• Skip to main content

Pamela Paul

NYT Columnist, Author, Speaker

  • Bio
  • Books
    • It Simply Can’t Be Bedtime
    • 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet
    • Rectangle Time
    • How to Raise a Reader
    • My Life With Bob
    • By the Book
    • Parenting, Inc.
    • Pornified
    • The Starter Marriage
  • Articles
  • News & Events
  • Contact

Pamela Paul / August 23, 2010

Who Will Be the Smallest Kid in Kindergarten?

I have a story that ran in the New York Times Sunday Style section yesterday about how the widespread practice of redshirting is affecting parents, children, and kindergarten classes nationwide. While I was not surprised, as a parent, but the amount of angst this causes parents (whether to redshirt, what happens if you don’t, what’s more important — academic or social/emotional readiness, etc.), many aspects of the story were news to me. For one thing, the economic gap between those who can afford to redshirt and those who can’t — and the long-term consequences is concerning. I was also intrigued by a political angle: That the earlier a state sets its cutoff date, the better its students do on standardized testing and the more likely the state is to win federal funds. Also, the more likely the students are to get into competitive colleges. Or so the theory goes. The story has generated 201 comments on The New York Times website, and counting. I’d love to hear from more parents and educators about what they think of redshirting and their own personal experiences.

Filed Under: early childhood, Education, parenting, Styles section, The New York Times

Copyright © 2025 Pamela Paul · Site Design: Ilsa Brink