s/o of "red-shirting"

[Chris in VA]

Ellie said

IMHO--very strong HO--the grade that hsers label their children for outsiders should be the one according to the child's date of birth and the cut-off in their state; IOW, the year the child is 6yo by the cut-off date would be his first-grade year, not his kindergarten year (some people hold their dc back a year by doing it that way).

 

I agree with this.

 

We had a strange thing with oldest ds, tho--His birthday is Sept 10, but the cutoff for K in TX was Sept 1, so he skewed older in his class. Then we held him back a year. THEN he homeschooled high school, really wanted to graduate in the year he "should have," had we not held him back, so we condensed his Sr year by letting him just continue in the summer after his Jr year, and he graduated in Dec, age 19 and 3 months, but in the year he wanted. :-)

[Wheres Toto]

My son was born August 2005 and my daughter was born July 2007.

 

DS is starting 2nd grade (although working all over the place) BUT if he went to public school he would be starting 1st grade. The school told us not to send him to K until he was 6 due to his late summer birthday and some quirky behaviors.

 

DD is starting Kindergarten, which I suppose is where she would be in public school. Red-shirting girls is a lot less common.

[cindergretta]

Ds18 - June 1994, senior

Dd16 - August 1996, junior (Running Start)

Dd12 - August 2000, 6th grade

Ds9 - May 2003, 4th grade

Dd7 - April 2005, 2nd grade

dd4 - April 2008, pre-k

[JudoMom]

7/99: 8th

9/00: 7th

6/02: 5th

1/04: 3rd

11/05: 1st

 

These are the designations according to the cutoff of the school district we register with.

[FairProspects]

IMHO--very strong HO--the grade that hsers label their children for outsiders should be the one according to the child's date of birth and the cut-off in their state; IOW, the year the child is 6yo by the cut-off date would be his first-grade year, not his kindergarten year (some people hold their dc back a year by doing it that way).

 

The thing is, when you have 30+% of the class not following the cutoff, it becomes a much trickier situation, since in practice it creates an unofficial cutoff that is much earlier. Not to mention the school themselves (in addition to ds's preschool teacher) told me to hold him back, so the schools are not even recommending the "official" state guidelines. What is a well-intentioned parent to do when even the expert recommendations are different than the cutoffs? (Granted, now that we are homeschoolers I might not put much stock in the expert opinions, but I did back then.) It's just not an issue with an easy answer.

Edited September 7, 2012 by FairProspects

[happyhomemaker]

Dd is 10 (born January 2002) and is in 5th grade. She will graduate in 2020 at 18.

 

Ds is 7 (born October 2004) and is in 2nd grade. He will graduate in 2023 at 18.

 

On paper they are both where they would be placed if in ps. We can skip them ahead later if we need to, but we will keep them where they are until we get closer to high school and then evaluate based on academics and maturity whether an official grade change would be advantageous.

[lea1]

9/2005 and 11/2005 - both boys are half way through 1st grade and should start 2nd grade in January. If they were in public school, they would be in 1st grade this year.

[Canadianmumof5]

According to our provincial regs; if they were in school, here is how it would look:

 

DS11 - May 2001: 6th grade. Graduate HS @ 17

DD8 - November 2003: 4th grade. Graduate HS @ 16

DS6 - August 2006: 1st grade. Graduate HS @ 17

 

Like I said in the other thread, it is all based on the year of birth. The month your child was born is irrelevant.

[reign]

I held my oldest back a year. At the time Michigans' cut off was December 1st. She has a Halloween birthday. In all the groups/ activities she is in she does better with the younger group. Michigan is now moving up the cut off to September 1st. Moving it up one month a year. Most people in my area think I am crazy and have never heard of redshirting. She is most likely ADHD though I have declined a formal diagnos at this time.

 

Dd was born October 2006 should technically be in first but I have her in K. She will graduate at 18y 7m

 

 

I know friends in more affluent areas that have a young k program. Which basically holds all the kids with Later birthdays back. So while the state cut off was December 1st lots of districts in Michigan held entire classes of late birthdays back.

