Red shirting, again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Redshirting = cheating

Again, you are not understanding that, in many cases, it is the school making the recommendation that the summer birthday children be held back and go to another year of Pre-K instead. The parents might disagree, and then the school will simply just reject the child. In the end, we chose to trust the judgment of the educators, who know a whole lot more about early childhood education and kindergarten readiness than we do.

My DH and I wonder when they will just make June the cutoff. I would also question if the kindergarten activities are truly age appropriate if so many kids, especially boys, need the extra year of Pre-K. It's like kindergarten is the new first grade ...but I am also hearing that it is an easier time of teaching the kids if they are closer to six - the traditional age for first grade. Am I the only one seeing the irony?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you held your child back why do you think he will be at the top of the pack intellectually, academically, physically, socially etc?
Do you have any evidence?

My just turned 5 year-old in Kindergarten is at the top of the pack in his class intellectually and I would not have predicated this on the basis of chronological age! Evidence (teacher reports, working with long division and fractions at home, reading independently)

I am certainly not crying and mourning because there are boys and girls 2 years older than him in his class. Imagine how he would feel if a bitched and moaned because he was the youngest kid on the block. By his teacher's account he is not bullied ... in fact his classmates follow his lead.

I am much more concerned with mentoring and guiding him than calculating to beyond the second decimal place how much younger he is than his other classmates. What a waste of valuable time.

If you don't mind me asking, how is your just turned 5 year-old in Kindergarten when the cutoff is in September?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a late summer b-day boy and am truly torn about holding him back. I think he is ready, but I keep second guessing myself because all of his summer b-day friends are staying back. I am trying to get a recommendation from our preschool teacher/administrator but I seem to just get a very vague answer about how great "the gift of time" is and nothing specific about my child. I hate to be cynical, but I fear it may be because they want our tuition for another year ... Or because it is just the "safer" option.

We are probably going private so my question is, re: the DC area privates, are they any who don't "discriminate" against summer b-day boys? Or do they all seem to encourage holding back regardless of the individual child? Thanks for any insight.

Beauvoir actively encourages summer birthday children to go to school in their correct grade. This causes problems for certain parents who are convinced that their children need extra time. The school does not buy into it unless there is a clear developmental concern. Simply being young or being shorter than average will not get you their sympathy. I think some other schools are also following this trend. The winds may be blowing the other way. Schools are fed up with dealing with anxious parents who want to hold back their spring birthday kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a late summer b-day boy and am truly torn about holding him back. I think he is ready, but I keep second guessing myself because all of his summer b-day friends are staying back. I am trying to get a recommendation from our preschool teacher/administrator but I seem to just get a very vague answer about how great "the gift of time" is and nothing specific about my child. I hate to be cynical, but I fear it may be because they want our tuition for another year ... Or because it is just the "safer" option.

We are probably going private so my question is, re: the DC area privates, are they any who don't "discriminate" against summer b-day boys? Or do they all seem to encourage holding back regardless of the individual child? Thanks for any insight.

I believe the cutoff for many privates is 9/1, so your son wouldn't qualify for K at those schools anyway.

The cutoff is indeed 9/1, and a summer birthday child absolutely qualifies. Your DC will not qualify if he or she was born after 9/1. A few schools will consider birthdays within a week or two of 9/1 as well to be placed in the correct grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a late summer b-day boy and am truly torn about holding him back. I think he is ready, but I keep second guessing myself because all of his summer b-day friends are staying back. I am trying to get a recommendation from our preschool teacher/administrator but I seem to just get a very vague answer about how great "the gift of time" is and nothing specific about my child. I hate to be cynical, but I fear it may be because they want our tuition for another year ... Or because it is just the "safer" option.

We are probably going private so my question is, re: the DC area privates, are they any who don't "discriminate" against summer b-day boys? Or do they all seem to encourage holding back regardless of the individual child? Thanks for any insight.

Beauvoir actively encourages summer birthday children to go to school in their correct grade. This causes problems for certain parents who are convinced that their children need extra time. The school does not buy into it unless there is a clear developmental concern. Simply being young or being shorter than average will not get you their sympathy. I think some other schools are also following this trend. The winds may be blowing the other way. Schools are fed up with dealing with anxious parents who want to hold back their spring birthday kids.

