Today, I’m talking about redshirting. You may know the term from college sports, where athletes can be redshirted for a year, keeping them out of the game but giving them an extra year of eligibility. Kindergarten redshirting is a similar concept, giving kids an extra year beyond their eligibility before enrolling them. I’ll confess, I personally cringe at the term because I think it conveys—to some – the idea that kids are being held back to give them an advantage at sports. Which, arguably, some are. But the reasons why parents give their kids an extra year before starting kindergarten reach much beyond that. Today, I’m joined by my friend, Allison Mac Donald, who writes at No Time for Flash Cards. She’s a teacher, a book author, a graduate student, a marathoner, and a mom to two rad kids. She and I are chatting today about why some parents choose to give their kids an extra year, what that means from a systems perspective, what factors play into the decision from a personal perspective, and some of the other options parents may not have considered. I have a lot of parents ask me about my opinion about kindergarten redshirting, and –like many parenting dilemmas--- it just doesn’t have an easy, clean answer. So I’m glad Allie’s here to help me sort through the information.

(A quick listener note: The audio equipment wasn’t functioning properly during this recording, so the quality isn’t what I’d like it to be. But the conversation was so good, I didn’t want to scrap it. While I hope future recordings meet higher expectations, I think you’ll agree this one is worth tolerating the imperfections!)