School Information System
Newsletter Sign Up |

Subscribe to this site via RSS: | Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

May 1, 2008

Some Parents Put Off Kindergarten Another Year

Angela Bettis:

"Redshirting" is a common term in sports. It's the practice of having the youngest players on a team sit out their first year in order to gain another year of eligibility when they're older and most likely stronger.

The University of Wisconsin Badgers count basketball star Mike Wilkinson and football standouts Tyler Donovan and P.J. Hill among their recent redshirts.

Now, the term is being applied to children whose parents hold them out and enter them into kindergarten at age 6, rather than age 5.

Studies have found the practice happens more often for boys with birthdays in June, July and August. The practice means the youngest children in a class will then become the oldest in the class the following year, WISC-TV reported.

"They'll look at the kindergarten entrance age and say, 'My child is not ready yet. I'll wait a year and then have them go to kindergarten the following year,'" said UW professor Beth Graue.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 1, 2008 12:01 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas