Oldest kids in class do better, even through college - NPR

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don't get about this as a phenomenon is that the kids eventually figure it out and they start to think of the oldest kids in class as the "dumb" ones because even an 8 year old knows that a 10 year old should be doing high level work.

So yeah your 10 year old might be the best reader in class but the other kids are aware that that kid shouldn't be in their class in the first place. Kids are much cannier than we give them credit for. They're not fooled by this kind of gaming of the system.

Huh. I've never heard such a comment from either of my kids. And if I did, I would talk to them about it.

NP. Don't you remember thinking this when you were a kid about the oldest kids? I do.

My kid said something like this to me recently and I didn't know what to say because I know red shirting is more common now and I don't think it's appropriate. So I said something like "I'm not sure why so and so is older. It's none of our business anyway."

But the truth is, a 10 year should be doing more advanced reading than an 8 year old. That is simply reality. You won't be able to convince kids otherwise no matter what you say.

Right. They're children, not idiots. Especially the kids who have siblings, they will know how their reading material compares to older or younger siblings. It's pretty inevitable that they will look at the older kids (older by a year or two) in their class reading the same thing they are reading or doing the same level math as they are doing as the dumb ones.

[Anonymous]

I just don't understand all the consternation. SOMEONE has to be the youngest. It's just how it works. There has to be a cutoff. People are ignoring the cut off so the problem just gets worse and worse.

Send your kids after they turn 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just don't understand all the consternation. SOMEONE has to be the youngest. It's just how it works. There has to be a cutoff. People are ignoring the cut off so the problem just gets worse and worse.

Send your kids after they turn 5.

Agree!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don't get about this as a phenomenon is that the kids eventually figure it out and they start to think of the oldest kids in class as the "dumb" ones because even an 8 year old knows that a 10 year old should be doing high level work.

So yeah your 10 year old might be the best reader in class but the other kids are aware that that kid shouldn't be in their class in the first place. Kids are much cannier than we give them credit for. They're not fooled by this kind of gaming of the system.

Huh. I've never heard such a comment from either of my kids. And if I did, I would talk to them about it.

NP. Don't you remember thinking this when you were a kid about the oldest kids? I do.

My kid said something like this to me recently and I didn't know what to say because I know red shirting is more common now and I don't think it's appropriate. So I said something like "I'm not sure why so and so is older. It's none of our business anyway."

But the truth is, a 10 year should be doing more advanced reading than an 8 year old. That is simply reality. You won't be able to convince kids otherwise no matter what you say.

Right. They're children, not idiots. Especially the kids who have siblings, they will know how their reading material compares to older or younger siblings. It's pretty inevitable that they will look at the older kids (older by a year or two) in their class reading the same thing they are reading or doing the same level math as they are doing as the dumb ones.

+ 1

I agree with this. It's a risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don't get about this as a phenomenon is that the kids eventually figure it out and they start to think of the oldest kids in class as the "dumb" ones because even an 8 year old knows that a 10 year old should be doing high level work.

So yeah your 10 year old might be the best reader in class but the other kids are aware that that kid shouldn't be in their class in the first place. Kids are much cannier than we give them credit for. They're not fooled by this kind of gaming of the system.

Huh. I've never heard such a comment from either of my kids. And if I did, I would talk to them about it.

I would be interested to know what you say. I don't know what to say, especially since I have a summer bday one who I sent on time. Mine has said just out of curiosity - "so and so in my grade is one year older than me and even older than X who is one grade ahead of us!"

I'm the PP you're responding to. I would say, "Yup, different families do things differently."

And to the other PP -- no, I don't remember thinking that the older kids in the class were dumber than the younger kids. To the extent that I thought about people's ages at all, it was only because they would point out that they were already [whatever], while I was still only [whatever minus 1, or sometimes even whatever minus 2], because I was always the youngest kid in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
The thing I don't get about this as a phenomenon is that the kids eventually figure it out and they start to think of the oldest kids in class as the "dumb" ones because even an 8 year old knows that a 10 year old should be doing high level work.