I give Beauvoir credit. I think that they will inherit a problem later on with these immature boys. What looks like immaturity at 5 may be some other serious problem.

[Anonymous]

Beauvoir actively encourages summer birthday children to go to school in their correct grade. This causes problems for certain parents who are convinced that their children need extra time. The school does not buy into it unless there is a clear developmental concern. Simply being young or being shorter than average will not get you their sympathy. I think some other schools are also following this trend. The winds may be blowing the other way. Schools are fed up with dealing with anxious parents who want to hold back their spring birthday kids.



Thanks for the response. I did not know that about Beauvoir ... I will take a longer look at them. How is the curriculum in K? Is it advanced with a lot of pressure or low-key/play based. I am looking for a school that has a more relaxed K that focuses on social/emotional development and then ramps up the academics in later years. In your estimation does that describe Beauvoir? And if you don't mind sharing, do you have a DC(s) there? Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm still jarred by the article in the Post over the weekend about the overcrowding at Oakland Terrace, and how the kids have to wear a clothespin to identify themselves as needing to go to the bathroom during lunchtime!

My DC is at OTES. They just decided to move next years' kindergartners to a satellite school.

Where?

They are probably going to go to Sligo Middle School. Just the kindergartners. Not ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a late summer b-day boy and am truly torn about holding him back. I think he is ready, but I keep second guessing myself because all of his summer b-day friends are staying back. I am trying to get a recommendation from our preschool teacher/administrator but I seem to just get a very vague answer about how great "the gift of time" is and nothing specific about my child. I hate to be cynical, but I fear it may be because they want our tuition for another year ... Or because it is just the "safer" option.

We are probably going private so my question is, re: the DC area privates, are they any who don't "discriminate" against summer b-day boys? Or do they all seem to encourage holding back regardless of the individual child? Thanks for any insight.

Beauvoir actively encourages summer birthday children to go to school in their correct grade. This causes problems for certain parents who are convinced that their children need extra time. The school does not buy into it unless there is a clear developmental concern. Simply being young or being shorter than average will not get you their sympathy. I think some other schools are also following this trend. The winds may be blowing the other way. Schools are fed up with dealing with anxious parents who want to hold back their spring birthday kids.

I give Beauvoir credit. I think that they will inherit a problem later on with these immature boys. What looks like immaturity at 5 may be some other serious problem.

It's not Beauvoir that will have the problem -- it's the parents and the kids who overlook possible learning disabilities rather than chalking it off to "my darling child is just too young/fragile to go to K on time." The best thing we did was send our son to K on time. He has learning issues (none apparent to a casual onlooker and he's totally age-appropriate in social skills/interactions with other kids) that no "gift of time" will resolve. By sending him on time, we were able to catch his difficulties early (schools follow a process on learning issues and unless you go out and test privately, there's a certain amount of time involved. In our case, we went through the various interventions during K and insisted at the end of K that he be tested by the school first thing in the Fall, which the school did).

IMHO, the "gift of time" is a crock of #$%^ created by schools to deal with helicopter parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a late summer b-day boy and am truly torn about holding him back. I think he is ready, but I keep second guessing myself because all of his summer b-day friends are staying back. I am trying to get a recommendation from our preschool teacher/administrator but I seem to just get a very vague answer about how great "the gift of time" is and nothing specific about my child. I hate to be cynical, but I fear it may be because they want our tuition for another year ... Or because it is just the "safer" option.

We are probably going private so my question is, re: the DC area privates, are they any who don't "discriminate" against summer b-day boys? Or do they all seem to encourage holding back regardless of the individual child? Thanks for any insight.

Beauvoir actively encourages summer birthday children to go to school in their correct grade. This causes problems for certain parents who are convinced that their children need extra time. The school does not buy into it unless there is a clear developmental concern. Simply being young or being shorter than average will not get you their sympathy. I think some other schools are also following this trend. The winds may be blowing the other way. Schools are fed up with dealing with anxious parents who want to hold back their spring birthday kids.

I give Beauvoir credit. I think that they will inherit a problem later on with these immature boys. What looks like immaturity at 5 may be some other serious problem.