Edited September 7, 2012 by reign

[Runningmom80]

DS was born in November of 2006, I have him as a first grader. He's technically supposed to be starting k this year since our cutoff is 5 by mid November, but I feel confident in placing him at that grade, and notifying that grade as well. (we don't notify until next year)

[Alice]

My oldest is 8, he has a Nov birthday. He is in 4th grade.

My middle son is 5, he has an Oct birthday. He is in 1st grade.

 

I started my son early compared to the ps cutoff. Here it is 5 by Sept 30th for K. He was doing K work and ready for K so I called him K. Socially, he also always played with older kids and seemed ready. I probably wouldn’t have pushed it if he was going into public school but as a homeschooler I figured why not.

 

I’ve seen this topic here many times and I know many strongly disagree with starting kids early. I was swayed by my own personal experience. I “skipped” kindergarten and was always a year younger than other kids in my grade. I have a Feb birthday so it was more of an age difference than it would be for my kids. It was never a problem for me so it wasn’t a big deal to me to have my kids do the same thing. To be honest, it wasn’t a big decision for us. He was ready so we started. I called him the grade that we were doing for school notifying. I never really considered calling him one thing if we were doing a higher level of work.

 

If I had it to do over, I’d probably do the same thing. It hasn’t been an issue for us. Maybe I’ll feel differently when he gets to high school. He fits in fine with his same grade peers and his two best friends are over a year older than him and it’s never an issue.

 

I thought about what to do with my middle son and in the end decided to skip him also. He was also ready academically but I thought about it a bit more with him. In the end, I preferred to have him the same as his brother. I wanted them to be three grades apart and not four and I didn’t want my middle son to ever wonder why I didn’t treat him the same as his brother and conclude that it was because he wasn’t as smart or something.

 

We plan for them both to have a gap year after high school so ideally they will still be 18 when they head to college, turning 19 in the fall of their freshman year.

 

Our daughter has a September birthday so she will start K at about the same age as her brothers but be doing what everyone else is. :)

[Cricket]

ds14 -- April 1998 -- 8th grade -- will graduate 19y1mo

ds11 -- April 2001 -- 6th grade

dd8 -- Sept 2003 -- 3rd grade

dd6 -- March 2006 -- 1st grade

 

Our oldest should be in 9th grade according to his age but we made the decision this year to have him entering 8th grade this fall. We have homeschooled from the beginning and it wouldn't even be an issue except he plays baseball. At the beginning of 9th grade, he is eligible to play for one of the local high schools (and still homeschool). He was not ready for high school level work this year so we decided to place him in 8th grade. As long as he starts his senior year as an 18yo (which he will), he is still eligible to play the spring baseball season with a high school team. Honestly, I wouldn't care about a grade designation (our state doesn't require us to have one), but we had to because of baseball--working with the high school, state sports requirements as well as the NCAA if we get to that level.

 

If the other kids stay on track, they will graduate at 17 or 18.

[wapiti]

Girl 3/2001, grade 6, graduates at 18

Two boys, 2/2003, grade 4, graduate at 18

Boy 5/2006, 1st grade, graduates just before or after 18th bday

Boy 5/2008, pre k, graduates just before or after 18th bday

Girl 7/2009, pre k, graduates at 17, not long before turning 18

 

While it varies by state, the states I have lived in have a cutoff of Sept 1.

 

While I am no fan of redshirting, it is one way to deal with a mismatch between student and environment in the early years, in a one-size-fits-all school. When large percentages of students in a certain location are being redshirted, the school should question whether the environment is inappropriate.

 

When it is done for non-academic reasons, I worry greatly about level of challenge - easier may often not be in the best interests of the student's intellectual development - possibly a slow road to long-term underachievement.