So yeah your 10 year old might be the best reader in class but the other kids are aware that that kid shouldn't be in their class in the first place. Kids are much cannier than we give them credit for. They're not fooled by this kind of gaming of the system.


Huh. I've never heard such a comment from either of my kids. And if I did, I would talk to them about it.


NP. Don't you remember thinking this when you were a kid about the oldest kids? I do.

My kid said something like this to me recently and I didn't know what to say because I know red shirting is more common now and I don't think it's appropriate. So I said something like "I'm not sure why so and so is older. It's none of our business anyway."

But the truth is, a 10 year should be doing more advanced reading than an 8 year old. That is simply reality. You won't be able to convince kids otherwise no matter what you say.


Right. They're children, not idiots. Especially the kids who have siblings, they will know how their reading material compares to older or younger siblings. It's pretty inevitable that they will look at the older kids (older by a year or two) in their class reading the same thing they are reading or doing the same level math as they are doing as the dumb ones.

A greater negative, among peers, being the dumb kid who got held back.
And the kid knows this, "why can't I go to school with the rest of my friends?"
The kid grows up with the feeling the parents have no faith in him

Someone has to be the youngest, the striver. I would rather my kid know his parents had confidence in him that he can cope.

[Anonymous]

A greater negative, among peers, being the dumb kid who got held back.
And the kid knows this, "why can't I go to school with the rest of my friends?"
The kid grows up with the feeling the parents have no faith in him

Someone has to be the youngest, the striver. I would rather my kid know his parents had confidence in him that he can cope.

Most kids who are redshirted do go to school with the rest of their friends. That's because they fit in better. Most people don't redshirt their kids if they are ready.

[Anonymous]

DS has a mid-September bday. We moved right before he turned 5. In MoCo, he would have missed the cutoff for K by 13 days. We are in NOVA and he made the cutoff by 17 days. I honestly couldn't imagine him in preschool another year. He would have likely wreaked havoc because preschools move at a slower pace, he was done napping consistently at 2.5 (his preschool still had 2 hr napping/quiet time for 5 yr olds), and its been my experience that preschools don't deal well with older kids in their classrooms (they don't challenge them). He did ok in K, no major concerns from his teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If schools don't want parents to redshirt, they need to tone down the early elementary years. Otherwise, we will continue to have kids who turn 7 in kindergarten.

+1

Kindergarten needs to be developmentally appropriate for five year olds.

And 4 year olds of the cut off is going to include them (and it does in at least 16 states and D.C.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don't get about this as a phenomenon is that the kids eventually figure it out and they start to think of the oldest kids in class as the "dumb" ones because even an 8 year old knows that a 10 year old should be doing high level work.

So yeah your 10 year old might be the best reader in class but the other kids are aware that that kid shouldn't be in their class in the first place. Kids are much cannier than we give them credit for. They're not fooled by this kind of gaming of the system.

Huh. I've never heard such a comment from either of my kids. And if I did, I would talk to them about it.

NP. Don't you remember thinking this when you were a kid about the oldest kids? I do.

My kid said something like this to me recently and I didn't know what to say because I know red shirting is more common now and I don't think it's appropriate. So I said something like "I'm not sure why so and so is older. It's none of our business anyway."

But the truth is, a 10 year should be doing more advanced reading than an 8 year old. That is simply reality. You won't be able to convince kids otherwise no matter what you say.

I know of a summer birthday girl who struggles in school and the parents/teaches are ALWAYs reminding her that she's the youngest. I think she hates that she is the youngest and just wants to be on par with her peers. We redshirted my late September kid because the pressure cooker of kindergarten is just not developmentally appropriate for a 4 year old/ young 5 ( won't be 5.5 until late march). There is nothing wrong with him, but something wrong with the school system and when he asks, I will say this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don't get about this as a phenomenon is that the kids eventually figure it out and they start to think of the oldest kids in class as the "dumb" ones because even an 8 year old knows that a 10 year old should be doing high level work.