It's not Beauvoir that will have the problem -- it's the parents and the kids who overlook possible learning disabilities rather than chalking it off to "my darling child is just too young/fragile to go to K on time." The best thing we did was send our son to K on time. He has learning issues (none apparent to a casual onlooker and he's totally age-appropriate in social skills/interactions with other kids) that no "gift of time" will resolve. By sending him on time, we were able to catch his difficulties early (schools follow a process on learning issues and unless you go out and test privately, there's a certain amount of time involved. In our case, we went through the various interventions during K and insisted at the end of K that he be tested by the school first thing in the Fall, which the school did).

IMHO, the "gift of time" is a crock of #$%^ created by schools to deal with helicopter parents.

It's a gift of time for physical growth, social leadership, athletics. One mom who held back a march said it was done so he would be bigger earlier for athletics. I have heard it more than once.

[Anonymous]

There is no one size fits all. But if the kid is ready at 4 ... send him to school. 'Readiness' is not perfectly correlated with chronological age so what's all the fuss about. If readiness is not perfectly correlated with chronological age how does one arrive at the charge of cheating on the basis of chronological age? And who's cheating whom or what? It appears that some on this board are experts on the 'readiness' of other parents' children (even those they have never met).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no one size fits all. But if the kid is ready at 4 ... send him to school. 'Readiness' is not perfectly correlated with chronological age so what's all the fuss about. If readiness is not perfectly correlated with chronological age how does one arrive at the charge of cheating on the basis of chronological age? And who's cheating whom or what? It appears that some on this board are experts on the 'readiness' of other parents' children (even those they have never met).

Amen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It's a gift of time for physical growth, social leadership, athletics. One mom who held back a march said it was done so he would be bigger earlier for athletics. I have heard it more than once.

Wow, a March red-shirt. So this kid is turning 7 in March when there are others who will still be 5. So that projects to turning 19 in the early Spring of senior year of high school.

Just. Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's a gift of time for physical growth, social leadership, athletics. One mom who held back a march said it was done so he would be bigger earlier for athletics. I have heard it more than once.

Wow, a March red-shirt. So this kid is turning 7 in March when there are others who will still be 5. So that projects to turning 19 in the early Spring of senior year of high school.

Just. Wow.

As inept as the school systems have been in this regard, I firmly believe that there will be such an outcry of "foul" from parents of "younger" children in a few years regarding sports, that the schools will revamp how they do that. Perhaps JV teams will be limited to students of certain ages, rather than certain grades. Imagine 7th grade basketball tryouts with a 15 year old and a bunch of 13 year olds. The other moms will scream bloody murder.

[Anonymous]

They did that in the NBA too when boys, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, joined the men after high school.

[Anonymous]

It's a gift of time for physical growth, social leadership, athletics. One mom who held back a march said it was done so he would be bigger earlier for athletics. I have heard it more than once.

Wow, a March red-shirt. So this kid is turning 7 in March when there are others who will still be 5. So that projects to turning 19 in the early Spring of senior year of high school.

Just. Wow.

__________ _______________ ____________________ -____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



What is the wow factor here! I don't understand? What world do you live in? Do you think that everyone is the same height, weight and BMI and therefore this should also translate into the blindly grouping them in the same classroom, athletic fields and board rooms? I assure you, if you were given an IQ test with all your age group I doubt you could tell us where you would fall in that population. Better yet, if you took the same test with others 10 years younger, you may even score in an inferior range than that mean (biologic variability).

The only wow factor here is that there are folk who actually think that all 7 year olds are the same and therefore should be in the same classroom and play ground and absolutely neither fit with kids older nor younger than them. Get out of your coocoon and into the real world.

I was always at least 2 and 1/2 years younger than my mates all through elementary, secondary, university and post graduate schools. Not once did I, or my parents complain over these circumstances. I fit in academically, extracurricularly on as I got older on the athletic pitch. My classmates, or their parents, did not complain. Perhaps folk in the 60 and 70s were more robust in their security than those today. I don't get why all this fuss since chronologic age does not correlate with intelligence, academic performance, olympic gold medals or leadership. Therefore, worry about your own kids and not others. Do not blame your children's faults, foibles, inadequacies and poor performance on that of others or older children in the classroom. I think this is frankly baseless. In more experience and that of my own children, it is the parents of the older kids that should be complaining because the younger children are the sharper, brighter, quick studies and whipping the pants of the geriatric kindergarteners. They run circles around the older boys throughout the school system.