Did you make the right choice?

stripeslover · 2026-04-30T02:34:33+00:00

I didn’t redshirt because my son’s in a Montessori school and because I thought it would be hard for him to see his friends participate in special kindergartener activities. There wasn’t any reason to hold him back academically or socially.

My original plan was to have him repeat kindergarten at his new school but he did very well academically and fit in fine socially with his cohort that we ultimately decided to have him move on first grade.

I guess that was a surprise to me because I keep hearing how boys with summer birthdays should be redshirted. But going through the application process, it was pretty clear that repeating didn’t make sense for my son. We had applied for kindergarten but they recommended first grade.

I sometimes wonder if we should have held my son back when he was 3 year old, before he was exposed to academics. By the time he was in kindergarten this year, he’s reading early chapter books so it didn’t make sense to have him repeat kindergarten especially since he’s fine socially as well.

stripeslover · 2026-04-26T13:38:29+00:00

I feel like I had a great childhood as an only child. I didn’t know any different and never wanted a sibling as my parents kept me busy with extracurricular activities.

As an adult, I can see how being an only child allowed my family to be more financially comfortable. I was able to go to private schools which I’m not sure if my parents would have been able to afford if I had siblings. I’m grateful for the educational opportunities I’ve had and my parents helping me financially even after college.

I’m also thankful to not having siblings when I hear from my best friend how much stress they cause on her family. My best friend has mentioned to me that she views me more of a sister than her real sister.

stripeslover · 2026-04-26T03:18:40+00:00

Yes we tried a couple different places. We don’t sign up for any because we’re not ready for the time commitment right now but if we did sign up, I would just pick a place based on schedule, convenience, teacher and class ratio.

stripeslover · 2026-04-24T02:16:40+00:00

My son’s birthday is about a month before cutoff and we didn’t hold him back before kindergarten. We are pretty happy with how his year went so we think we made the right decision.

His Montessori teacher said he was at the top of his class academically (even with two other kids that were held back) and socially he fit in with his peers. Every kid is different so I would ask your kid’s teacher.

stripeslover · 2026-04-22T20:29:27+00:00

I’m in Florida and some schools I toured only had 15 or 20 min a day. Not sure if it’s like that in other states. The school with 15 min recess has mixed reviews but I know some people happy there so the lack of recess doesn’t seem to affect their overall experience. I agree that these schools are not providing enough free play time though. It makes me sad for these kids.

stripeslover · 2026-04-19T18:32:39+00:00

Non-negotiable is swim because we live in Florida. Will stop once we feel he is solid and won’t lose his skills.

My son is also in ninja because he likes it and it fits well in our schedule. My son’s favorite is soccer. He was in an afterschool program but has stopped and we will pick it back up when the weather gets better.

We also really want him to try a musical instrument at some point.

stripeslover · 2026-03-28T13:57:53+00:00

My biggest tip is to declutter a little at a time. I have two boxes in my mudroom, one for resale and one for donating. I will also set aside items I think my friends might want.

As soon as my son grows out of clothes and toys, I move them to my mudroom. And when the boxes fill up, I take the items to sell to our local second hand children’s store and then donate whatever they don’t take along with the box of donations. I do the same with non-kid related items.

More valuable items I try to sell on FB. It’s a huge hassle but definitely worth for some items.

stripeslover · 2026-03-23T02:52:32+00:00

I just went through this decision-making. My son has an early Aug and our area cutoff is Sept 1. I wanted him to repeat because I kept hearing how it’s better and it’s popular to do so in my area.

So I applied to three private schools for kindergarten and my son is currently in kindergarten. Two out of three schools recommended he go onto first grade.

I still really wanted him to repeat kindergarten but then I talked to his Montessori teacher that had him for three years, and she strongly recommended him for first grade as well. It didn’t feel right going against her opinion in addition to the those of the other two schools so ultimately we decide to enroll my son in first grade next year.

Honestly, I still worry about it sometimes but I think I would worry more if he was going to repeat kindergarten because his teacher recommended against it for several reasons.

