The 6 boys from my D’s class who were ‘redshirted’ were all for academic and social reasons. It was the right decision in every case. Some of us who had the younger girls really wished we’d held them back either before or after K. I asked the K teacher if she should stay back and she said no, but then the 1st, 2nd, and 4th all said she was noticeably young for the grade.
Many sports are turning to birthday cutoffs like hockey has been (Jan 1). Our swim team league had a May 15 cut off, youth lacrosse now has a Sept 1 or 15 cut off. Puts most of the kids in the same grade on the same team, but if there is someone much older or much younger, they are with their age peers and not classmates.
The short article wasn’t very informative. Not impressed with the percentages given either.
My gifted kid shared a birthday with a fellow kindergartener- but was a year younger with his fall birthday. He had been evaluated for early entry by the school psychologist and I remember he had the choice to spend time that spring date with the current kindergarten class or me while the testing results were figured out. Scored readiness points with his choice and behavior with that class… My kid spent 3 years in multigrade classrooms for three years and became a 5th grader, basically compressed grades instead of skipping one. The gifted are different. They are asynchronous with their age and academic development. No good fit. Same thing occurs at the other end of the Bell curve.
For most kids it won’t make a lot of difference. Something to think about- what does that 18 turning 19 year old HS student do? There will always be the oldest and youngest in any grade with potentially a twelve month age difference no matter when cutoffs are done. I guess some kids need to wait but others need to forge ahead. I also suspect parental attitudes matter. The teacher who plans to wait with her August due date kid is already planning on being average and not pushing limits. Of course the older kids are easier for teachers in the early grades when maturity is rapidly changing.
Nothing says “red-shirted kindergarten” like a 6’-4" “soccer-star/academic scholar” 8th-grader, collecting more than his fair-share of graduation awards at middle-school graduation ceremony. June bday. His super-proud parents sat next to us, mock-lamenting his crutches from knee surgery. Did he really “need” the delayed enrollment? No, of course not, but his parents’ aspirational foresight did.
^^^or the bearded 9th grade hockey player I introduced myself to thinking he was my son’s advisor. No kidding.
The 6 foot goal on my daughter’s college team was a 17 year old freshman, second youngest on the team only to my 5’2" daughter.
The first day of middle school I dropped my tiny 10 year old off for the 6th grade line. I drove around the corner and the 8th graders gathering by their door were HUGE. Huge. She came home and said "Mom, 3 boys in my class have mustaches. They were probably 12 to her 10. The 8th graders were 100+ pounds and some had full beards, but they weren’t necessarily redshirted, just very big 14 year olds.