Red shirting kindergarteners
Categories: Kids 5-7, Life & style, Playground bureau, Education
Lindsay over at Suburban Turmoil wrote an interesting post about her experience with a "red shirted" kindergartener. What used to be a bit of a shameful secret, holding a child back from starting kindergarten at their appointed time has become nearly standard practice in some communities and is considered a way to help kids get an academic (and possibly athletic) leg up.
I have an elementary education degree and managed to have three sons with fall birthdays, which meant we had to determine when they started kindergarten. Having seen kindergarteners struggling in school firsthand meant a huge amount of soul-searching. In the end, it came down to using our best judgment as parents as well as taking into consideration the professional recommendations of the boys' preschool teacher, who was an invaluable resource to figure out what to do with our borderline birthday boys.
The oldest of the trio started kindergarten a month before his 5th birthday. He was a great listener, could sit still, pay attention, follow instructions, and got along with others. Years later, he still has these skills and completed 8th grade with a 4.0 grade point, a lot of friends, and because he takes after his tall father, excelled in sports against kids nearly a year older them him.
My 2nd and 3rd fall birthday boys were both held back for maturity reasons. The older of the two later skipped a grade and seems to have landed exactly where he belongs academically and socially. The younger was our biggest question mark. He probably could have started earlier, but I believe it's easier to skip ahead a grade then to be suffer the embarrassment of being held back. He's doing great and loves his teacher and school in general.
Holding a child back so they'll have the advantage of being physically larger for high school sports is a shameful practice that needs to be addressed. However, holding a child back because they're not emotionally, socially, or behaviorally ready isn't the same thing. In those cases, "red shirting" might be the greatest academic assistance a parent could ever give.
There's no prize for finishing high school at the youngest age, the point is to learn. For some kids, allowing that extra year to mature can make a world of difference.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kristi 9-22-2008 @ 3:07PM
I believe that in Indiana, where I grew up, that the state athletic association had age limits for high school athletes. Kids who were held back a year, for academics or any other reason, were generally not eligible to play high school athletics their senior year. No play meant no exposure to college recruiters, which meant there was no athletic incentive to hold a kid back. Whether it was incentive to pass a kid who would otherwise fail, however, is a different question.
I'm struggling right now because my 4-year old, with an August birthday, misses the Missouri state cutoff date for Kindergarden. She *might* be able to attend a private school, provided the school in question has enough room in their class not to bump her. My daughter is bright, does well in a classroom setting, and on and on. She will be ready. But the rules are completely inflexible. 24 days doesn't make that big of a difference, in my opinion. Our fallback plans, should the private school fall through, suck: rent an apartment in Illinois (about 45 minutes away) for a year (or maybe 2...i've been told that 1st grade has a cutoff date here too) where the cutoff date is September 1st. Or, let her be bored for another year in preschool. Or, quit my job and homeschool.
Yikes.
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ang 9-22-2008 @ 5:07PM
A friend of mine with an early september birthday daughter has decided to stick with the program in waiting to admit her child into kindergarten because of the way her daughter socializes. With younger children, she takes the lead... and with older children, she follows. So waiting will encourage her child to be a leader instead of a follower. I thought that this was interesting logic I'd never considered.
My brother had difficulty in kindergarten and the teachers encouraged my mother to give him another year before entering first grade, but unfortunately for him, I'm only a year younger which would've put him in the same grade as me. So instead, she put him through summer school. I think it worked out for the best. In the end, we did take some of the same classes in high school which he HATED, so it's a good thing my mother didn't red shirt him.
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Uly 9-22-2008 @ 6:50PM
Honestly, the best solution for this problem would be to restructure the school system so that each class only encompassed 6 months of students (instead of a full year) and those students who were left or kept back for some legit reason.
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