Redshirting in preschool

@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.
 
@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.
 
@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.
 
@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.
 
@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.
 
@tgia413 Honestly, as a kindergarten teacher, I think your gut for this is more accurate than any of us can offer. You know the expectations and how your child lines up with them.
 
 
@carbohydrate Thanks! Lots of interesting data here. Our cutoff is the same as the FL one and I can definitely see why those September birthdays would have an advantage over the August ones close to the cutoff. I think I'm struggling the most with a May birthday. It's months away from the cutoff. I don't know if it could ultimately be detrimental to have a 6 year old sitting in a PreK classroom. I'll give all of this a closer read!
 
@tgia413 Emily Oster talks about this in “the family firm”. Very child dependent. There are positives from being the oldest in the class. However in your situation, a may birthday when cutoff is sept, kiddo likely wouldn’t be the youngest. Oster talks most about kids who are a month or less from the cutoff and how if CAN be beneficial for some kids.

Also remember to look at the other side. If you redshirt, he’s graduating a year later, entering the workforce a year later, saving a year less for retirement, likely going to be a year older before he has the money to buy a house, etc.

You know your kid. And remember that you could always repeat kindergarten if he is struggling!
 
@tgia413 I honestly think this is driven by privilege. Those who can afford to do because they believe it gives an advantage. Do the teachers in the school really differentiate though? If not, a redshirted kid who actually was ready for k at the regular time is going to be bored if not enriched.
 
@tgia413 May baby here. While I repeated preschool, it’s because I went a year early (as opposed to intentional ongoing). I graduated high school at 18 (edit: just shy of actually, thinking on it, turned 18 right after graduation due to end of school year dates)

I personally am glad I didn’t stay back further, as I was ready for where I was at, often worked ahead, and am certain I would have been beyond bored if I was a further year older and with another year’s logic/ reasoning/ general brain growth/ knowledge.

That’s anecdotal though, and just my personal feelings.
 
@roadtrippin69 June baby and I graduated at 17 (australia). 100% agree with this statement. My sister and 2 male cousins were the same and we have all benefited from continuing into school when we did. I would have been very bored staying back a year and we have all gone on to be successful adults.
 
@tgia413 I have two children with April birthdays and both go to prestigious private schools. We could have held them back but were offered admission with their cohort and we took it.

They are doing well socially and academically. The only caveat is that there are several children in their class who are older and therefore physically larger, as well.
 
@mooredjm But it also says there are negatives to redshirting and that benefits are typically short lived. So I wouldn’t say the article really supports redshirting as your one sentence highlight seems to suggest.
 
@tgia413 It depends on the child individually. You know your child best so go with what you think is best for him. Redshirting is more common for fall birthdays. I have a fall birthday, close to the cutoff. My parents thought about redshirting me, but the kindergarten screening person said I would be fine in kindergarten. In hindsight I definitely should’ve been redshirted and it’s my parents biggest parenting regret. I was very behind in kindergarten both behaviorally and academically because of an undiagnosed genetic condition and ADHD. I graduated and started college at 17, which I didn’t feel I was ready for at all. I always felt if I was in the year below me I’d have been able to get through school alot easier.
 
@tgia413 I think it depends on your kid. If he's socially and academically ready to move on, I would move up. Anecdotally, my own kid is born 3/31, and holding him back would have made him absolutely miserable. He was already reading at 4, and he was more mature than many kids in his class. Now at the end of 3rd grade, he is skipping 4th and moving to 5th next year.
 
@motel6oceanside I was very similar to your son and skipped 6th grade. In retrospect I really wish I hadn’t. Instead I wish that I had taken all academic subjects with the grade above me while staying with my peers for lunch/ recess/ music/ art etc. I already had a May birthday so I was 1-2 years younger. The other kids in my class treated me as a genius novelty- I actually ended up making more friends with the kids in the grade above (so 2-3 years older) because they didn’t treat me as such a weirdo. The issue with skipping was also that the subject that I was less advanced in (foreign language) was really difficult and became super stressful. I wish I could have stayed in that at grade level.
 
@athens For him, it will essentially be this. We do Montessori, and so it's 4-6th levels in the same class. He will be doing the 5th level academic work, but still be with kids his own age and older.
 
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