If you would definitely red shirt for ps, would/should you red shirt for hs?

[luuknam]

This year he's a K who turned 7 in January, and he's picking up reading much faster than a lot of K kids do, but it's really the first year I could possibly imagine him in a school setting all day.

 

One of my concerns is that I don't want to underestimate my kids. And my oldest at 3 years 3 days looked so tiny when he started full-day PS PreK (his height is also at the 5th-10th percentile, so he really was the tiniest kid in the mixed PreK3-PreK4 class with mostly PreK4 kids - on average the kids were probably close to 1.5 years older than him). I seriously doubted he'd be able to handle it (23 mile bus ride there, and then back again), and a full day (6.5 hours) in between. But, he did great. I know that that's not the same as a highly academic K, but my point stands - I think it's common to doubt whether your kid can handle something, and common for kids to rise to the challenge (that said, I'm sure there are exceptions).

 

It's interesting how people are viewing his (really, really) late May b-day as a "spring" b-day, having more in common with March and April than June and July, when I've always viewed it as basically a summer b-day. It's after school lets out, it's just a week before my definitely-a-summer-bday oldest's bday, and as I said, he was born early and his due date was solidly in the summer. It doesnt feel springy at all to me.

 

 

Like someone else already said, the solstice isn't until late June. And where I'm originally from, summer break in elementary is only 6 weeks and doesn't start until some point in July (sometimes not until late July), so when I think summer birthday, I think July-August. The last frost date here in WNY is May 20th, and May gets on average 0.3 inches of snow (spread out over 0 days... usually the last day to snow is in April, but still - May is very much spring, not summer around here). 

 

Since you mentioned that you don't have to give him an official grade level, I just wouldn't call him anything for now, or call him K/1 etc like some PP mentioned.

[luuknam]

I worked as an aide for a PS 1st gr. teacher for several years. Here is a little of what she told me about when kids start school.

  She could always point out the "summer babies" and premies. 

 

 

I call BS. I was always in a mixed classroom (1-2, 3-4, etc), so there were only 15 or so kids in my actual grade, but guess who were in the top group for reading, math, etc, from 1st grade on (they didn't teach reading/writing/math in K)? A boy with a mid-August birthday and me, with an end-of-July birthday (but 3 weeks premature so more like a late August birthday). We were the kids who were picked in 1st grade to help the librarian shelf books while the teacher repeated stuff we'd already grasped. In fact, in the middle of 3rd grade, our teacher had a meeting with our parents (which they told me about in high school), suggesting that we continue on with 4th grade after x-mas break (which would've been a very smooth transition since it was a 3-4 combination class). But nooooo... our parents decided against it, because we had summer birthdays so we were young-for-grade (I ended up skipping 9th grade instead). 

[musicianmom]

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Edited May 21, 2022 by musicianmom

[8Arrows4theLord]

Please calm down. I am sorry if I offended you.  I was just stating what a teacher told me. She was a very respected teacher and had many years of experience. It was not meant to be an insult or anything to offend anyone. Just information.

All children are different, and develop differently.

Birthdates are just one factor in deciding if a child is ready for school or not. If the child is mature and ready to do the work, then birthdates are not an issue. 

This is why we homeschool- so we as parents can say, yes my child is ready or no they are not. We do not have to follow the predetermined set of standards the public school system sets.

And I do agree that not all late spring/ summer or even premie kids are at a disadvantage. My oldest is a end of May kid, and she learned to read at 3 yrs old.

[Guest]

Kid Sally could be the youngest and smartest in her class. But she could move, be right down the middle age-wise in her new class, and then be the LEAST bright in her class.

 

Other kids, IOW, aren't a super accurate measuring stick for academic acumen or readiness. Especially in a homeschool setting.

[wendyroo]

We put him in pre-K instead of K mainly for social reasons - and those hold in Sunday school and other outside activities just as much as in ps. (Just got his spring progress report - he has come such a long way :). But that mostly means he has entering K skills now.).

 

We have sorta kinda decided to red shirt our 3 year old for social reasons.  He will be homeschooled, so it doesn't make any difference academically, but for zoo camp/YMCA/gym classes/etc we are deliberately keeping him as one of the oldest in the class as opposed to the youngest (his birthday is at the very end of July).  

 

So, for example, he could have attended the 3 year old zoo camp at the end of last summer (they go strictly by the child's age on the first day of class), but instead he is doing the 3 year old classes this summer, even though he will have turned 4 a few days earlier.

 

Personally, a big part of our reasoning has to do with him being the "little brother".  He spends his life being the youngest who can never keep up.  This is our opportunity to give him a a chance to experience being a bit older and more capable.

 

Wendy 

[lmrich]

I have not read all the posts, but I will say what I always say when this comes up. In my 28 years in the field of education, I have never met a parent who regretted red shirting their kindergarten kid. You are essentially giving your child an extra year of childhood. You are giving them an extra year of maturity when they start college. And lucky for you, you can teach him on HIS level not a grade level. 

[mamamoose]

I have not read all the posts, but I will say what I always say when this comes up. In my 28 years in the field of education, I have never met a parent who regretted red shirting their kindergarten kid. You are essentially giving your child an extra year of childhood. You are giving them an extra year of maturity when they start college. And lucky for you, you can teach him on HIS level not a grade level.

This.

