in front of you: how will she do in social groups that require a designated grade level? Is she preschool level socially? Then keep her in preschool activities. If, at home, you are already teaching her to read (or not, or whatever other academic thing), that is a separate issue.

 

We often get questions about whether or not to redshirt, and some of us missed that in your case it actually isn't redshirting at all, based on age.

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Yes, definitions are important, lol.

 

I think what others were getting at is just not getting stuck on the grade label, whether redshirting or not. You see the child in front of you: how will she do in social groups that require a designated grade level? Is she preschool level socially? Then keep her in preschool activities. If, at home, you are already teaching her to read (or not, or whatever other academic thing), that is a separate issue.

 

We often get questions about whether or not to redshirt, and some of us missed that in your case it actually isn't redshirting at all, based on age.

Great advice. Thank you.

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As you talk about red shirting, I think it's important to remember that these cut off dates are not the same across the all states.

In my state my youngest would start k next year. In your state he'd start this year. If I were to move in a couple years, I might get backlash for "red shirting" him. Many people, that I know irl, seen to think this is a horrible parenting decision.

State laws aren't the same on this issue. In a homeschool seeing, teach the child you have

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As you talk about red shirting, I think it's important to remember that these cut off dates are not the same across the all states.

In my state my youngest would start k next year. In your state he'd start this year. If I were to move in a couple years, I might get backlash for "red shirting" him. Many people, that I know irl, seen to think this is a horrible parenting decision.

State laws aren't the same on this issue. In a homeschool seeing, teach the child you have

 

No, her child would also start next year. The cut-off is September 30th and the birthday is in October.

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No, her child would also start next year. The cut-off is September 30th and the birthday is in October.

I said MY Kid. He has a mid Sept birthday. After my schools cut off, but before hers.

 

It would be the same as if she kept her kid out of school this year, which is true if she follows the school deadlines, and calls next year K. THEN moves to another state that has a December cut off. People there might think she was "red shirting" her kid, but in reality, she was just following the guidelines of the state she was in at the time.

 

 

And it wasn't necessarily specific to the question asked. Sometimes red shirting can get a bad reputation, but sometimes it isn't redshirting... It's following the rules laid down by the state.

 

Really, I guess my point is: don't assume others are holding back their kids. And teach the kid you have-the date of their birth doesn't really matter.

Edited by athomeontheprairie
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We red-shirted 3 of ours born in July and August so at the tail-end age-wise of others in their grade. I haven't regretted it at all. The oldest is a 4th year med student and went straight into an early medical honors program at one of our state universities. The was accepted into a competitive nursing program at our state university and graduated in 3 years. The next is a rising 7th grader.

 

You teach to their level no matter what grade level they're in.

 

BUT, I found that red-shirting means they spend their 18th year at home rather turning 18 and heading out in the next weeks to college. That was huge for my oldest who matured in a great leap between his junior and senior year of high school. Made a difference for his leadership and the whole college application process. 

 

Also, if your kids will dual enroll at all, consider that they will be that much younger mixed with adults if you don't red shirt. I've known kids that didn't redshirt and did fine. 

 

 

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Also, if your kids will dual enroll at all, consider that they will be that much younger mixed with adults if you don't red shirt. I've known kids that didn't redshirt and did fine. 

 

 

Not really. If you DE when the kids are ready for DE, then they're just ready for DE at a lower grade level if you redshirt them than if you don't redshirt them. See middle schoolers on the AL board taking college classes (maybe not technically doing DE, depending on their state law etc, but w/e). 

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Oh, if the child doesn't meet the date, then there's not even a question. It's not redshirting. And you don't need to worry about him being behind based on age (he could always struggle for his own personal reasons, but they'll be his reasons, not because the system pushed him into schooling at a younger age).. He won the birthday cutoff lottery. Kids born right after the cutoff are the oldest and statistically going to be the best equipped to "do school" when the law says they should be. Materials are aimed toward them in the early grades. There's not even really an issue.

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Oh, if the child doesn't meet the date, then there's not even a question. It's not redshirting. And you don't need to worry about him being behind based on age (he could always struggle for his own personal reasons, but they'll be his reasons, not because the system pushed him into schooling at a younger age).. He won the birthday cutoff lottery. Kids born right after the cutoff are the oldest and statistically going to be the best equipped to "do school" when the law says they should be. Materials are aimed toward them in the early grades. There's not even really an issue.

I thought it seemed ideal too. My oldest totally lost the birthday lottery as his birthday is the cutoff date.

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My boy started in PS. Our schools start in August and he has a September birthday. He could have started school when he was still 4, but redshirting is very common in my area and he would have been the youngest in the class. I waited a year and have kept his grade level since we started homeschooling. We don't have to declare a grade level, so I could have changed it if I wanted, but I have an older son with a birthday just days earlier (went to PS) and I thought it was advantageous to have him on the older side.

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My youngest falls into that category, esp. Since California recently (?? Or maybe not) moved the date to Sept. 1 and she's an October birthday. As a homeschooler, you teach your child where they're at and what they're ready for, so arbitrary dates for grades and such don't really matter. However, for us....I needed to decide what grade she was in for Sunday School class and Awana and I decided to follow the Sept. 1 cut-off. Also, she wasn't interested in doing schoolwork the year she turned 5 and I had a lot on my plate with my other kids. So, I just bought the R&S set of kindergarten workbooks and she worked through those independently. Ironically, her kindergarten year she did CLE's phonics, math and LA programs, which is technically 1st grade. So, this year, although she's a first grader, all her books say "2" on them. Everyone is confused.

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As one of those with a middle school aged student taking college classes (who was also early entered into K in PS),I can say that out of middle school, high school, and college group experiences, the worst one socially was the middle school one. The best was the college students. And the reason is simple-college students are a lot more mature than middle schoolers. She wasn't going out with them socially, but at the school she's at, no one is there for social reasons-they're there to get that degree or credential that will help them in their life. And there are enough options to do college without moving into a dorm that I don't see that as a reason, either. Even if there's not a local college to take classes at for a year, or even if the student doesn't want to do a gap year, most schools now have enough of their classes online that a student who wasn't 18 yet could do a year of classes online at the school that accepted them and then move into a dorm for the following year with kids their age. 

 

Personally, I don't find entering the adult world a year early a reason to red-shirt if the developmental pieces are present. I can, though, see wanting my child to be in elementary school a little longer if there is any chance that they're not going to still be homeschooling at that age.

 

 

 

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