This age discrepancy due to "redshirting" is ridiculous
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Anonymous
That is not relevant. The kid could tend to play with any kid due to some random reason, like color of clothing, was he friendly, size etc One measure I heard was 'is the kid able to raise his left hand and touch his right ear so that the hand goes over the head' that measures how proportional the kid is, and gives clues to development. At a certain age they should be able to do that |
Anonymous
Actually, whether or not a child typically plays with same age children is very relevant. A child whose maturity is on track for his age will tend to play with same age children, while one who is a bit behind for his age will tend to play with younger children. Kids will tend to gravitate toward others who are at similar maturity levels, so knowing that a child typically chooses younger children to play with gives an insight into where the child is in his social and emotional development. |
Anonymous
Occasionally, yes, but we are talking about generally: most of the time. |
Anonymous
Does the kid live next door to a friend who is a year younger or a year older? Or does it just follow big brothers footsteps and play with big brothers friends younger sibling who just happens to be 10 months older? |
Anonymous
| Quit splitting hairs. Generally, a kid will gravitate to the group with which he is most comfortable. If his interests gravitate to the younger group, it likely indicates immaturity. |
Anonymous
Not always |
Anonymous
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Has anyone mentions this article, yet?
"Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/dont-delay-your-kindergartners-start.html |
Anonymous
| Very little data or research is reflected in that article. No matter, it should be the parent's decision. |
Anonymous
The difference in a Montessori school is that each child is allowed to progress deep into the areas they are interested in. There is enough attention and structure to support the individual. There is still a pecking order between 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students, with the established students helping out the youn'uns. The situation is much different in a FCPS classroom, and neither the older child, nor the PP's 4-year old (why is that child in K, I ask?) get the attention they need. Often times, the disservice is also on the redshirted child, who gets bored and in trouble. The main reason parents do this is to give their kids the edge in terms of classroom participation -- hence a better rating from their teachers in their AAP file. Once they are in AAP, guess what? The main deal with AAP is that it accelerates the curriculum, so now those redshirted kids are right where they should be, but with the better teacher and the cachet of being in an AAP program. It's a great plan, only many redshirted kids get so bored in their K-2 classrooms that those hoped-for recommendations never materialize... Would be interesting to analyze and report the age composition of children in each such group... My young Kindergartener is dwarfed by most boys in his classroom... He's a july baby, so redshirting could have been an option without him turrning 7 in K. But he was soooo ready to go! As a montessori parent, I could not simply ignore his open window for learning. |
Anonymous
This is data/research from the article: Parents who want to give their young children an academic advantage have a powerful tool: school itself. In a large-scale study at 26 Canadian elementary schools, first graders who were young for their year made considerably more progress in reading and math than kindergartners who were old for their year (but just two months younger). In another large study, the youngest fifth-graders scored a little lower than their classmates, but five points higher in verbal I.Q., on average, than fourth-graders of the same age. In other words, school makes children smarter. and as for "it should be the parent's decision" while I admit I can and should be a strong advocate for my child, I am not a trained educator, and I don't think parents always can make the most objective assessment for something like this. |
Anonymous
Well if redshirting is such a detriment to the redshirted kid, then no one other than the parent of the redshirted kid should care. So are we all agreed 
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Anonymous
| Well, I am a professional educator and I think the parent knows his/her child better than I. |
Anonymous
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Why do you care what others do? MYOB and parent your own kid. Don't worry what I or others do.
I hear and see this comment often. I understand parents love their kids and want the best for them and if it results in your kid being 18 months older that another kids, so be it. I take exception with school administartors who allow this practice becuase it does affexct other kids |
Anonymous
| I care what others do because the benefit only goes one way.....if you feel your child is not mature enough when FCPS and the state of VA says he/she should go to school, then you have the right to keep him/her home for another year. BUT if someone else's child is more mature but is born on October 5th, that parent does not have the right to send the child early to K. The end result is that the age variance for the grade gets wider and wider every year as people think it is awful to send their July, August or September child on time. I sent my September child, because he is ready. He has been class with children over one year older than him every year. I went through the hallways at his school the other day - another class had displayed a birthday bar graph. NOT ONE CHILD was born in July, August or September. Really? Is that what we are coming to? |
Anonymous
| Those parents had the right to make the decision they did. You are fine with your decision, good for you. You chose to do what you think is right for your child. |