https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 02 May 2026 17:58:19 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679992 Sat, 14 Jan 2017 00:43:57 +0000 misolee 2679992@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Common here too. I know many boy moms personally who held them back due to not being emotionally ready. Like, they were still crying at drop off. The extra year really helped. </p> <p>Another mom I know, her son is tiny tiny. Like my 4 year old is the same height and she's one of the smallest in her class. He had a May bday but she held him back bc he was so small. Smart as a whip but he was and will prob always be small. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679709 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:24:57 +0000 PinkElephant 2679709@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Yup! I was part of a discussion with parents here in NJ (where the cutoff is Oct. 1) about not wanting to "hold back" children with October birthdays. The workaround I've heard to be most common is to send the child to private school (where there is wiggle room on age) for a year or two, then transferring them into the public system at the higher grade level. </p> <p>Waaaaaay too soon to tell, but if DD3 is anything like DD2 (very advanced for her age, mostly from having close older siblings to copy, I suspect), I might be considering this sort of move for her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679702 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:21:22 +0000 Mrs D 2679702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My daughter was born on Sept 5th, so we miss the deadline by 4 days. She has been in daycare since she was 3 month old and is very comfortable in a school environment, as such we plan to get a waiver for her so she can start kindergarten 4 days before her birthday.</p> <p>I have learned in my district it is not merely a formality but we have been told with her experience in daycare we should not have an issue. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679692 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:17:16 +0000 Mrs. Yoyo 2679692@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's pretty common where we are. DS has a late June birthday and the cutoff is mid-August. He's one of the youngest in his Kindergarten class, if not the youngest?</p> <p>At first I was afraid we'd made the wrong choice because he struggled a lot with his writing, but he's caught up to an admirable degree and his reading is taking off. I think he'll be OK academically and he doesn't have any major behavioral/social issues that weigh in. I think for me one of the biggest things has been accepting that his age means, at least for now, he's not going to be that kid who is super ahead. And that might actually be a good thing? I think if I'd held him he might have been bored. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679690 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:13:15 +0000 looch 2679690@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: Haha, it's okay, these things aren't so cut and dry!</p> <p>I've heard of parents moving states in the middle of the school year, starting in one, and then moving to another. When they do that, the receiving school district usually honors the current grade of the student, regardless of their rules! That's extreme, but I guess there's ways around it if you really want to think through it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679679 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:03:05 +0000 2PeasinaPod 2679679@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's common where we live. Both of our sons will miss the district cutoff of September 1 by about 3 weeks as they're both September birthdays. I don't think LO1 is socially ready for kindergarten. He's more of my needy child, and he's extremely sensitive. I think he'll benefit from going to kindergarten when he's 5 turning 6.</p> <p>LO2 is only 15 months, but he's a social butterfly already. I don't know if there's an opportunity to test into kindergarten, but I would want to evaluate once he's older.</p> <p>As far as it being common, our neighbor is holding her son who turned 5 in early August because she thought it would be best. She's contemplating holding her other son who has a May birthday, and I think that might be a little too long. He would be 6 turning 7 in May of his kindergarten year, and I think that's too old without some sort of developmental delay.</p> <p>On the contrary, I have a friend whose son is 5 and will be 6 in April. He's in a transitional kindergarten right now and will be going to kindergarten in September when he's 6 turning 7 in April. I feel it's appropriate for him, because he's had some developmental and behavioral challenges for most of his life. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679663 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 13:48:17 +0000 travellingbee 2679663@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It is super common here and I actually don't like the idea, and I'm an elementary teacher that works with kids who are struggling. I should note that I think it's fine in individual cases where a child maybe not emotionally ready. But for academic reasons I do not care for it. Kindergarten teachers should be prepared to teach students at all different levels. Someone will always be the youngest in the grade. It is so common here that friends of ours who have a son that is born at the end of May have told me that he is by far the youngest in his class. That is ridiculous. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679644 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 13:36:46 +0000 PinkElephant 2679644@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>ETA: Gosh, sorry, this turned out to be a novel! :) :)</p> <p>@looch: Good question - it's a little bit complicated, and since I was playing totally by the book in terms of age and zoned school, I'm not 100% sure of what happens when people try to bend the rules - no one I know has been brave enough to try, though we certainly discuss it a lot! :)</p> <p>We apply for pre-k and k online...so I guess it would be easy to fudge a child's birthday (or more likely, their address, since that could get him/her priority for a seat in a better school). But once the child receives an offer for a seat at the school, parents have to go to the school in person, with the child, and present a whole bunch of documents - the child's birth certificate &amp; medical records, parent id, proof of address....so I guess at that point, if the child was really first grade age (born in 2011 rather than 2012), the school could deny the kindergarten placement. If the kindergarten placement was in the child's "zoned" school, it probably wouldn't be a big deal and the kid would just go to first grade at the same school - but if the child had gotten into a school they WEREN'T zoned for, I'm not sure the school would be obligated to "make room" for the student as a first grader, and the student might be asked to reapply to their zoned school.