I know of a redshifted child with an October birthday with a cutoff of Jan. He is obviously verbally gifted. My dd befriended him in kinder. He was six and she was five. It was super nice to have someone in the class who interested my dd and had conversations with her. But he was so much taller and wiser and when he latched on to her as a kindred spirit amongst all the other "babies" he had a hard time letting go. I wanted her kindergarten year to be about exploring frienships since she already knew how to read. But this boy had three years in preschool and ha was done exploring friendships and he found the woman he was going to marry. I had to put a stop to that. I guessmy point it, though the redshirted kids are great playmates for my children, and I'm happy to have them in the class, sometimes it is so bad for the one being held back, especially a held back, tall, gifted boy, that it stunts their growth and there really is no answer as to how to fix it. Even though a friend like my dd is what he needed, my dd needed to explore. Unfortunately, this boy has not been moved up a grade and still has to learn to read with the babies. Also I have to mention that the parents know very well that this child is gifted.
He might have some coordination problems that interfere with his handwriting, but they have had to fight for him to get harder spelling words and such. Why would you want to hold a child back a year and then have him singled out for needing harder work? Idk.
O am still trying to figure out that whole thing and it's a year later. So, my gifted six year old will be competing with a gifted child a year older for top of the class. I have a feeling that this poor boy will lose interest in school though before we get to that point. I really don't know why this child was held back other than many other late birthday boys were also held back.
