Please...can we just let this redshirting thing die.

[Anonymous]

If I read one more redshirting topic, I am going to scream. Let's just let parents make their own decisions and leave it at that.

[Anonymous]

Then don't read them. No one is forcing it on you.

[Anonymous]

Why don't people just do a search and read the old ones? It is just the same arguments over and over and over again.

[Anonymous]

i think the people asking about it have legitimate concerns. I don't think ppl take 'red-shirting' lightly. It is a hard and long-thought out decision for many parents..whether to send on-time or delay entry.

I have a boy with a bday just 3 days prior to the deadline so i don't think what we have decided to do is red-shirting since he would have only been 4 if we started him on time. STILL--we struggled long and hard and weighed several personal factors before arriving at our decision.

Most of the vitriol is from parents that have no intention of red-shirting--either because they don't have kids with borderline bdays, don't have a child with any delays, or don't have $ for another year of private preschool.

I find it ironic that the most competitive-type responses are from the parents that aren't red-shirting. Calling little kids 'flunkies' and trashing the parents, etc.

I think it is a personal decision. In most public schools it is not a big problem. Boys with borderline bdays (sept/aug) have been subject to redshirting since I was in K some 35 years ago. I think a lot of teh DC privates have taken it to an extreme, but you will not see a huge range of age differences in the typical DC, VA or MD public school.

[Anonymous]

I don't think this topic will die until the educational system becomes more appropriate and welcoming for boys.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am tired of CIO vs. co-sleeping.....should we banish those threads?
formula vs. breastfeeding.....I'm sick of that too.
MIL complaints
which neighborhood is best
which public schools are best
md vs. dc
ny vs. dc
how much should my __ month old be eating
how much should my __ month old be sleeping


you get the picture. don't read the threads you don't like, MORON.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i think the people asking about it have legitimate concerns. I don't think ppl take 'red-shirting' lightly. It is a hard and long-thought out decision for many parents..whether to send on-time or delay entry.

I have a boy with a bday just 3 days prior to the deadline so i don't think what we have decided to do is red-shirting since he would have only been 4 if we started him on time. STILL--we struggled long and hard and weighed several personal factors before arriving at our decision.

Most of the vitriol is from parents that have no intention of red-shirting--either because they don't have kids with borderline bdays, don't have a child with any delays, or don't have $ for another year of private preschool.

I find it ironic that the most competitive-type responses are from the parents that aren't red-shirting. Calling little kids 'flunkies' and trashing the parents, etc.

I think it is a personal decision. In most public schools it is not a big problem. Boys with borderline bdays (sept/aug) have been subject to redshirting since I was in K some 35 years ago. I think a lot of teh DC privates have taken it to an extreme, but you will not see a huge range of age differences in the typical DC, VA or MD public school.

Spoken like someone who chose to redshirt their child!

[Anonymous]

One of the kids in my child's second grade class just turned nine, yes, nine. The child is over a year older than mine and should be in third grade. My child, who is the proper age for second grade, is compared to "peers" who are in some cases over a year older. So why does redshirting irk the ever loving crap out of me? When I am told that my kid is having difficulty because of supposed immaturity, I have ask the question immature as compared to whom? Same age peers? Or the kids who are over a year older? No one has ever said that my child is immature as compared to same age peers. And when I ask that question, magically, I am never told my child is immature again. That is why it bothers me. Because redshirting negatively affects my own child's school experience.

[Anonymous]

Do not enroll your child in a school where the kids in the same grade will be years older than him/her. BUT -- if your kid truly could keep up, the age would not matter -- I skipped K and 1st grades. I was 2 years younger than my peers. And I was at the top of the class all the way through. Your kid, if smart enough, could keep up with the red shirts. If not, go elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

It's funny, PP. When we initially encountered difficulty 2 grade levels ago, we had a battery of testing done because we were concerned that perhaps our kid could not keep up with the children in class who are over a year older than the appropriate age for their grade. The results of the testing and consulting with her pediatrician showed my child to be age appropriately mature. And what is even funnier is that, even without the testing, we have long since known that our child far exceeds the redshirts in the class. Our kid is in the advanced reading program. Our kid's tests are displayed on the board for kids who have achieved 100% on various tests throughout the year. The testing bore out our kid's intelligence level. Once we armed ourselves with this info and sat down and talked with the powers that be at the school, I told them that I would wholeheartedly accept their criticism that our child lacked maturity if they could cite ONE child who was a same age peer and measurably more mature than our child. I told them if their criticism was that my kid was generally immature and too young for them in comparison to older redshirted classmates that I would be doing nothing to address the "lack of maturity" because the problem is not that there is a lack of maturity. It is that the school compares appropriately aged children to significantly older redshirted children. Once I said those very words, the complaints stopped immediately. It was like magic. And our kid has been doing great ever since except for complaining of boredom. So, thanks for your worthless assessment, but our kid is doing just great.

