Kindergarten Red-Shirting

[jadaley07]

Some background… I live in the US. My daughter will turn 5 this summer. The cut off date for the kindergartens where I live is Sept 30. She is currently in her second year of preschool. She did a half day program last year and she’s doing a full day program this year. Her class has 15 kids and I think 8 or 9 of them could have been in kindergarten this year (meaning they turned 5 before the school year started or turned 5 shortly after). My daughter is doing really well. She has lots of friends and loves going to school. She’s writing well and getting into reading and math. We plan to send her to kindergarten this upcoming August.

Her teachers emailed us a few days ago to say they think we should have her repeat pre-K. For two reasons: 1. Her age. They think she will have more confidence if she’s older. And 2. Her speech. She has a great vocabulary but she has some articulation issues. We are currently in the process of enrolling her in speech therapy. Nobody has ever expressed concerns about her speech until a few days ago.

I’m having concerns about her repeating pre-K. I’m worried if she repeats the same pre-k class she will be bored and maybe confused on why she’s repeating (she knows she is going to a new school next year already). The process for signs ups for schools is happening now. If I want to find her a new pre-k (and I will likely only find half day programs), I have to figure this out NOW. I don’t understand why so many people are “redshirting” their kids. Pretty soon the spring birthday parents will start doing it. And then eventually we will have 8 year olds in kindergarten. Ok that’s an exaggeration but I’m overwhelmed. If my daughter is doing well with kids 1-1.5 years older than her now, she should be ok.

The other concern is we may send her to this amazing private school we love but they want a recommendation from her prior teachers and her pre-k teachers now don’t look likely to give a good rec if they want to hold her back.

And my last concern is a little out there but what if her preschool is doing this to make more money. We already spend a lot in tuition. They are encouraging all the young kids to repeat. And they don’t usually get a waitlist.

I just wish we had more of a heads up! Any thoughts on what I should do?

 

[theesotericvoice]

@jadaley07 If you’re in the US and your kid is in kindergarten she can get ST thru the school district. You just have to enroll her and ask to have her evaluated.

 

[jadaley07]

@theesotericvoice Yes we are looking into private ST now and then we can do it through district once we go to kindergarten.

 

[strattos]

@jadaley07 You don’t have to be enrolled. Check with your local district’s child find program.

 

[djunehor]

@jadaley07 You can get it before kindergarten

 

[projedi]

@jadaley07 Preschool (subsidized and very affordable) and TK (free) are available through the school district in my state.

 

[nikki_virginia]

@jadaley07 My twins get speech therapy through the school. They're 3.5 years old and go to a public half day preschool that provides the speech therapy. You don't have to wait!

 

[piouswhale]

@jadaley07 If she qualifies, she can receive services through the public school now.

 

[chrisl17]

@jadaley07 My daughter (turned 5 last week) gets ST through her pre-k program. The public school district allows her to get the program with or without being a primary student at the pre-k program. Last year she was attending daycare, we picked her up and drove her once a week to therapy. This year she attends half- day prek and they just pull her to attend ST when it’s her allotted day.

My SIL is a special education teacher and recommended we do private ST when my daughter got the evaluation and the IEP. I think she felt like it was usually more specialized and effective. We’re putting her through to kindergarten next year and we will continue with school ST program but I do think we will supplement with private soon also.

I’m worried about her speech affecting reading, but I think developmentally she thrives in education environments. She’s always really excited to learn.

 

[biblehistoria]

@theesotericvoice That’s kind of what I was thinking too. I knew lots of kids in elementary who were in speech therapy for articulation problems. “Expressive and receptive speech is mostly fine but articulation needs work”kinda seemed like the bread of butter of public school speech therapy to me.

 

[ifthepuzzlefits]

@jadaley07 If she has no language delay (can understand others and express herself similarly to her peers) her articulation errors are a moot point. That has nothing to do with her cognitive ability.
The preschool could be trying to maintain re-enrollment. I would question this recommendation so much. They aren’t stating she is academically or socially behind.

 

[jamesdtyler]

@ifthepuzzlefits Amen, articulation errors are NO REASON to hold a child back.

 

[westernrose]

@ifthepuzzlefits Yeah, as a kinder teacher I couldn’t even begin to count the students I’ve taught with articulation issues. In fact, many are developmentally appropriate until 6 yo. (I think I remember the R sound specifically being one)

I’d question this decision in person if possible. Express concerns and be able to explain the predicament them telling this info so late has put you in. Ask all the questions.

 

[lmartin345]

@westernrose As a former special ed and elementary school teacher I absolutely agree. Articulation has nothing to do with holding her back.

 

[jennyjay]

@jadaley07 My first thought was your current preschool seems to be doing this for more tuition. I have a son who was born in September and the cut off date is October 1st. His school also recommended we enroll him in ST but they told us when he just turned 4 so we had plenty of time to get him ST services and make a decision with a lot of advance notice. Plus they are telling all of the younger kids to start another year? And they don’t have a waiting list?

Just an outside observer here but that’s my first thought.

 

[akajshdj]

@jadaley07 Absolutely not, if her speech issues are significant enough to warrant being held back you need to call the school district and get an IEP now, then either put her in their preschool, or you will go in with services already established. I personally believe holding her back will further delay her development.

 

[cyrilll]

@jadaley07 I’m also of the mindset that the “redshirting” has gotten out of control. Somebody has to be the youngest in the class and we’re just collectively moving the goal posts.

In our town, if you attempt to start a year late they will put your child in first grade. My daughter was born 3 days before the cut off and I’ve had so many people comment on holding her back from starting school - from when she was born. I have no personal concerns about how well she’ll do in school and zero desire to pay for an additional year of daycare. If she struggles in school, we’ll figure out how to best support her. But I’m not going to hold her back just for some perceived disadvantage to being the youngest.

 

[katrina2017]

@cyrilll For real. I have a Sept birthday and I was always the youngest. Sure, I got picked on to some extent, but by middle school I was perceived as being smarter than everyone else. I graduated at 16 - not because I'm some genius, but because I loopholed my way out

 

[hilgard]

@cyrilll The rise in redshirting is because of the rise in expectations in kindergarten. Some newly five year olds may fare well with what they’re expected to do, but many will not. Unfortunately, it’s not the same kindergarten as what you and I experienced.

 

[cyrilll]

@hilgard Oh I get that. But I feel like progressively increasing the age of kindergarteners isn’t the answer. I get everyone is looking out for their own child, but it’s just creating more of a mess.