The Whole Kindergarten Redshirt Thing

Some kid I knew named Keenum did it, too

 

Thanks Luggie for reviving this thread, just re-read it as we have started to talk about when we should send our daughter to kindergarten.

The cut off here is a child who turns four years old on or before March 1st can attend Kindergarten in the fall of that same calendar year. Our daughter was born in early January 2009 so we could send her as a 4 year old or 5 year old. She is already tall for her age so not sure if I want her to tower over everyone if we send her as a 5 year old.

 

I don't believe that it was the same case.

 

The cutoff date for our schools was Sept. 1. Our oldest son has an August birthday; our younger son was born on Sept. 8. We debated petitioning the school to start the younger one early, but didn't, and it was the right decision. He wasn't ready at 4-almost-5 to start kindergarten. So, even though the boys were 25 months apart in age, they were three years apart in school.

Our daughter was about two-thirds of the way through her kindergarten year, when we were called to the school and basically told that she needs to skip on up to first grade She had read every single book in the class and most of the first-grade books. So she skipped most of first grade, and while she was intellectually ready, in a lot of ways emotionally she wasn't. She was still 17 when she went to an out-of-state college, and she couldn't handle it. There were some other mental-health issues involved, and she basically lost a year of her life. The good news is she's back on an even keel, has a job and is back in college, a lot closer to home.

 

My birthday is August 30. The cut off here (at least way back then) was Sept. 1. There was no hold back, send them on. The cut off was Sept. 1. If your birthday was before Sept. 1, you started school. If it was after Sept. 1, you waited a year. Period.

I started school when I was 4. I graduated HS at 17.

The biggest compaint I ever had was the fact that for all of my school years, my birthday was just completely passed over at school. Hell, a lot of years, school actually started the day of my birthday. That sucks.

And I agree with several pieces of advice that were given way back in this thread.

First, every child is different. Try and step back a little (to remove the "my kid is better than any kid that has ever lived" or the "my kid will never catch up to the rest of the kids" stigma) and take an honest look. You will know what is best for your child if you take the time to rationally look.

But the best advice I read was the part about reading to your child. Every night. At least five to six out of seven. Just read to them and make them look at the book while you read. I honestly believe this is one of the most important things a parent can ever do for a child.