[Anonymous]

I beg to differ. If the school is FALSELY singling out your child, as you allege, your kid is not doing well .. .he /she is being attacked. He/she is going to a school that is administered by liars. That you had to spend money on testing to PROVE that your kid is normal (or even superior to normal) for his/her age to the people who spend 8 hours 5 days a week with your child should scare you about the school your child is at, not make you mad at me and my 'worthless assessment." But good to know you are happy to have proven something you should never have been asked to prove in the first place. I am sure, as you say, there is no reason for them to inquire about your child's maturity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am tired of CIO vs. co-sleeping.....should we banish those threads? ...

you get the picture. don't read the threads you don't like, MORON.

Wow you're an asshole. Can we just banish you? If we could banish the assholes, I think the endless debates might not seem so endless.

[Anonymous]

OP here...thanks 16:16...you said exactly what I was thinking. For the record, I am not opposed to the debate surrounding redshirting. I am a teacher and mom and find it interesting to hear both sides. But it always escalates to name calling and lame arguments just to keep the topics going (See there is a 19 year old in my 14 year old dd's class...how is that even possible?). So I know it will always be a hot topic here but if we could just keep it a little more civil, it would be a lot more beneficial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's funny, PP. When we initially encountered difficulty 2 grade levels ago, we had a battery of testing done because we were concerned that perhaps our kid could not keep up with the children in class who are over a year older than the appropriate age for their grade. The results of the testing and consulting with her pediatrician showed my child to be age appropriately mature. And what is even funnier is that, even without the testing, we have long since known that our child far exceeds the redshirts in the class. Our kid is in the advanced reading program. Our kid's tests are displayed on the board for kids who have achieved 100% on various tests throughout the year. The testing bore out our kid's intelligence level. Once we armed ourselves with this info and sat down and talked with the powers that be at the school, I told them that I would wholeheartedly accept their criticism that our child lacked maturity if they could cite ONE child who was a same age peer and measurably more mature than our child. I told them if their criticism was that my kid was generally immature and too young for them in comparison to older redshirted classmates that I would be doing nothing to address the "lack of maturity" because the problem is not that there is a lack of maturity. It is that the school compares appropriately aged children to significantly older redshirted children. Once I said those very words, the complaints stopped immediately. It was like magic. And our kid has been doing great ever since except for complaining of boredom. So, thanks for your worthless assessment, but our kid is doing just great.

What a complete PIA!!!! The fact you had to go through all that further supports how incredibly out of whack the current education system (and it's non-age appropriate expectations of how a child should be expected to behave. Instead of finding your post encouraging, I found it incredibly sad. Not for the outcome of your child---but what it says about our Education system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the kids in my child's second grade class just turned nine, yes, nine. The child is over a year older than mine and should be in third grade. My child, who is the proper age for second grade, is compared to "peers" who are in some cases over a year older. So why does redshirting irk the ever loving crap out of me? When I am told that my kid is having difficulty because of supposed immaturity, I have ask the question immature as compared to whom? Same age peers? Or the kids who are over a year older? No one has ever said that my child is immature as compared to same age peers. And when I ask that question, magically, I am never told my child is immature again. That is why it bothers me. Because redshirting negatively affects my own child's school experience.

I think you are rationalizing quite a bit here. There is probably - what - 1-2 kids who could possibly be that much older than your child who were redshirted. The comparison will be against your child's peer *group* - and that group is probably comprised of about 20+ kids around the same age as your child and 1-2 who are a little older. And quite frankly, probably a bunch who are YOUNGER too.

You don't like being told your child is immature and are blaming the system instead of taking a critical look at your child. As a mother with an "immature" son, I get that it is hard. But you are kidding yourself if you think that redshirting is negatively impacting your child's school experience.