</p> <p>I am guessing that if a young-for-grade child is genuinely having trouble performing in first grade, the school would quickly consider the appropriateness of having the child move down a grade - but I really don't know.</p> <p>Also, I was surprised to find out via a friend who was considering homeschooling/not sending her November boy to kindergarten that kindergarten is not mandatory in NYC either....but skipping it just means that the child goes straight to first grade when they must enter school at six, not that they get to do Kindergarten when they are six...so there's no loophole there. But again, what happens if a child who has never been to school can't keep up with peers who have been going to full day school for at least a year already? I'm not sure. It all seems like such a slippery slope. FWIW, my friend sent her son to K, and he's doing fine.</p> <p>Lastly - if you meant how does the state *really know* if you send a six (or seven) year old to school....good question. I guess that if the child was born in that state, the state could choose to chase up birth records? I know that we've been chased with DD3 for results of various newborn screenings the state felt needed to be repeated - and I was surprised by this. But people in NYC move so much that I imagine it's hard to track down truant families, and I don't know if there is really anyone dedicated to trying! I DO KNOW that because my child was registered for pre-k, I am getting completely harassed - like multiple auto-dial phone calls per night - because the Kindergarten application deadline is today, and I haven't put her name in (because we moved). I expect I'll also get calls about my 2.5 year old for Pre-K next year, because the DOE has a record of her as a sibling of DD1. But if a child was never in the DOE system before, part of me doubts anyone is checking in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2679392 Fri, 13 Jan 2017 09:26:53 +0000 looch 2679392@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: How is that enforced? I live a state over, and I learned that kindergarten isn't even mandatory. You don't need to enroll your child in school until they are 7 years old! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2678312 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 18:15:16 +0000 PinkElephant 2678312@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In NYC (where my older DDs started school), it's pretty strictly prohibited. The cut-off there is 12/31, and from what I understand, the DOE got very strict about red shirting because people were abusing it - holding back spring/summer birthdays, which created an 18 month age gap between some kids in the same grade. The 12/31 cutoff put both of my older kids right in the middle of the pack age-wise, so I never thought much about pushing ahead or holding back.</p> <p>The cut-off where we are now is 10/1. DD3 was born 10/15, so I'm actually more concerned about the possibility of pushing her ahead a year if it's appropriate. I've heard other parents discussing the same thing at a preschool open house hosted by the public school system, rather than talk of holding back.....but that's probably biased just because if you wanted to red-shirt a child, you wouldn't be at an open house for the coming year. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2678285 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 17:32:31 +0000 honeybear 2678285@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lamariniere: I’m straying off topic here, but I agree with your friend about teaching writing at 4. If I'm being candid, even 5 feels too young. It seems a bit wasteful of a child’s time at that age, particularly if they struggle due to still-developing fine motor skills. There are plenty of things that can be done to prepare them to write (i.e., put thoughts on paper in a logical and grammatically correct way) other than focusing on letter formation. I feel like those things are more important than letter formation and probably more fruitful in the long run. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2678169 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 15:30:39 +0000 bushelandapeck 2678169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It is super common where I live. My town refers to them as "sunshine babies", meaning those born in the summer months, and encourages holding them back. My son is an August baby and the cutoff is 8/31. We will be holding him back, as will most of his friends born in the summer. I have mixed feelings about it but I think, for my son, the extra year of maturity will only help him. We based our decision on the advice of his preschool teachers as well as intuition. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2678123 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 14:49:57 +0000 MrsADS 2678123@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son is only 16 months old, but his birthday is August 24th, so this is definitely on my mind as he gets older. Our cut-off is September 1. I would send him as a young just-turned-5 if he was emotionally, socially, and academically mature enough. If not, I won't hesitate to redshirt him. </p> <p>I think there's no reason to hold them back if they're ready, but I think it makes the school years really difficult when the child is starting behind. Especially for some boys - I think in the social/emotional maturity area, which is important. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2678051 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 14:07:29 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2678051@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: I'm pretty sure they do but I think they are focused more on grades 2+ (aka students that are behind and at risk of being held back). </p> <p>The teacher basically told the parent I think that she could assign extra work for at home for the student to practice on. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2678046 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 14:01:47 +0000 lamariniere 2678046@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: over the holidays, I was discussing this topic with a French friend who is a preschool teacher in France. She was really surprised to hear that if we had stayed in NY, my son would have started one year earlier (at 4.75ish years). She made a good point that he would have been in class with kids who had been walking almost a whole year longer than he had. She also wondered how that affected both fine and gross motor skills as she had a hard time imagining teaching 4yos how to write. It was also interesting to hear about her experience on seeing how kids with late cut-off birthdays (especially the boys) fared in the preschool and early elementary setting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2677959 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:56:53 +0000 T-Mom 2677959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Redshirting is not uncommon here but it is not the norm either. My DD is the youngest (2 days before cutoff) and my DS will be the oldest (10 days after cutoff) and I expect them both to do fine by following the cutoff. But if I had any hesitation, I would consider holding back or pushing forward. