Cari Sullivan watched as just six weeks of kindergarten transformed her normally happy and boisterous kid into one who said he never had good days at school.

It was the fall of 2021, and the 5-year-old was having behavioral problems, Sullivan said. So his parents made a difficult choice they’ve never regretted: They sent their child back to day care for an extra year of pre-K.

“Once we returned to him to an environment where he felt, I think, physical and emotional safety, we kind of asked him how he liked being back,” Sullivan recalled. “And he was like, ‘Do I ever have to go to a different school again?’ ”

The extra time turned out to be exactly what her son needed, Sullivan said. He’s now 8 and thriving in second grade in Baltimore County, where he’s getting the accommodations he needs.

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/early-childhood/maryland-redshirting-kindergarten-E3477RWX6ZA7HHBSY3J3UD7IEU/