The Seattle Times – Paige Cornwell
“With school sign-up time approaching, this is the time of year many parents have to ask a tricky question: Is my child ready for kindergarten? And if the answer is no, they wonder whether to “redshirt” the child — a term borrowed from sports that means holding kids out of school for a year to give them more time to grow academically, physically or socially. “It’s a perennial question for parents,” said Kristen Missall, associate professor at the University of Washington College of Education. “It’s one of the questions I get the most.” In Washington, students must be 5 years old on or before Aug. 31 to enroll in kindergarten. But state law doesn’t require that students enroll in school until they’re 8, so parents can keep them at home or in child-care programs for an additional year — or more.”(more)