Once upon a time if you wanted your kids to get ahead in school, then you started them early (like at 4 years old) or you hoped that they could skip a grade. But yesterday, I learned about a growing trend called Redshirting, where parents are holding their kids back from starting kindergarten until they are 6 years old. Many are doing this in order to give their kids an competitive edge.
The thought is that holding your child back will allow him/her to be among the oldest, most mature and brightest kids in his/her class. These parents are grooming young leaders and will do almost anything in order to give their child an advantage over other kids.
And that is exactly what I thought when I saw the segment about Redshirting on 60 minutes last night: “These people will do anything to give their kids a competitive edge.”
And that’s not always a bad thing.
Some parents pay for expensive private schools or tutoring while others tutor their own kids and give them extra work to do, all in the name of giving their kids a competitive edge.
Shoot, I have been trying to teach our 4 year old how to read this summer and she has not even started Pre-K yet.
But somehow, this Redshirting concept made me feel uncomfortable. If my child was ready for Kindergarten and was well adjusted…then I probably would not hold that child back just so that he could be the oldest in the class.
In reading up on Redshirting, it seems that there is not enough evidence yet to determine if it is helpful or harmful to kids yet. Some say the advantages they get from Redshirting will dissipate by the time they are in high school. Some even say that kids that have been Redshirted could have behavioral problems, especially if they are bored or feel alienated from their peers.
One of my kids was always ‘young’ for his/her age. While very smart, this child has always been less mature than his peers, always had social issues in school, and always played with younger kids. I really think this Redshirting concept could have benefited my child if I had known about it (and could afford an extra year of daycare..because that is a very real factor for most parents.)
Author of the bestselling book, Outliers, Malcom Gladwell says that the advantages that kids have while they are young make them better positioned throughout life. He calls this concept cumulative advantage and explains that it’s the idea that:
“a little extra nudge when you are six, means that you are better positioned when you are seven, which means you are better positioned when you are eight years old and so on…..”
While I did not read the book, the concept seems to make perfect sense to me. Which is why I am doing everything in my power to give my kids every advantage that I can give them. This is why we live sooooo far from downtown..because of the schools out here. It’s why we pay for extra curricular activities, it’s why we buy supplemental educational materials, ..it’s why we parent with a purpose.
BMWK Family – What do you think about this redshirting concept? Is it practiced in your area? Do you think parents are crossing the line in the name of giving their kids advantages? Would you Redshirt your child? What things have you done to give your child an advantage in life?
Keeley @ My Life on a Plate says
Hmm… this is a new concept to me. I work in higher education. When I see a 19 year old freshman coming straight out of high school, I assume he/she failed a grade. I wouldn’t assume that he/she was redshirted. I guess I’ll have to change my thinking, especially as this becomes more common.
Liz says
I read about the concept in Gladwell’s book Outliers, and while it makes sense in theory (your child will begin school and extracurricular activities with social, intellectual and physical maturity), every child is different and may benefit equally in gifted programs or grade promotion. My son was supposed to be a kindergartner this year, and his teacher told me during Open House that she felt he had attention and behavioral issues and recommended me giving him a squeeze ball for the times that he was “distracted”. I requested to have him tested, and he tested out of kindergarten into first grade, and received As both semesters. Know your child, your parental rights and be their advocate. Redshirting won’t help if teachers are quick to slap a label on our children.
Cheryl says
I would not hold my child back from Kindergarten if I felt they were developmentally ready for it. I have seen the converse – my brother was skipped twice, and socially he had difficulty. I agree with Liz, know your child and do what is best for them.
I live in a very small apartment in an area I cannot afford a house in so that my kids can be in this extrememly high performing school district. TWe could afford to move somewhere else, but the schools here are too good for me to consider it.
AW says
That’s very interesting. When my son finished kindergarten, we decided to put him in private school for his first grade school year. The school, however, had a policy that a child could enter first grade only if he/she turned six by August 1. We were just short of the requirement by a few days, but they would not budge [looking back, I’m sure they made an exception to the policy…for some]. I was not comfortable with my child repeating kindergarten, but they really pushed the idea that this was advantageous to boys especially in terms of maturity. The headmaster assured me that he’d be ahead of the class, yet would still be challenged by supplemental work provided by his teachers [I found the “supplemental” work to be a joke]. And they emphasized that a kindergarten curriculum at the private school was the equivalent to (or better than) a first grade curriculum in a public school. While I was not 100 percent sold, we made the hard decision to have him enter the private school as a kinder (one of my biggest regrets financially…and emotionally for my son). He just didn’t get that going to kindergarten again had nothing to do with his abilities – in fact, he was and is extremely intelligent. We kept him in the school for about two months before pulling him out and returning him to his previous school, where he completed the school year as a first grader. As parents, we really have to go with that gut feeling when making decisions for our children and their well being.
Edward says
I saw this first hand when I coached my 4 yr old son’s flag football team. I could not figure out why my team was so fast and big and was dominating the league. About 2 weeks into the season I realized that my son was the only 4 yr old, the rest of the team was 6. In speaking to some of the parents, they were intentionally putting their kids on a 4 yr old team so that they could lift their child’s self-esteem. I have mixed feelings about it, it is temporarily good for that child to excel but the reality is that they are still behind their age group and might not be any closer to coping to real life. Interesting…