Academic Red-Shirting Your Pre-K Student: What's the Big Deal?

Academic "red-shirting," or the practice of holding your 4 year old child back from Kindergarten enrollment for an extra year, even if he/she qualifies by your state's age requirement, is becoming more commonplace - especially for boys. Experts say that a variety of factors may be influencing this decision for families. In fact, the National Center for Education Statistics notes that children who are academically red-shirted are twice as likely to be white, non-Hispanic students from affluent neighborhoods, possibly indicating that the cost of childcare is playing a big role in parents' decisions. But is Kindergarten red-shirting really that big of a deal? Here are some pros and cons from the Parenting experts at About.com:   PROS:

• The extra year gives your child an opportunity to develop more advanced social skills and confidence levels, making the transition to school easier.
• The extra year also means that your child enters Kindergarten with more maturity and an extra year of language and math skill development, which aids in classroom performance.
• Research also indicates that students who wait the extra year require less special education intervention services than their counterpart students who are retained in Kindergarten a second year.

CONS:

• Many parents report that a perceived lack of maturity for their child (particularly boys) is the primary factor for waiting the extra year, but this may be an indicator of an undiagnosed disability; in which case, students may benefit from having early access to special education and intervention services provided at the school.
• Students who are older may also have more difficulty relating to their younger peers, and this may lead to difficulty forming interpersonal relationships.

  Unfortunately, the research is not conclusive about the effects of academic red-shirting. Parents are encouraged to consider a variety of factors when making the decision - how your child performed in pre-school (if applicable), whether or not your child is introverted or extroverted, and how rigorous is the Kindergarten program your child will attend, for example. Obviously, this is a very personal decision that each family must make, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer. But if you do decide to wait the extra year, we would encourage you to make a specific plan to help your child use that time to prepare for Kindergarten - this can include fun academic exercises or worksheets at home, building vocabulary and listening skills through reading to your child, and maybe even working with a tutor to help make sure your child is ready for the year ahead. For more ideas and strategies to help your child get a great start in school, check out these resources from Scholasitc.com.