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2677953 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:51:45 +0000 Mrs. Blue 2677953@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@meredithNYC: Doing it for athletic reasons drives me crazy, and it happens a lot here. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2677950 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:50:28 +0000 Mrs. Blue 2677950@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For a boy with a summer birthday it is extremely common here. Less common with girls, but definitely still happens quite a bit. What I think is interesting is how many boys born in winter or spring are getting red-shirted. The twins are March babies and we have never considered red-shirting based on age or any other developmental issues, but we have friends who will have sons in their classes that were born in March of the year prior and will start with them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2677944 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:47:07 +0000 looch 2677944@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U: Do you know how they handle reading at different levels? Does your school have a literacy specialist? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2677933 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:33:26 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2677933@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Yes all in the same room with the same teacher all day. They only go out for special area (art, pe, music etc). </p> <p>I dont think its until 3rd grade that they start moving around. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area/page/2#post-2677925 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:29:27 +0000 looch 2677925@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mamaof2: It's great, right? Everyone gets what they need. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677909 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:19:21 +0000 Freckles 2677909@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not sure how common it is, but i know a few parents who held their kids back for academic reasons (to give them an edge over their classmates).</p> <p>The thing that bothers me about redshirting in my area is when parents do it in coveted language/academic programs. We have the stupidest cutoff in my city where it is March of the following year. So you would have kids with birthdays between Jan 2011 and March 2012 entering kindergarten. A parent will put their Feb 2012 kid into school but then decide to hold them back and have them repeat kindergarten. When you factor in parents who redshirt, you end up with kids who are anywhere from 4.5 to 6 years old in the kindergarten year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677880 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 10:43:19 +0000 Mamaof2 2677880@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: @T.H.O.U.: our public school is set up this way too - each class has an advanced, average, and below average group - that way each child gets what they need in math and reading </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677856 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 10:22:28 +0000 looch 2677856@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: Does your child stay in the same class all day and everyone is taught the same thing? At our school, they move kids around according to ability...so my son, for example, goes to a different class for reading. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677851 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 10:20:15 +0000 Bao 2677851@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: right! Because he's stuck doing what the rest is doing, and isn't being challenged. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677850 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 10:19:15 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2677850@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Bao: Yes I feel like that student is bored and although he was ahead, he's not going to maintain being "ahead" with being in this class. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677848 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 10:18:53 +0000 ShootingStar 2677848@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our cutoff is 9/1 and I find it incredibly annoying. DS's birthday is 11/18 so he misses the cut off by a mile. But the problem is that in his daycare moved him up to the preschool room at 2 years 9 months (this is the norm in this state) and next year 3 years 9 months he'll move to pre-k. And then the year after all of his friends that he's been moving along with will go to Kindergarten and he'll be stuck repeating pre-k or we have to send him to a different daycare that offers private K. </p> <p>I'm not in love with either of those options. I hate to send him to a different school just for the sake of Kindergarten, and I also hate for him to have to repeat pre-k because I worry he'll be bored. But they say K is so much more intense these days maybe it would be better to do more pre-k. Ugh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677844 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 10:15:32 +0000 Bao 2677844@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: this is what I'm worried about the main reason I don't think I'll hold her back. She is reading a little already at 4.5 and I just imagine her getting bored. Socially/emotionally is a slight concern but I don't think enough to keep her back a year... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677815 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 09:36:22 +0000 Mrs. Microscope 2677815@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The cutoff here in Denver is October 1. I have an early August baby, and am currently pregnant with a late August baby, and we will stick with the recommended schedule, even though we get lots of questions about if we will hold them back "so they can be the oldest". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-redshirting-common-in-your-area#post-2677805 Wed, 11 Jan 2017 09:31:06 +0000 snowjewelz 2677805@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We cut off 12/31 here too... Both my girls have Dec birthdays. Currently, DD1 is actually being moved up to the older toddler room with the oldest girl.. Teachers say she doesn't act like the youngest at all. I don't want to hold her back as we can't really afford an extra year of 2 in daycare, but if there are red flags, of course I would consider it. Growing up I have friends a year older than me in the same grade so it's not a foreign concept to me. </p>