The Georgia pre-k lottery is in full effect, but my husband and I have been dealing with the decision to redshirt our twin girls for a while. They are August babies, born very near the September 1 cutoff. I’m admittedly a little jealous of parents with September-June babies, because this is something that they most likely don’t even have to consider.

We have talked at length between ourselves and with friends/family, in addition to reading a bunch of research and studies, to figure out if giving the girls “the gift of time” is the best option for them. I’ll tell ya, even after all that data collection, the verdict was still not cut and dry. 

Redshirting is the practice of delaying a child’s kindergarten entry by a year. The term originates from college sports, where freshmen athletes would sit out a year to both preserve play eligibility and improve their skills to become more competitive. The reference found its way into academia in 2008 thanks to journalist/author Malcolm Gladwell. In his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, he cites earlier birthdays in the school year as one of the factors that have led to high achievement. This “cumulative advantage” relatively older kids have is that they are more academically ready, physically stronger, more attentive, and perceived as more capable compared to their peers of the same grade level.

Thanks to TikTok, a ton of Millennial moms are sharing their will they/won’t they redshirt stories.  #redshirting

The kindergarten landscape has changed since our childhood days. A 2016 study found that academic standards for kindergarteners have become measurably higher, with a heavy emphasis on reading and math, compared to the ‘90s. Parents with late summer babies may feel like their kid may not be ready to handle it. But if we’re being honest, we’re really looking at the trajectory beyond kindergarten and how our children will fare academically.

Children are ready for kindergarten when they can demonstrate basic behavior management skills, like:

• Sitting still
• Working independently
• Standing in line
• Following directions
• Completing tasks

In most cases, your little one can do all this. In our case, our preschool teacher confirms they can do this and believes they’ll be just fine going into kindergarten with the rest of their class. But the worry that being youngest in their class will eventually catch up to them emotionally is a big X factor for me. Do you redshirt now as a measure to better prep them for the future?

The Research

It seems like a no-brainer to just voluntarily hold them back based on Gladwell’s findings, but it’s not. The advantages of redshirting are pretty straightforward. You give your child more time to mature and develop so that they have better self-regulation, self-confidence, and self-esteem when entering formal education. This also shifts them from being the youngest in the class to being one of the oldest.

The drawbacks, however, include boredom and difficulties relating to younger peers. It also doesn’t provide any benefit to children who may have an identified or hidden cognitive or learning disability. While redshirting does provide some academic advantages, it’s only temporary with studies concluding that all the gains made by being older vanish by high school.

Despite all this research and its findings, their conclusions are correlations, not causations. There are also a ton of other factors that might skew the data as it pertains to us. My girls are twins, so their social skills are most likely higher than a singleton child. They have an older brother, so they have a model and someone to connect with while they are at school, as opposed to a first-born child entering school solo.

Back to the drawing board… 

The Interviews

Obviously we’re going to talk to people to get their opinion. Social media is one thing, but of course the personal stories of our friends and family are going to hold more weight. After talking to friends, family, acquaintances, and random people from PTO events and birthday parties, here’s what I’ve gathered:

• A majority interviewed believe they may have benefited from being redshirted
  • Some didn’t feel confident enough to raise their hand or ask questions for fear of looking dumb in front of their peers
  • Others struggled to keep up with their classmates, academically and socially
  • A few said they felt inadequate compared to their peers
  • One was constantly picked on, assuming they were an easy target for their size
• A couple of people said that they had no problems being the youngest in their class
  • One mentioned that the only downside was being the last to get their driver’s license
  • One said that redshirting may not have benefited them
• One person actually was redshirted and said they “enjoyed it”
• Parents interviewed believe they should have redshirted once they saw the disparity in emotional maturity between their child and their peers

These conversations reminded me of a study regarding an adolescent’s life satisfaction based on their parents’ decision to redshirt or not. In short, it found that redshirted students showed significantly higher levels of life satisfaction than those who were not redshirted. This suggests that parents who opt to redshirt their children may be setting them up for a generally more satisfying life later on. What I found interesting about this study is that not only did the parents of the test subjects say they would redshirt again if they had another child, but 70% of the parents who did not redshirt their child reported they would next time. That’s pretty compelling…

But there’s always a but.
The people I interviewed are most likely in the same socioeconomic bracket as us. They most likely had the same traditional upbringing as us. However, we may differ on priorities, parenting styles, and overall worries. And keep in mind that personal stories are just personal stories. There are most likely an equal number of stories that would refute or contradict these sentiments.

The Decision

After much debate of “will they/won’t they”, we have decided to redshirt the girls. Coming to this decision was not easy. In fact, there is still a bit of hesitation.

The studies I’ve read are mainly centered around young white males with an upper socioeconomic status. What benefited them may not be beneficial for the girls. Boys may gain more confidence and self-esteem when they hit their growth spurts earlier than their classmates, but it might make girls feel insecure when they are the first to mature and have their period.

Another worry of mine is that the girls may become bored in class because the course material is too easy for them as they get older. You held me back for this??

The driving force behind this decision is the anecdotal accounts we took these last few months. Yes, they are thriving now, but what about later? I don’t want my kids to feel inadequate or pressured to keep up with their peers. Even though that may happen regardless of our early intervention, I feel like the extra year may at least eliminate some of it. 

Ultimately, we took a page out of the Family Firm by Emily Oster. Frame it for your Family. Make the best decision you can for your family, include your kids in the process, and be willing to course-correct as needed.

If you’re in the same boat as me, know that there is no absolute right or wrong choice in redshirting. Your child is not going to be doomed one way or another. Every classroom will have kids who have a 12-month developmental difference. Being one of the oldest or youngest in the class will have its own set of pros and cons.

Sometimes it’s just our own worry for our child that drives the decision. What works for some families and kids definitely does not mean that the same will work for you and yours. At the end of the day, this is a personal, thoughtful decision between you and your partner.

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