Redshirting: Holding kids back from kindergarten

[exboyfil]

3. My youngest was born Sept. 6th

The cutoff date was Sept. 15th. We elected to hold her back. It is a big financial decision for the child since it means starting to make income a year later.

I was born Sept. 20th, and I was not held back. I started college at 17, and I think I would have benefitted from being held back a year. I did not have kindergarten or any sort of preschool. I did very poorly in 1st grade especially in reading. My parents moved after 1st grade, and I missed at least three weeks of 2nd grade. I again did poorly. I attribute my taking off in reading to getting a book from the Bookmobile toward the end of 2nd grade. I went from near the bottom to one of the top students in a year.

In hindsight my parents should have had me repeat 1st grade after the move. It would have been a new school so no one would have known I was held back.