Redshirting in preschool

[withwonderingawe]

@tgia413 My kid was born May 1. By August, she'll have had a year and a half of preschool, and then she'll be "moved" up to Pre-K (it's all the same class, as it's Montessori, but the Pre-K kids don't have quiet time in the afternoon, they get more work time). I would cry if I had to pay for yet another year of daycare/preschool.

Anecdotally, my sister has a mid-August birthday, and was born early / is petite, so she was always the smallest and youngest in her class. No problems whatsoever. She's a second grade teacher now, has been for nearly 20 years. I also have a cousin with mid September birthday who had to repeat kindergarten. He's an incredibly successful adult.

I agree with the others that the general policy of redshirting anyone born in April-August seems excessive. And maybe I'd steer clear of that school, because that seems like a red flag (though I can't quite articulate why). I absolutely think that it's a great option when a child needs it, but that seems like a case-by-case basis, not a one size fits all policy.

 

[edwinoel]

@withwonderingawe For me, the red flag is that the school doesn't seem to be able to meet the needs of children at different stages. My 4 year old is in a blended Pre-K and he's got a mix of classmates who are in different developmental places. He's reading anything that he can get his hands on, another classmate is a math wiz. They both have developmentally appropriate behaviors and challenges. I think his school meets each kid where they're at. I've seen my kid start as a 3 year old who would cry at the door and didn't want to do activities, to a confident, reading preschooler.

The school that OP is considering, seems to want kids who are on the older side of the year, moving the youngest starting age up by 4 months. That's removing younger 4 year olds and more than half the class will be 5. It feels like they want to do a blanket judgement instead of doing what's best for each child.

 

[tgia413]

@edwinoel You definitely hit the nail on the head! When I went to the classroom, a lot of what I saw would not even be developmentally appropriate for a Kindergartener. According to my son, there was no play time and he was sent home with a pretty substantial packet of worksheets they had been doing. It seems like a blanket curriculum that is basically Kindergarten a year early. I’m glad we got to check it out, even if only to rule it out as being a choice for us.

My son’s current school sounds similar to what you’re describing. I know a lot of his classmates are further ahead than him in letter sounds and reading, but they provide a balanced curriculum appropriate for a young child. I’m certainly glad he isn’t sitting at a table doing seat work all day when he’s 3.

 

[withwonderingawe]

@edwinoel That’s very well put, and probably what I couldn’t figure out. My daughter is in a class that’s 33 months-Pre-K and there’s definitely a huge range of abilities in there. But it’s handled well. The only qualifier to move up is being potty trained.

This school the OP toured seems more like, we only deal with exceptional and well behaved children, and there’s no room here for … looks down one’s nose… you.

I feel like the behavior expectations would be equally snooty. Let them be kids. Let them know that all abilities and skills and personalities and backgrounds exist and are valued.

Steps off soap box.

 

[tgia413]

@withwonderingawe Thanks, I wholeheartedly agree with your comments! My husband and I were NOT planning on paying for another year of preschool so that is another one of our concerns. We have a younger child as well and have spaced out my leave from work so we don't have to pay for two in preschool at the same time since it is prohibitively expensive!

I also can't put my finger on why it's such a red flag to me. Since we have been at his current school for 3 years now, if they were to suggest this, I'd be more open to their comments since they've had a lot of time to get to know my child (and the school isn't huge, so the directors and teachers are all familiar with every student). My hackles were raised having a practical stranger make suggestions about my child's educational path after such a short meeting. It also felt like a low-key private school interview that was presented to me as something that was supposed to be fun and exciting for my son to check out a potential "big kid" class for next year. Honestly, it would've made more sense for him to spend the day with the class of kids same age in that school to make sure it would be a good fit, but instead he was with kids 1-1.5 years older. It was strange.