Edited September 7, 2012 by wapiti

[justamouse]

Ds 13 Aug birthday, graduate at 18

[mommagruber]

I have 5 children ~ one very close in ago to yours

DS is 9 ~ born Dec 2002 ~ 4th grade

He went to public school his kindergarten year and we just kept with the grade levels year to year since I brought them all home. :0)

FWIW Our school district cut off was 5 by August 31 (don't have to be registered for kindergarten until age 6 though)

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

29 Aug 2001

5th grade

[PeacefulChaos]

The thing is, when you have 30+% of the class not following the cutoff, it becomes a much trickier situation, since in practice it creates an unofficial cutoff that is much earlier. Not to mention the school themselves (in addition to ds's preschool teacher) told me to hold him back, so the schools are not even recommending the "official" state guidelines. What is a well-intentioned parent to do when even the expert recommendations are different than the cutoffs? (Granted, now that we are homeschoolers I might not put much stock in the expert opinions, but I did back then.) It's just not an issue with an easy answer.

 

Here, there is no 'not following the cutoff' at ps. Sept 30, period. :)

[higginszoo]

Ds 6/98 -- 9th/10th -- 9th for most things, 10th if it's academic -- he'll turn 18 in the month after he graduates, unless he comes up with a solid reason to graduate early, in which case, he'd be 16, almost 17

Dd 7/99 -- usually 8th, academically sometimes 9th, but it makes things socially awkward sometimes because there are a lot of people who redshirt around here, so the kids end up being 2 years older than her -- going with her 'correct' class in ps (she plans on ps for high school), she'll be 17 at graduation, and for almost 2 months after.

Ds 1/01 -- 6th grade -- will be 18 when he graduates on his current path.

Dd 2/05 -- usually 3rd grade -- it's the best spot for her socially AND academically for the moment, though we might put her back with her age-mates at some point (5th or 8th grade might end up being 'repeated' (probably an unschooled gap year) for social reasons, which will put her back with the 'right' age group). -- will be 18 when she graduates if she takes a gap year sometime, otherwise 17.

Edited September 7, 2012 by higginszoo

[Laura Corin]

Duplicate - sorry.

Edited September 7, 2012 by Laura Corin

[Laura Corin]

Hobbes was born in May 2000. He's in year 8; the UK numbers the kindergarten year, so that makes him 7th grade. He'll be 18 when he finishes school.

 

Calvin is accelerated - he was born in December 1996 and is in the lower sixth, which is the penultimate year of school. He'll be 17 when he finishes school.

 

Laura

[Embassy]

Feb 2002 - 5th grade

Jan 2004 - 3rd grade

April 2008 - Junior Kindergarten

 

All 3 will be 18 when they graduate.

[Mandy in TN]

I held my oldest. He repeated K. He graduated a couple of weeks after his 19th birthday. He is 2E, and at the private school he was attending he was the youngest boy in the grade. He needed the gift of time to both get his dyslexia under control and to gain a little more maturity in order to do well. I never regretted holding him.

 

My second son has a fall birthday after the cut-off. He was 18years 6months when he graduated.

 

My youngest also has a fall birthday after the cut-off. Unless he skips a grade, he will also graduate at 18 1/2yo.

 

I would be less than eager to send a boy who was not yet 17 off to the social and academic pressures of college away from home, but I would consider sending a boy who would be turning 18yo in the fall, if his college testing was competitive, I didn't feel that his testing would improve significantly over the next year, and his actions had demonstrated that level maturity. (OF course, this would all go out the window if I had a profoundly gifted child who was dragging me along and demanding the academic challenges of college sooner. So far, this hasn't been the case here. :))

 

Mandy

[acablue]

Nathan - August 2005, 2nd grade, graduates at 17

James - January 2006, 1st grade, graduates at 18

Molly - December 2007, kindergarten, graduates at 17

 

While I don't believe in red-shirting for sports (it can hold a talented kid back and mess with their expectations), I think it's awesome that parents are making the decisions, not schools. With Nathan, there's no way we would have red-shirted. If James had an August birthday, we would have considered it.

[Mrs.Gregg]

DD1 is June 2002 and is 5th grade. DD2 is Oct 2005 and is 1st.

[AnnaM]

March 04-3rd

Jan 05-2nd

Aug 08-I wont even think about starting him until next year but most likely we will wait until 2014-2015 year.

 

Over all though, grade level is arbitrary in our homeschool. We start something and then move on when we are finished. My younger DD is working nearly exactly the same work as my older because it was easier for me and she can do it.

[LibraryLover]

In Super Freakonomics, Malcom Gladwell writes that those in professional and elite sports are more likely than others to have started K late.

