Should we redshirt for Kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Most kids can't read when they start kindergarten. Seriously. It is not a reason to hold them back.

Agree--but PP also said that he was immature. Immaturity is a very good reason to hold him back. K teacher.

Aren't all rising kindergarteners immature, basically by definition?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Most kids can't read when they start kindergarten. Seriously. It is not a reason to hold them back.

Agree--but PP also said that he was immature. Immaturity is a very good reason to hold him back. K teacher.

Aren't all rising kindergarteners immature, basically by definition?

No.

Huh. My kids were. And so were their classmates. They were less immature than when they were 3, to be sure.

[Anonymous]

Huh. My kids were. And so were their classmates. They were less immature than when they were 3, to be sure.

We are talking about maturity as compared to others in the class. The K outliers--the ones who are too immature--stick out to the teacher. They are the ones who need someone to help them with everything--even when they are capable. They are the ones who may still need a real nap after lunch--not just a little rest. They are the ones who act like a four year old instead of a five year old. They are the ones who don't know how to play with others in the class--but are quite comfortable with those who are in the class behind them. Frequently, they are just much happier with younger kids.
This is not about intelligence, it is a matter of maturity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, how is it cruel? Education is not a race.

OP here. How is sending a child to school on time racing? I don't plan to have him skip any grades. I plan to send him on time and have him do the normal 13 years of school. If I thought of education as a race, I would be planning to push DS to skip every other grade. Don't you ever read about kids who graduate high school at 12 or 13? It's those kids whose parents thought of education as a race, but I fail to see how graduating high school right before turning 18 is racing. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do.

It's not.

Curious, OP. Why did you bother to ask the question on this thread? You clearly just want affirmation that you are doing the right thing. When people disagree, you get defensive. So, why did you bother to ask?

Ok, I admit it. I just wanted people to agree with me. SO really wants to hold DS back, and I was hoping to be able to show SO that the vast majority of people think we should send him on time.

[Anonymous]

It's really frustrating when parents deliberately put their child a year behind, just so they can show everyone how good their child is at doing work designed for kids a year younger than them.

"My 8-year-old 2nd grader is reading at a 3rd grade level." Of course she is! She's the age of a 3rd grader!

"My 13-year-old 7th grader is taking Algebra 1." Of course he is! He's the age of an 8th grader!

"My 15-year-old high school freshman is a star athlete." Of course he is! He's competing against 14-year-ods!

"My daughter, who's almost 19, is valedictorian." Of course she is! She was competing against kids a year younger than her!

Any normal kid would excel at work designed for kids a year younger than them. There's nothing impressive about it! I mean, doesn't it feel better to accomplish when you know you did it on your own two feet, rather than just having had everything handed to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's really frustrating when parents deliberately put their child a year behind, just so they can show everyone how good their child is at doing work designed for kids a year younger than them.

"My 8-year-old 2nd grader is reading at a 3rd grade level." Of course she is! She's the age of a 3rd grader!

"My 13-year-old 7th grader is taking Algebra 1." Of course he is! He's the age of an 8th grader!

"My 15-year-old high school freshman is a star athlete." Of course he is! He's competing against 14-year-ods!

"My daughter, who's almost 19, is valedictorian." Of course she is! She was competing against kids a year younger than her!

Any normal kid would excel at work designed for kids a year younger than them. There's nothing impressive about it! I mean, doesn't it feel better to accomplish when you know you did it on your own two feet, rather than just having had everything handed to you?

I think most of the people on this forum consider redshirting to be those kids who are near the cusp--late summer birthdays, etc. They are generally only a month or two younger than the ones sent on time.
And, your premise is wrong. I don't think there are many "almost 19 year old" valedictorians. And a red shirted eight year old second grader is likely to be at the end of the school year for second grade--and lots of second graders read on a third grade level, in any case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's really frustrating when parents deliberately put their child a year behind, just so they can show everyone how good their child is at doing work designed for kids a year younger than them.

"My 8-year-old 2nd grader is reading at a 3rd grade level." Of course she is! She's the age of a 3rd grader!

"My 13-year-old 7th grader is taking Algebra 1." Of course he is! He's the age of an 8th grader!

"My 15-year-old high school freshman is a star athlete." Of course he is! He's competing against 14-year-ods!

"My daughter, who's almost 19, is valedictorian." Of course she is! She was competing against kids a year younger than her!

Any normal kid would excel at work designed for kids a year younger than them. There's nothing impressive about it! I mean, doesn't it feel better to accomplish when you know you did it on your own two feet, rather than just having had everything handed to you?

I think most of the people on this forum consider redshirting to be those kids who are near the cusp--late summer birthdays, etc. They are generally only a month or two younger than the ones sent on time.
And, your premise is wrong. I don't think there are many "almost 19 year old" valedictorians. And a red shirted eight year old second grader is likely to be at the end of the school year for second grade--and lots of second graders read on a third grade level, in any case.