So yeah your 10 year old might be the best reader in class but the other kids are aware that that kid shouldn't be in their class in the first place. Kids are much cannier than we give them credit for. They're not fooled by this kind of gaming of the system.

Huh. I've never heard such a comment from either of my kids. And if I did, I would talk to them about it.

NP. Don't you remember thinking this when you were a kid about the oldest kids? I do.

My kid said something like this to me recently and I didn't know what to say because I know red shirting is more common now and I don't think it's appropriate. So I said something like "I'm not sure why so and so is older. It's none of our business anyway."

But the truth is, a 10 year should be doing more advanced reading than an 8 year old. That is simply reality. You won't be able to convince kids otherwise no matter what you say.

I know of a summer birthday girl who struggles in school and the parents/teaches are ALWAYs reminding her that she's the youngest. I think she hates that she is the youngest and just wants to be on par with her peers. We redshirted my late September kid because the pressure cooker of kindergarten is just not developmentally appropriate for a 4 year old/ young 5 ( won't be 5.5 until late march). There is nothing wrong with him, but something wrong with the school system and when he asks, I will say this.

This is so unfair that girls need to deal with this when moms of big dumb boys try to give their sons an advantage. When my tiny summer daughter is 11 or 12 will not want those older, big galoots in the same class as her, being their pre-teen gross selves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don't get about this as a phenomenon is that the kids eventually figure it out and they start to think of the oldest kids in class as the "dumb" ones because even an 8 year old knows that a 10 year old should be doing high level work.

So yeah your 10 year old might be the best reader in class but the other kids are aware that that kid shouldn't be in their class in the first place. Kids are much cannier than we give them credit for. They're not fooled by this kind of gaming of the system.

Huh. I've never heard such a comment from either of my kids. And if I did, I would talk to them about it.

NP. Don't you remember thinking this when you were a kid about the oldest kids? I do.

My kid said something like this to me recently and I didn't know what to say because I know red shirting is more common now and I don't think it's appropriate. So I said something like "I'm not sure why so and so is older. It's none of our business anyway."

But the truth is, a 10 year should be doing more advanced reading than an 8 year old. That is simply reality. You won't be able to convince kids otherwise no matter what you say.

I know of a summer birthday girl who struggles in school and the parents/teaches are ALWAYs reminding her that she's the youngest. I think she hates that she is the youngest and just wants to be on par with her peers. We redshirted my late September kid because the pressure cooker of kindergarten is just not developmentally appropriate for a 4 year old/ young 5 ( won't be 5.5 until late march). There is nothing wrong with him, but something wrong with the school system and when he asks, I will say this.

This is so unfair that girls need to deal with this when moms of big dumb boys try to give their sons an advantage. When my tiny summer daughter is 11 or 12 will not want those older, big galoots in the same class as her, being their pre-teen gross selves.

Too bad!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

JEB Stuart High School was named in 1958. Also in 1958 in Virginia - "massive resistance". Was that a coincidence?

It was named because he had a camp at the location of the school. Is that so hard to understand?

Schools across the south have been named for famous people for years. It was not rare. It may have been based on romanticism, but the South revered these people. Gone with the Wind, etc.
Same as the Scots revering their ancestors.

Just because someone yells "massive resistance" does not mean that was the motive.

Well, the white people in the South did. Particularly around the times that the black people in the South were vocal about civil rights. Purely coincidence, of course.

No these people were revered by southerners consistently since the end of the Civil War.

I can see that. The racist love their dead racist leaders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cutoffs should be hard and fast, with the possible exception of major disabilities.

I disagree. The current system provides flexibility to accommodate different children.

[Anonymous]

How is K not developmentally appropriate? It is school, where they are supposed to be learning. It is not preschool and playtime.