蜜桃影视

Ally Bollman hadn鈥檛 given much thought to her toddler鈥檚 kindergarten plans when the topic first came up among a group of moms of similarly aged children in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

The way she recalls it, nearly everyone in the group whose child had a summer or even late spring birthday was thinking about holding them back from kindergarten an extra year. Bollman鈥檚 son had an August birthday, making him the youngest among the bunch. 

The conversation stuck with Bollman, she said, and soon, she found herself asking any teacher she encountered during the next year for their opinion. 

鈥淣ot one teacher told me to send him early,鈥� Bollman recalled. 鈥淭hey all said it was a good idea to hold him back 鈥� 鈥榚specially with a little boy,鈥� they鈥檇 say.鈥�

The idea of delaying a child鈥檚 entry into kindergarten 鈥� a practice often referred to as redshirting 鈥� has gone mainstream in recent years, so much so that a parent of a child nearing school age might get the impression that just about everybody is doing it. 

But that鈥檚 far from the case. 

A recent from NWEA, a research and assessment company, finds that rates of kindergarten redshirting in recent years have held remarkably steady with trends from the and , averaging about 5% each year and peaking in fall 2021 at 6.4%. 

The practice gained attention in 2022 when social scientist Richard Reeves, in his book 鈥�,鈥� proposed redshirting all boys to account for their slower pace of development, relative to girls. Reeves鈥� proposal followed writings from author Malcolm Gladwell, who in his 2008 book 鈥溾�� that birthdays, relative to cutoff dates, contribute to a person鈥檚 long-term academic and athletic performance. 

Still, recent attention to redshirting seems to have amounted to minimal, if any, increase in the uptake of it, said Megan Kuhfeld, director of growth modeling and data analytics at NWEA. 

鈥淎 lot of families probably consider it and then opt out of doing it,鈥� Kuhfeld explained, adding that, after reflection, many probably realize, 鈥溾�榊ou know what, I don鈥檛 want to pay for an extra year [of preschool].鈥� We鈥檙e capturing those that went through with redshirting.鈥� 

NWEA evaluated data from more than three million kindergarteners between fall 2017 and 2025 (and controlled for the 1-2% of kindergarten students who repeat the grade each year). The findings show that redshirting remains uncommon, and that among families who delayed kindergarten, the students tend to be white, male and enrolled in more affluent schools. 

The analysis also found that the academic advantages experienced by redshirted students, who are starting kindergarten as among the oldest in their class, tend to fade quickly. By third grade, most redshirters score on par with their peers who started kindergarten on time. 

But one of the limitations of this study, Kuhfeld acknowledged, is that it doesn’t capture students鈥� social, emotional and behavioral advantages, which are often the driving force behind a family鈥檚 decision to hold a child back a year. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 very possible there is a long-lasting behavioral component,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e aren鈥檛 able to see that. That鈥檚 an important caveat.鈥�

It was social-emotional development that ultimately drove Bollman and her husband to make the decision to redshirt their son. 

Bollman wasn鈥檛 concerned that her son couldn鈥檛 handle kindergarten academically. Rather, she noticed that, at 4 years old, he struggled to cope when he lost a game or didn鈥檛 succeed at something on the first try. 

鈥淚 worried if he went into an environment where he was having a hard time keeping up with his peers, that he would kind of get discouraged and it would lay not-the-best groundwork for his academic life,鈥� Bollman said. 鈥淎 year later, he was more emotionally mature where he could handle those setbacks.鈥�

Now that her son has finished up his kindergarten year, Bollman feels sure it was the right decision. It wasn鈥檛 without downsides, though. She estimates that her family spent $8,000 for him to attend preschool three days a week during the year that he could鈥檝e been enrolled in kindergarten. 

Diane Schanzenbach, an economist at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy who studies education issues, noted that there are financial costs on both ends of the redshirting decision. On the front end is the additional cost of a year of preschool, which about $11,500 in the U.S. On the back end, it鈥檚 a year of lost earnings, if that child eventually enters the labor force a year late but retires around the same age as everyone else. 

Schanzenbach, who has about redshirting in the past, sympathizes with parents who are on the fence about kindergarten, recognizing that they often have to decide many months before their child would actually start school. 

鈥淧arenting is really hard,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he kid you鈥檝e got today is not the kid you鈥檝e got in a week, in a month, in a year. You鈥檙e trying to make the best possible decisions under a ton of uncertainty鈥� but there鈥檚 a lot of reasons to stick with the normal path.鈥�

It鈥檚 clear that the vast majority of families come to a similar conclusion, since redshirting rates have not meaningfully increased over the decades. In fact, in 2025, in states with a Sept. 1 kindergarten cutoff, more than two-thirds of the 4.4% of students who were redshirted were born in June, July or August, NWEA shared. Those summer kids are more likely to be true edge cases, where families feel the child, at 4 years old or newly 5, is just not ready for the expectations put on children in kindergarten.  