Edited September 8, 2012 by LibraryLover

[swellmomma]

ds14 is sept 1998 and is in grade 8

dd13 is July 1999 and is in grade 7

ds9 is Aug 2003 and is in grade 3

dd4 is Sept 2007(so almost 5) and is starting K

[bluemongoose]

dec '04-3rd grade graduating 17.5 years

jan '07-k graduating 18 yrs

dec '08- prk...probably k next year. graduating 17.5 years OR 18 years if he is not ready next fall for k.

[ondreeuh]

DS 11 - June birthday, should be in 6th according to the cutoff (Sept. 1). I entered him into K at 5 upon advice from everyone in the school, and finally corrected that mistake by having him repeat 4th at home. So he is in 5th and meeting most of the expectations for a 5th grader.

 

DS 16 - October birthday, one of the older ones in her grade but it works well.

 

DS 4 - December birthday, doing K level work at home on a VERY relaxed schedule, won't be old enough for K until next year.

[Dana]

29 Aug 2001

5th grade

 

My son is Aug 29, 2002

He's in 5th this year, but we are discussing having him do 5th again (move on with material, just repeat grade on paper).

 

Our state has a Sept. 1 cutoff.

 

I don't like the idea of him off at college at 17 and turning 18 there.

He also has significant food allergies, so a year of maturity might be helpful in him being ale to advocate for himself.

 

It's an uncomfortable decision. :glare:

[KidsHappen]

1st - Jan. 83 - started when he was 5.5. He turned 5 in Jan. and started K in Sept.

 

2nd - July 85 - started right after she turned 5.

 

3rd - Jan. 92 - never went to school but graduated at 18

 

4th - May 93 - never went to school but graduated at 17

 

5th - Oct. 96 - started a year late due to late b-day. She is one year older than many of her classmates.

 

6th - Sept. 99 - started right after she turned 5.

[razorbackmama]

March 1997 - currently age 15 - 10th grade - will be 18 when he graduates

late August 1998 - currently age 14 - 8th grade - will be 18

July 2000 - currently age 12 - 7th grade - will be 17

April 2002 - currently age 10 - 4th grade - will be 19

September 2004 - currently age 7 but about to turn 8:001_smile: - 3rd grade - will be 17

June 2007 - currently age 5 - K - will be 17/18 depending on when we actually finish that year;)

 

I guess you could say I red-shirted my 14yo. His birthday falls right along the typical cut-off, so he really could go either way in school depending on where you live. However, he had some delays, at age 4 was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (which is not accurate), was SOCIALLY immature at that age, so I had him start K the year he turned 6 rather than the year he turned 5.

 

I definitely red-shirted my 10yo. He's not even close to the cut-off. But he had some learning delays in addition to being very socially immature. Even now at 10 he acts more like he's 8 or 9.

 

Overall we have the kids in whatever grade they would be in in public school. But we hold them back if there is a huge difference in maturity level.

[chepyl]

Aidan: Sept 2005, 2nd grade, will graduate at 17

Lilly: Feb 2008, pre-k, will graduate at 18

[scrappyhappymama]

Here's our school/age redshirting saga. It's a little confusing, but it works for us. :)

 

My oldest son's birthday is June 2002. We started him in pre-k at just turned 4 and in K at just turned 5 (homeschool all along). He was VERY ready and eager to start and academically, he did fine.

 

But our next son was born in Oct 2004 and he was definitely not ready for K at 4, not 5 until October, and he wouldn't have made the local cutoff anyway. But I didn't want to wait until he was almost 6 to even start K, so I decided to do a calendar year school year with him instead. So we started K in January, when he was already 5.

 

While contemplating this, my husband was laid off and we lived apart for a while and then made a big move, so we weren't homeschooling as consistently as I wanted. So I decided to take a winter break from school that year and adjust my oldest son to a calendar year grade as well. So we took 1 1/2 years for 2nd grade (with some significant breaks) and if we remain on this schedule, he will now graduate in Dec 2020 at 18.5 years. I like this SO much better than him graduating at almost 18. I also like that he has a built in "gap semester" after graduation. I figure this will give us flexibility to let him do extra, interest-led studies during the gap, or even to just continue jr college classes that semester, or if he really wants to, to only have one semester to catch up on if he wants to adjust back again.

