School started yesterday for the children of casa de phillips.
Not a moment too soon, in this mother’s opinion. The three of us were spending just a bit too much time together this summer and we all needed a bit of a break.
This year the children started at a new school. I spent months researching potential programs. I went so far as creating a spreadsheet with pros and cons of at least fifteen different preschool programs in the area. When my eyes began to cross and I started to think that perhaps just watching an hours worth of Sesame Street a day would be enough of an education, I finally made my decision.
The smiles on the kids’ faces when I arrived to pick them up this afternoon was proof that we found a fun place for them to learn this school year.
The exciting aspect of school for the children is that they are finally together. Yes, the “twins” who were born 21 months apart have been reunited at school. For the time being, they are rotating through the school in the same group (children rotate through rooms and areas: reading, science, creative arts, gym, math, geography, computer lab, etc.). Despite the fact that these two see each other every waking minute of the day, the thought of hanging out with each other at school is beyond thrilling to them.
The question with this school year has been, “Is Isaac going to Kindergarten?” Since he was born, we knew that most likely we would “red shirt” him the year he could officially begin kindergarten. The cut-off date for our state is September 1st, meaning a child must be five years of age by September 1st if he/she is going to attend public school. Isaac’s birthday is at the beginning of August. We knew that if we sent him this year he would most likely be the youngest in his class. Although being the youngest is not a terrible thing in itself, we knew it would mean that Isaac could potentially be smaller than the other kids (more of an issue for boys rather than girls) and not as emotionally mature as other children.
Remember the kid who cried all the time in first grade?
Well, I bet you he had a summer birthday.
Over the past five years, we have talked to many different people about our choice to redshirt kindergarten. I have talked to parents, children in the same predicament, educators and friends about this decision. In all my conversations, only one person encouraged me to send Isaac on to school this year (who happened to be a director of a Montessori program. If you are familar with Montessori, you know that grades are not even recognized. Therefore I felt her opinion was a bit skewed.). There is a lot of talk and research about redshirting, both for and againstit. Some people worry that if a child is held back a year from school he/she is missing out on a chance to learn. This is not an issue for us because Isaac has attended formal preschool programs since he turned two. Other people worry that if too many children are redshirting, it skews the age range in a classroom. I see some validity with this point, but then look at such schools of thought as the Montessori method who deliberately put an array of ages in a program to enhance learning and do so successfully.
Those who support redshirting particularly do so when the child being held back is a male. Boys with late birthdays (June – September) seem to do better when given an extra year to grow both physically and emotionally. Research has found that boys who were redshirted in Kindergarten seemed to be advantaged academically down the road, especially reading.
The question that remains is “What about the fact that a child with a summer birthday might be ready academically? Will he/she be bored when he finally starts school?”
My answer is quite profound and goes along the lines of “Uhh…we don’t know. Ask me next year.”
Currently Isaac has strong reading skills, math skills and writing skills. We attribute these things to a quality preschool, an intrinsic love for learning on his part, and my tendency to purchase every workbook I come across. When he does enter the Kindergarten classroom is he going to be bored to tears when phonics are discussed? Possibly. Will he entertain himself to hold off the boredom by getting in trouble? Likely. He is a boy.
Now that I have been able to tuck away all my preschool spreadsheets, I am about to start creating school spreadsheets. Although we are quite comfortable with our decision to hold Isaac back and give him another year to develop, we also recognize that we need to find an educational program that will be fun and challenging to him.
And not cost the equivalent to what I paid for college.
So, yes, we are redshirting kinder this year.
Yes, we are not quite sure exactly what direction we will take with the children’s formal schooling.
Yes, I love spreadsheets a little too much.
Any questions?
Now the requisite “First Day of School” pictures:
*The children’s uniforms look a tad funny because I have digitally blurred their school logo. I may have blogged during the birth of my second child, but I do attempt to keep some things private. Sometimes.
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Lynley, we are thinking about ‘redshirting’ Bowden. His birthday being June 26th I know he will be one of the youngest. I have a few more years to observe him and see if he is ready or not, academically and/or emotionally. I am glad you found a great preschool for them, it sounds amazing with all their centers! Enjoy your time alone!!!
That is too funny…I have never heard of ‘red shirting’. I completely understand your reasoning behind it, & we too are in the same boat. I am very excited about this year in Pre K for Hudson, and I know this time next year he will be more than ready to start Kinder.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. Your kids look too cute in their uniforms. I hope they are loving school. We start after Labor Day. Looking forward to a routine again!!
Wow this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article
I know “redshirting” is a tough decision, and I am glad that it is behind you. Now you can enjoy another year with Issac
Lauren is a Sept. birthday, and she is really tall for her age. Even though I didn’t have a choice to “redshirt” or not, I wondered if she was be bored or look too old for her class. She did great in K! There is so much more to Kindergarten than just learning to read. Even though Lauren might have been repeating lessons in phonics, etc. , she didn’t care one bit. It helped her to be able to focus more on her writing, on her social skills, lengthening her attention span, and improving her listening skills. K was a great year for her… not a huge adjustment. I hope you have a similiar experience whenever/wherever you decide to go. Have a great year!
We had this same choice before us with Zach’s August birthday. We did end up doing the same thing. I have not regretted it one bit. Having been an August birthday myself, I always wished that I had been given the extra year. There have been times that Zach was a little bored (as are, by the way, most kids who went through a quality preschool since the children who did not have to be caught up). However, it was a good chance for Zach to learn a life lesson that it is not all about you. We have been very pleased with our decision, as has Zach.
YEAH for the Redshirt. As a person who works in Secondary Education for a living, the benefits of Redshirting are still evident in the teenage years, sometimes even more so than elementary. This is a topic I am very passionate about too. Glad you did your research and your kids are off to a great start
As you know, we “redshirted” Eli (and don’t you love that term so much better than “held back”?). So far, so good. I wasn’t really worried because Eli’s not a genius like Isaac…I was just happy that he knew all his letters when he went to kindergarten a year late!
The only bump we experienced is that Eli was almost a full year older than the other six boys in his class last year. All the other boys in his class had late Spring or Summer birthdays and he just didn’t ever really buddy up with them. He ended up making friends with a little girl in his class and a little boy he played with at recess, both with September birthdays. I had just never thought of that situation despite the hundreds of nights I lay awake and worried and prayed about this decision. (By the way, Brad *never* lost a wink of sleep!) This year seems to be going better and there are some older boys (redshirted) in his class, as well.
And think of it on the other end. I’d rather send my son to college just having turned 19, then sending him off at barely 18.
Thanks for the post.
A friend of mine in my bootcamp class who works in secondary education says the same thing, Ashley! She says she can spot the summer birthday kids who were not held back within the first few weeks of school.
As you know, Jackson’s birthday is the day before Isaac’s, and we chose to “redshirt” him as well. I think I’m more like Jordan though, I will just be happy that Jackson knows his letters and numbers when he enters kindergarten. : ) Although he is smart, he doesn’t seem to have Isaac’s love for learning.
Your kids’ expressions are priceless! Not that you needed my validation, but I agree that you made the right decision to redshirt Isaac this year. From what you have told us about Isaac, he seems accomplished at entertaining himself quietly, so I doubt he’ll be bored when he is in kindergarten.
That’s a skill I haven’t quite ingrained in my kids yet, but we are working on it!