From what I understood, there's a difference between holding a child back because they were truly not ready and "redshirting".

Kids who are "redshirted" are mostly boys, who are held back purposely, whether they were mature enough or not, so they would have a competitive edge over the other children who started at the traditional age. The parents want their kids to be bigger, better at sports and more advanced academically. If they weren't that way naturally, the parents see no problem with giving them an artificial boost.

I recommended all but one of my kids for regular kindergarten next year. Even the one with the September birthday. The only problem I see they may face is the overly academic-ness of kindergarten these days vs. the more play-based structure of Pre-K. But I dont see how another year of Pre-K will remedy that. The only child I'm advising against going to K still has multiple potty accidents, cannot remember simple directions long enough to carry them out, and is still inappropriately impulsive IMO.

From what I can tell, what many kindergarten teachers have run into as far as "not ready" is kids not being able to sit quietly for more than a couple minutes, not being used to doing things for themselves and not being able to manage toileting yet. Not so much being unable to handle the academic work.

I don't know. Sometimes its truly beneficial and others its just what you do to keep up with the fads.

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