[maize]

I call BS. I was always in a mixed classroom (1-2, 3-4, etc), so there were only 15 or so kids in my actual grade, but guess who were in the top group for reading, math, etc, from 1st grade on (they didn't teach reading/writing/math in K)? A boy with a mid-August birthday and me, with an end-of-July birthday (but 3 weeks premature so more like a late August birthday). We were the kids who were picked in 1st grade to help the librarian shelf books while the teacher repeated stuff we'd already grasped. In fact, in the middle of 3rd grade, our teacher had a meeting with our parents (which they told me about in high school), suggesting that we continue on with 4th grade after x-mas break (which would've been a very smooth transition since it was a 3-4 combination class). But nooooo... our parents decided against it, because we had summer birthdays so we were young-for-grade (I ended up skipping 9th grade instead).

There are exceptions to every rule, and gifted kids are outliers by definition.

 

A couple of my siblings were highly gifted and did very well with a grade skip, even though both would have been on the younger side for their standard grade.

 

A couple of others--also at least moderately gifted but with learning challenges--could really have benefited from red shirting and both ended up needing an extra year before being ready for college.

 

Citing exceptional kids who benefit from acceleration and grade skipping says nothing about the overall average benefits of red shirting or not young for grade kids. A teacher who has worked with hundreds of kids over the years is much more likely to have insight into overall trends.

 

As parents we need to of course consider our own unique children in addition to overall trends.

[bethben]

I red shirted my daughter who has a late May birthday.  She was adopted and her maturity level has always been about two years behind.  She's getting better, but I still call her a grade younger than she "should" be.  I also have a ds with a September birthday and a ds with an October birthday.  I have always called them by the grade they would be in Minnesota public schools (because that's where we started homeschooling) which had a September 1 cut off.  When we moved, my ds should be in a grade higher (October 1 cutoff), but I'm keeping him where he's at.  Around here, you can do dual credit for college/high school so being on the older side of a grade is helpful.

 

My wise friend has always told me, "It's easier to graduate a child one year early than to hold back a child who needs an additional year to mature."  She red shirted all her summer birthday kids.

 

 

Side note- I find it ironic that the nation for the most part can adopt common core, but can't agree on dates when a child is supposed to register for kindergarten.  A child moving from state to state with an early fall birthday can fall into two different grades depending upon where they move.

[luuknam]

There are exceptions to every rule, and gifted kids are outliers by definition.

 

I don't disagree, but my issue was with the word 'always'. The teacher could 'always' pick out summer birthdays and premies. I also seriously doubt the teacher could always tell the difference between a birthday before the solstice and one after (or if going by the other definition, one at the end of May vs one in early June, or w/e cut-off you use). That kind of stuff is crazy talk. 

 

Personally, a big part of our reasoning has to do with him being the "little brother".  He spends his life being the youngest who can never keep up.  This is our opportunity to give him a a chance to experience being a bit older and more capable.

 

I've done this with Broccoli occasionally, though I wouldn't let it affect his grade on paper. Most activities here either go by age (and many have an earlier cut-off date than PS) or have a range of grades, e.g. K-2, so you could sign the kid up when he's in 2nd grade to get the 'oldest' effect. 

 

Side note- I find it ironic that the nation for the most part can adopt common core, but can't agree on dates when a child is supposed to register for kindergarten.  A child moving from state to state with an early fall birthday can fall into two different grades depending upon where they move.

 

 

Totally agreed... it's weird - in most other states, Broccoli would be in K this year, and that's not even thinking about private schools - the one private school we briefly considered here had a June 1st cut-off, so Broccoli would be in K this year and Celery would be in 3rd grade this year (of course, with private schools they like to do earlier cut-off dates so they can brag about what percentage of their students scores at least one grade level above average - which is trivial to do when you charge $20k/year in tuition per student and have a cut-off half a year before the PS cut-off).

[Ravin]

I would red shirt.

[wapiti]

I think it's important to recognize that many kids do not develop in a linear manner.  A child may be behind in some or all areas, but years later may be ahead in some or all areas.  (That has been my experience with about half of my kids, who all attend school.)

I would reconsider grade level if the child is ever placed in school.  In most schools, especially public ones, it's often difficult to *convince the school* to accelerate a grade level after the child has been enrolled.

 

With the flexibility of homeschooling, I might also reconsider grade level by late middle school in case you might like to plan for high school on the earlier timetable rather than the later one.  Even then, a decision can be put off with good planning, but it would seem wise to keep doors open if the right path is unclear.

[Guest]

We just worked with the kids at ability level and called them whatever grade level they would be in.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chelli]

I red-shirted my son whose birthday is in late March. 

 

He absolutely, 100% was not interested in any type of formal academics at 5. Around 6 1/2 he started showing interest in learning to read and letters so I started him this past fall in what I called Kindergarten for him even though his same age peers would be going into first. Right now I will keep him on this path of being a year behind kids his age, but I fully expect at some point when his reading catches up to grade level that I'll just bump him up a grade back into his regular grade.

 

I also called him a grade behind for Sunday School purposes and for co-op. The first/second grade SS teacher has the kids reading straight from the Bible in her class and there's no way my son could have done that this past fall when he didn't even recognize all of his letters yet. I didn't want him to feel bad about himself when the other kids were reading. The first grade class at co-op is a sit down situation where they are learning about Texas history and there is no way he would have done well in that situation either, especially since he couldn't read the worksheets, maps, etc.

 

I'm happy with my decision. At any point I can bump him up a grade and no one will be the wiser that I red-shirted him. My homeschool, my kid, my choice.