Children who are redshirted are more likely to be from families with higher socioeconomic status, the report found. It鈥檚 all part of the 鈥渁rms race鈥� in education, particularly among wealthier communities, to try to give their child an advantage academically and athletically, Kuhfeld said. (The term 鈥渞edshirting鈥� is actually borrowed from college athletics and refers to a student-athlete delaying competition until sophomore year to allow for more development. When they compete the following year, they鈥檙e known as a 鈥渞edshirt freshman.鈥�)

鈥溾�榃e want to give them an extra year so they can be really ready to go,鈥欌�� Kuhfeld said, describing the mindset of parents who redshirt their kindergarteners. 鈥淚t鈥檚 both, 鈥楧o you have the means?鈥� and 鈥楢re you in a community where this is more normalized?鈥欌��

Elia Garrison, a parent in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, opted to redshirt two of her six children 鈥� both boys with summer birthdays. But she wasn鈥檛 trying to join an education arms race. She was trying instead, she said, to protect her children from the intense academic pressure and competition that begins the moment they start school. 

鈥淥nce the rat race starts in kindergarten,鈥� Garrison said, 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 stop.鈥�

Garrison has noticed the way that kindergarten has become much more rigorous and structured than it was when she was growing up in the 1980s. When one of her kid鈥檚 kindergarten teachers told her that 鈥�,鈥� it resonated with Garrison. 

鈥淚 wanted my son to have that one more year of play-based fun鈥� in preschool, she said, referring to her fifth child, who has a June birthday. 

The COVID-19 pandemic also featured prominently in her decision to redshirt him. She had gone to the local school district鈥檚 meeting for incoming kindergarteners in spring 2020; she had been planning to enroll him for the fall. A few weeks later, the pandemic hit. 

Garrison imagined her young-for-his-grade son experiencing kindergarten over Zoom, and she changed her mind. They鈥檇 try again the following year. 

鈥淒evelopmentally, it was a great decision with him,鈥� she said of her son, who will be in third grade this fall. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 because we redshirted him, but I feel like he was able to grasp concepts better than had he been rushed into first grade and second grade.鈥�

If he鈥檇 been born in April or May, she said, she wouldn鈥檛 have held him back. That was where she drew the line. She ultimately decided to redshirt her sixth 鈥� and last 鈥� child as well. His birthday is the day before the Sept. 1 cutoff.

鈥淚鈥檓 OK with holding them back a little bit, within reason,鈥� Garrison said. 鈥淚鈥檓 OK with that because we鈥檙e in such a hurry 鈥� to make our kids grow up 鈥� that pushing them creates problems later on 鈥� unnecessary goals and unnecessary stresses.鈥�

She emphasized that, above all, it鈥檚 a personal decision that each family has to make for themselves. 

鈥淚 can鈥檛 reiterate it enough: One size doesn鈥檛 fit all,鈥� Garrison said. 鈥淎s a parent, you know your child best. Just because everybody is doing it doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 right for you. Some kids will be bored and will want the challenge of kindergarten, even if they are younger. You don鈥檛 want to hold them back. You want them to have the challenges. It all depends on the parent and the kids.鈥�

Others made a similar point. Kuhfeld clarified that neither she nor NWEA are coming out against kindergarten redshirting. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not endorsing that no one redshirts,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or some kids it does help, but for a lot it doesn鈥檛 鈥� and there are these long-term downsides you should think about.鈥�

Schanzenbach, who believes that redshirting is 鈥済enerally not worth it,鈥� noted that, if she had been in Garrison鈥檚 case with a child who would鈥檝e been starting kindergarten virtually, 鈥淚 for sure would have redshirted my kid.鈥�

At the end of the day, Schanzenbach said, whatever a parent decides, they can鈥檛 ever know what would鈥檝e happened if they鈥檇 chosen the alternative. Maybe a young kindergartener would鈥檝e had a nurturing teacher who helped him with his social-emotional development and gave him time and space to thrive. 鈥淚t鈥檚 literally impossible to know,鈥� she said.

Bollman, in Arizona, has another son 鈥� a toddler 鈥� who will be enrolling in kindergarten before she knows it. But his birthday is in January, and he鈥檒l be starting kindergarten 鈥渙n time.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a relief,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hat it鈥檚 not a decision I have to make.鈥�

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