When my son finished preschool in May, my husband and I knew we didn’t want to “redshirt” him — wait an extra year to send him to kindergarten — for this coming school year.
See, where we live the cut-off for kindergarten is Aug. 1. My son’s mid-August birthday technically means he’s “early enrolling” this year. This meant he would have to have additional evaluation by the school’s psychologist to make sure he is developmentally and socially on-par, even if his skills are advanced.
Well, Z had his early-entrance screening yesterday, and the psychologist gave him the green light to start kindergarten in a few short weeks.
Gulp.
To be honest, I’m already sort of freaking out that I will soon have a kid in kindergarten. But I feel my husband and I would be doing our son a disservice if we held him back an extra year. Here’s why:
1) He is ahead of the game. This kid is reading books on his own, doing math worksheets without help and has conversations for days — which I know doesn’t make him a genius. But then again, these skills are above what’s expected for kindergarten entrance. I’m not saying this to brag or label him as a “special snowflake.” It is what it is. I just want to do all I can to help him continue to excel academically.
2) He did not have behavioral problems in preschool. If I’m remembering right, Z had his stoplight changed to yellow once and didn’t get his “goodie” (treat) at the end of the week because of it. This was enough to keep him on green for the rest of last year.
3) He relates better to older kids. I don’t know why, exactly, but he has always connected better with children who were a little bit older than him. So even if he is literally the youngest kid in his kindergarten class, this will actually be an advantage.
4) He is big for his age. In fact, most strangers don’t believe him at first when they ask how old he is. (“Yes, he really is 4; he’s just HUGE!”) I only say this because I know a child’s small size could be one reason parents have for redshirting — the logic being that a combination of less-developed social skills and smallness could set up a child for teasing. But this definitely isn’t the case here.
5) I’m afraid redshirting could lead to boredom-related behavioral problems in the classroom. To be fair, I’m not a teacher; I have no idea how often this happens with bored kids in classrooms. But my husband is a teacher, and we know our son. Without some sort of challenge, he has a tendency to get distracted and then he eventually stops paying attention at all. I don’t want this to play out in a classroom setting.
6) He isn’t that far outside of the cutoff. It’s two weeks. I think if he had been born a couple of months later, I would be more hesitant about kindergarten this year.
7) I’m trusting my gut. At the end of the day, I’m doing what I think will give my son the best possible start at school. Parents who decide to wait an extra year are doing the exact same thing. Isn’t that what all parents want, redshirting or not? Every kid is different. They all learn and advance at different rates.
Obviously, any one of these reasons alone wouldn’t be enough for me to feel comfortable with sending him this year. But all together, it just makes sense for us.
Am I still freaking out about our decision? Of course. My oldest is starting kindergarten! I mean, wasn’t I holding him in my arms for the first time like two weeks ago?
On his first day, you can bet I’ll be right there sobbing along with the other first-timers.
Did you choose to redshirt your child, or send him “on time?”
Share your thoughts!