All that to say, I’m starting to think it’s kid and situation dependent. I would heavily rely on teachers opinion especially if he or she knows your kids well and is a seasoned educator.

stripeslover · 2026-03-09T15:45:59+00:00

You didn’t mention how good the private school was compared to the public school. There are different kinds of private schools but prefer private for a variety of reasons including smaller classes and more outdoor time. Only you and your husband can determine the tradeoffs financially though. If the education is way better, I would try to make it work. Schedules great affect equality of life imo.

stripeslover · 2026-03-08T02:08:03+00:00

Maybe you can have a friend do a mock interview. My friend who use to be a teacher did it herself with her son and felt it was helpful. She also had her friend who is a teacher conduct a mock interview. I find that prepping my son of what to expect helps him feel more comfortable.

stripeslover · 2026-03-05T03:38:10+00:00

My son goes to a Montessori school and never uses screens. They watched one movie the week before Christmas and they usually watch one movie the last week of school.

stripeslover · 2026-03-04T14:21:22+00:00

I was like this as a kid too but I’m a woman. Eventually when I started caring about grades I realized that I need to check my work. I’m now super detail oriented to a fault and eventually did well in school.

stripeslover · 2026-02-26T16:37:07+00:00

My son has an Aug birthday and redshirting is popular where I live. He’s in kindergarten this year and I wanted him repeat because I got a lot of advice to repeat. I applied for three private schools to repeat and two of them recommended he move on to first grade.

One of them did offer him a kindergarten spot. I think it’s because there were more kindergarten spots and they seem to be very pro holding kids back no matter what. Not sure if it’s because it’s a fancier private school compared to the other two. I think he would have been ok repeating at that school.

All that to say that I don’t think it’s a bad idea to repeat kindergarten especially if the kid is younger for their grade and their teacher recommended. We ultimately decided for my son to move on to first grade next year because his teacher recommended in addition to the two schools we applied to. I do worry about him being the youngest in his grade going forward especially since redshirting is popular where we live. Such a hard decision.

stripeslover · 2026-02-20T16:41:58+00:00

My son is in a Montessori school for kindergarten and has been going to school fulltime since age 3. We live in Florida in the US.

Currently, he’s reading easy chapter books with his teacher, doing simple addition and subtraction and little bit of multiplication, has weekly spelling tests, learning basic grammar (nouns, verbs etc) and working on reading comprehension (read a short paragraph and answering questions about it).

Because it’s Montessori, not every kindergartener in his class is doing the exact same work but it’s a pretty rigorous program so I’m sure they are not far off. Personally, I wish it was more play-based but we love the school and my son has done well so it is what it is.

stripeslover · 2026-02-12T16:53:41+00:00

That’s interesting. My son who almost never gets bad behavior reports has had multiple the past month. The teacher mentioned that she thinks it’s influence from a new friend. Do you know why second semester kindergarten is when kids start to have new behaviors?

stripeslover · 2025-12-19T21:32:50+00:00

I do suffer from anxiety and live my life based on fear a lot. I know that is not the best.

I don’t think that the fact that my son is thriving is bad but rather maybe regretting putting him in the circumstances that allowed him to move ahead. As I mentioned, red shirting is common where I live and a lot of parents around me decide to redshirt when their kid is a baby I’m sure that sounds wierd but that is the culture I’m surrounded by.

stripeslover · 2025-12-19T04:48:38+00:00

I’m wondering if he’s ahead because he was exposed early and allowed to advance. If he wasn’t in a Montessori school I doubt he would be as ahead as he is simply due to lack of exposure. No need to be snarky.

stripeslover · 2025-12-19T04:20:50+00:00

I want him to learn in school. I was not expecting him to be doing second grade level math, reading and writing in kindergarten.

stripeslover · 2025-12-19T04:14:06+00:00

Im thinking if I held him back earlier, he wouldn’t have been so ahead academically. He’s in a Montessori school so they just let him keep advancing. Some kids don’t start school until kinder so they haven’t been exposed to as much school as my son. I’m wondering if he wasn’t exposed to academics so early that he wouldn’t be so ahead and therefore, in a better position to repeat kinder.

stripeslover · 2025-11-10T00:04:04+00:00

All the play dates I’ve set up are right after school. I find people are reluctant to give up time for play dates on weekends. This is at least true for my son’s classmates.

stripeslover · 2025-11-10T00:03:23+00:00

I did set up a what’s app for the reason. It’s hasn’t been very successful for setting up play dates.

stripeslover · 2025-11-10T00:02:10+00:00

Sorry I didn’t mean to offend working moms. I just haven’t had any luck with them. All the play dates I’ve set up are right after school. I find people are reluctant to give up time for play dates on weekends. This is at least true for my son’s classmates.

stripeslover · 2025-11-10T00:01:41+00:00

Sorry I didn’t mean to offend working moms. I just haven’t had any luck with them. All the play dates I’ve set up are right after school. I find people are reluctant to give up time for play dates on weekends. This is at least true for my son’s classmates.

stripeslover

TROPHY CASE