Reader
Question:
Hi Amy,
I have a question for you. My daughter is turning five over the summer and her birthday is close to the cutoff for entering kindergarten. Should I hold her back and delay entry until next year? Do you think I should enroll her for the upcoming school year?
Help, I don’t know what to do!
Making the decision to enroll a child in kindergarten or delay entry is a difficult choice. Whether you are a parent or an educational professional, it is critical to make an informed decision.
Kindergarten Enrollment Requirements
In the state of Florida, children are eligible for entry into kindergarten if they are five years of age on or before September 1st. Information from the Florida Department of Education is available here.
For example, for the 2019-2020 school year, a child may enroll in kindergarten whether his birthday is September 2, 2013 or August 31, 2014. In this example, you may have a child enroll in kindergarten and turn six years of age shortly after the cutoff date of September 1st. Alternatively, you could have a child whose birthday is August 27, 2014 that starts kindergarten at age four, since school typically starts in mid-August, and turn five years of age at the end of the month.
What is Redshirting?
When parents face the dilemma outlined in the above section, I am usually contacted and asked for advice. When I meet with parents, I like to talk to them about there options. One option that parents have in this situation is to enroll their child in kindergarten because the child meets the requirements for kindergarten entry, even though he or she will be on the younger side compared to his or her grade-level peers.
Another option for parents is redshirting. Redshirting is when parents make the choice to delay entry into kindergarten for one year.
Research on Redshirting
In researching this topic, I came across an article by Ashlee Hover from Middle Tennessee State University published in 2018. For more information, you can access the article here. From the article, there are several points worth noting.
First, it is critical for parents and educational professionals to collaborate when it comes to deciding whether or not redshirting is an appropriate choice for their child. There are instances where a child who has an August 25th birthday (right before the cutoff) would be an excellent candidate to start kindergarten and other instances when a child with the same birthday may benefit from delaying school entry. The big take away here is that we want to consider the child’s readiness for academic learning, social maturity, and consider past interactions with other children and teachers. Second, research demonstrates that a child’s age of entry is significantly related to academic functioning. This means that older children have demonstrated higher academic gains compared to their peers who are younger than them and are in the same grade. However, theses differences appear to be most significant in the short-term and decrease over time.
When parents choose to enroll their child in kindergarten instead of redshirting their child, retention is another option. This means that the child may repeat kindergarten. However, the research reflects that retention should be carefully considered because of its impact on the child and his or her interactions with peers. More importantly, the research reflects that children who are retained continue to perform below their peers and its impact can be seen into the high school years.
It is my personal belief that retention should be considered very carefully for a child.
There is a large body of research reflecting the detrimental impact of retention on a child’s academic achievement, peer relationships, feelings about school, and likelihood of graduating from high school. It is important to note that redshirting and retention are not synonymous and both have significant implications for a child.
Bottom Line
Choosing whether or not to redshirt your child is a personal decision. While there is research that supports short-term benefits and preparedness for kindergarten, you need to assess your child and his or her strengths.
Are you on the fence about what to do for your child for the upcoming school year? I would love to talk to you and help you weigh the pros and cons of redshirting your child .
