You may assume that your child will begin kindergarten shortly after their 5th birthday, but that's not always the case. Depending on where your school places its age cutoff date for enrollment, your child may start kindergarten at 4, 5 or even 6. Because some parents assume — correctly or incorrectly — that their child is not ready for kindergarten, they may wait an additional year before enrolling, a process known as redshirting.
The term “redshirting” was originally used for college students who sat out of varsity competition for a year in order to extend their eligibility to play sports. Today, it also refers to holding your child back an extra year before starting kindergarten. Parents may have extremely valid reasons to redshirt a child.
Perhaps they aren’t socially or emotionally ready for school, or maybe they’ve been diagnosed with a developmental delay. There's always going to be somebody oldest and there's always going to be somebody youngest." Other times, parents may consider holding their child back so they’re not the shortest or youngest of their peers.
They may also want their child to enter school at a slightly older age to be more competitive at academics or athletics. "There's always going to be somebody oldest and there's always going to be somebody youngest," says Tovah Klein, author of “ " and director of the . She says there is "huge variability" in kids' readiness for school, and there's much more variability the younger they are.
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