Right, so if they're a redshirted August or September child and they graduate in May or June, they would be 2-to-4 months shy of their 19th birthday, which would make them "almost 19". My point is that if you have to have something handed to you on a silver platter in order to make an achievement, that totally defeats the purpose. An accomplishment is nothing to be proud of if you have to use cheat-codes in order to make that accomplishment. For instance, I have the ability to make complex calculations in my head, and when I do that, people around me are impressed. However, if I were to use a calculator to make those calculations, that wouldn't be anything to be proud of. Do you see what I mean? I think most kids would feel a lot better about their school accomplishments knowing that they were competing against kids their age, rather than kids a year younger than them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Right, so if they're a redshirted August or September child and they graduate in May or June, they would be 2-to-4 months shy of their 19th birthday, which would make them "almost 19". My point is that if you have to have something handed to you on a silver platter in order to make an achievement, that totally defeats the purpose. An accomplishment is nothing to be proud of if you have to use cheat-codes in order to make that accomplishment. For instance, I have the ability to make complex calculations in my head, and when I do that, people around me are impressed. However, if I were to use a calculator to make those calculations, that wouldn't be anything to be proud of. Do you see what I mean? I think most kids would feel a lot better about their school accomplishments knowing that they were competing against kids their age, rather than kids a year younger than them.

Probably most kids don't think, "I am among the oldest kids in the class, and some of the kids in the class are over a year younger than I am, so all of my accomplishments at school are cheating." Especially not at age 18 (which is the age of people who are "almost 19".)

Nor should they.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Right, so if they're a redshirted August or September child and they graduate in May or June, they would be 2-to-4 months shy of their 19th birthday, which would make them "almost 19". My point is that if you have to have something handed to you on a silver platter in order to make an achievement, that totally defeats the purpose. An accomplishment is nothing to be proud of if you have to use cheat-codes in order to make that accomplishment. For instance, I have the ability to make complex calculations in my head, and when I do that, people around me are impressed. However, if I were to use a calculator to make those calculations, that wouldn't be anything to be proud of. Do you see what I mean? I think most kids would feel a lot better about their school accomplishments knowing that they were competing against kids their age, rather than kids a year younger than them.

Probably most kids don't think, "I am among the oldest kids in the class, and some of the kids in the class are over a year younger than I am, so all of my accomplishments at school are cheating." Especially not at age 18 (which is the age of people who are "almost 19".)

Nor should they.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Right, so if they're a redshirted August or September child and they graduate in May or June, they would be 2-to-4 months shy of their 19th birthday, which would make them "almost 19". My point is that if you have to have something handed to you on a silver platter in order to make an achievement, that totally defeats the purpose. An accomplishment is nothing to be proud of if you have to use cheat-codes in order to make that accomplishment. For instance, I have the ability to make complex calculations in my head, and when I do that, people around me are impressed. However, if I were to use a calculator to make those calculations, that wouldn't be anything to be proud of. Do you see what I mean? I think most kids would feel a lot better about their school accomplishments knowing that they were competing against kids their age, rather than kids a year younger than them.

Probably most kids don't think, "I am among the oldest kids in the class, and some of the kids in the class are over a year younger than I am, so all of my accomplishments at school are cheating." Especially not at age 18 (which is the age of people who are "almost 19".)

Nor should they.

But how often do the younger kids in the class think, if I were in grade -1 things would be so much easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But how often do the younger kids in the class think, if I were in grade -1 things would be so much easier.

You mean, like, "If only I were among the oldest kids in the class, instead of among the youngest kids, things would be so much easier"? Probably never.

-former youngest kid in the class

[Anonymous]

Our child has an August birthday. When we faced this choice, it was easy. They weren't immature or especially mature and fit in fine with their classmates. They could read and write letters and numbers well. Knew limited addition/subtraction and could read very simple books. My concern was they'd be bored if held back. Further, it's not that there isn't a disadvantage, but it diminishes with each passing year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child has an August birthday. When we faced this choice, it was easy. They weren't immature or especially mature and fit in fine with their classmates. They could read and write letters and numbers well. Knew limited addition/subtraction and could read very simple books. My concern was they'd be bored if held back. Further, it's not that there isn't a disadvantage, but it diminishes with each passing year.

That's the key. If child had been especially immature, you might have made a different choice.

This is up to the parent and every child is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We sent our August boy on time because we thought it was where he should be. His preschool teacher recommended holding him back.

I wouldn't worry so much about fit -- in our school, there were lots of kids held back and several kids sent on time, so the age range of K was 4-6 at the beginning of the year and 5-7 at the end of the school year. For the rest of your questions, it's for you to evaluate. You know your child best.

+100
It's not a race. We all know some who didn't start or finish college "on time."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We sent our August boy on time because we thought it was where he should be. His preschool teacher recommended holding him back.

I wouldn't worry so much about fit -- in our school, there were lots of kids held back and several kids sent on time, so the age range of K was 4-6 at the beginning of the year and 5-7 at the end of the school year. For the rest of your questions, it's for you to evaluate. You know your child best.

+100
It's not a race. We all know some who didn't start or finish college "on time."

I kind of with you hadn't posted this. If one of kids sees this, they might get the idea that it's okay to be in college past the age of 22. And this is precisely why I didn't redshirt either of my kids. There are repercussions such as having them on your payroll an extra year. The ultimate goal is to get your kids to be self-supporting. Getting a late start in life is something to be avoided at all costs.