 

So for that one year, we had both boys on a calendar year schedule. But as it turns out, my second son was a much less eager and ready Kindergartner, so he wasn't ready to move on to first grade the following January. We could have just continued K work and called him 1st grade, but I thought that was silly since if he was in public school he wouldn't have started 1st until the following fall. So we went ahead and took 1 1/2 years for K and he is now right on track with his PS peers, although one of the oldest in class. Socially, that is perfect for him as well.

 

So now I have one child on a calendar year schedule and two on school year (my third son started K this year), which is a little quirky, but it meets the needs of my kids so I don't mind. ...Except for this time of year when folks keep asking my boys what grade they are in. E says 4th or 5th and S told cub scouts last night that he will be in 2nd, but he doesn't know when. :lol: So other than poor communicating on my part and forgetting to prep them for hs questions, we are happy with this arrangement. My last two are summer babies too, so I am thinking about 1/2 year redshirting them too.

 

So here's the breakdown for my children:

 

Born 6/2002, 4th/5th grade, Grad Dec 2020 @18y6m, gap semester Spring 2021.

Born 10/2004, 2nd grade, Grad June 2023 @18y8m

Born 4/2007, K, Grad June 2025 @18y2m

Born 7/2009, possibly start K Jan 2015, grad Dec 2027 @18y5m

Born 6/2012, possibly start K Jan 2018, grad Dec 2030 @18y6m

[eloquacious]

ds 11, Jan 24 2001, 6th- will be 18

ds 9, Jan 13, 2001, 4th- will be 18

ds 8, Sept 7, 2004 (Today!), 3rd- will be 17

 

I was in a quandary when I started school with the youngest. The cut off in the state we were in at the time was a week after his birthday, so technically I could have held him back a year. It really wouldn't have mattered except for where he would be placed in Sunday School. He told me that he didn't want to be in preschool anymore, and that he wanted to be in K. He did very well, and neither of us regret the decision. I am hoping that he continues to be as level headed then, as he is now.:lol:

 

Out of curiosity, do you have twins with different birthdays, or sons by adoption?

[musicianmom]

Dd1, born 6/05, 2nd grade now, will graduate 1 month before she turns 18.

Dd2, born 12/07, pre-k now, will graduate at 18 1/2.

Ds, born 8/09, it's up in the air. I'm confident he'll be ready for K as a young 5. But I am open to giving him an extra year somewhere along the way if necessary.

[AdventureMoms]

Out of curiosity, do you have twins with different birthdays, or sons by adoption?

 

And regardless, how are their ages different (by 2years) and their birth years the same? I think I smell a typo. :D

[5wolfcubs]

ETA: She is 10 - August 2002, and right now she is Grade 5, as far as "labeling" goes.

 

My ds turned 10 in July and is labeled Grade 4. Originally I started him so that he'd graduate at 17 but after much frustration (on both our parts) I decided he'd graduate at 18. I made this decision when we moved to a state that required yearly testing.

 

I'm very glad I did so. He is academically and emotionally "average" now, instead of being "behind" -- and we can always speed up (or even slow down) as he is able. :D

[tabrizia]

DS1 April 07 - K currently (he recently had a traumatic brain injury though and skews towards the younger range of 5, so I am keeping in mind that I can add a transition year in if we need it, probably between 5th and 6th or 8th and 9th grade). On his current plan he will graduate at 18y 2m

 

DD March 09 - PK3 (I can see her ending up skipping a year, but at the moment she is so young it is hard to say, she is already doing Kindergarten work though). Will likely graduate at 18y 2m

 

DS2 March 11 - Baby, no clue, but current plan is to keep him on grade level unless there is a reason to hold back or push forward. Will likely graduate at 18y 2m.

[Rhonda in TX]

DS - born September 1996 - currently 10th grade - will be 18 yrs 8 months when he graduates

DD - born February 1998 - currently 9th grade - will be 18 yrs 3 months when she graduates

 

Both kids are in the same grades that they would be in if they were in PS, following the cutoff dates for that.

[angela in ohio]

The thing is, when you have 30+% of the class not following the cutoff, it becomes a much trickier situation, since in practice it creates an unofficial cutoff that is much earlier.

 

Yep. Red-shirting is much more common in some areas than in others (I think dh said there have been some interesting studies on that.) I think that really colors how you make the decision.

[Jenny in Florida]

My son was born in March, 1998. He's just beginning what we're calling 10th grade. His projected graduation date is a little complicated. We expect him to finish his regular high school requirements in June, 2014. However, he'll very likely do a year of community college before applying to a four-year university. He'll be 16 when he finishes with me at home, 17 after that year of community college.

[JenC3]

Sept-03- 4th graduate 17.9

June-06- 1st newly 18

July- 08- 4K 17.11

[Unicorn.]

Ds was born in July, 1996, and is a sophmore. DDs were born August of 1998 and are 8th graders. They will all graduate at age 18. I had 2 roommates in college at different times who were both 17. While both of them were very intelligent, and supposedly "responsible", they really weren't mature enough to handle all that new found freedom. If my dds hadn't been 5 weeks early, they would have been born past the Sept. 1 cut-off date anyway. I have no regrets for holding them back. They are all where they need to be.

[linders]

Late July 2000, just turned 12. 6th grade.

[nertsmommy]

August 2006=K

December 2007=PreK

I'm saying they're in the grade they would be in if they were going to the public school here.

[Mandy in TN]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57390128/redshirting-holding-kids-back-from-kindergarten/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

The elephant in the room is that nowhere in any of these mini-interviews did they cover the change in kindergarten expectations.

 

When I was in kindergarten, it was primarily social. We played, had center time, did arts and crafts, looked at some numbers and letters, and that was it. I was in a private school and even there we didn't start phonics until first grade.

 

My son who is freshman in college this year attended kindergarten in TN public school one of the last years that it was half day. His day was very similar to the one that I had when I was in kindergarten. Now, public kindergarten is full day.

 

In the same public school system my second ds attended, the children are expected to sit and do much more academic work. Not only are they reading in kindergarten, they are expected to be writing complete paragraphs by the end of the year. This isn't true of all kindergartens in my area, but even the less rigorous schools only spend first semester on the alphabet and letter sounds. Second semester they are working on CVC words.

 

If the schools continue to expect behavior and output that is more appropriate for 6-year-olds and difficult to manage for many, wiggly, barely 5-year-old boys, then I would expect that parents who are able to afford an extra year of preschool are going to choose that option.

 

Mandy

[Joker]

My dd in that range has a birthdate of 06/02. She's 10, in 5th grade, and will graduate at 17. Sometimes I wish she had a bit more maturity, but she's doing great academically. I feel she'll do just fine staying on the schedule she's on.

[MamaBirdX7]

My children will all be 18 when they graduate. Two are summer birthday boys whom have been given "the gift of a year."

[MinivanMom]

dd8 - Feb 2004 - 3rd grade - 18yr3mo at graduation

ds7 - Aug 2005 - 2nd grade - 17yr9mo at graduation (but 18 at start of college)

 

Red-shirting is so regional. When I taught school in another state (in the deep-South), everybody red-shirted. Curiously, that is also the only state I know of where you aren't a legal adult until 19 yrs. We now live in a different east-coast state and nobody red-shirts here. In fact, you are allowed to apply for early kindergarten entry if you are within 6 months of the Sept 1 cut-off. Lots of local parents do it and it's considered a huge badge of honor to get your 4-year-old into kindergarten.

 

Since red-shirting isn't an issue locally, we didn't worry about it. We just classify our kids according to public school cut-offs. They will all be 18 by the time they leave home, but I went off to college at 17 and did great. I wasn't a fabulously mature kid (in fact, I was a late-bloomer physically and socially), but I had responsibilities and experiences in high school that prepared me to live independently and act maturely. My philosophy has always been that it doesn't matter how mature they are at 5; it just matters whether they have gained maturity by the time they leave home. A lot can change between 5 and 18.