You clearly didn't read this study that was posted earlier in this thread. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/18...do-better-even-through-college |
That's not what this study says. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/18...do-better-even-through-college |
You sound like a millennial. Most people on here went to school in the 20th century, when taking a gap year was unheard of. |
Does a gap year mean I get a clean slate and can retake high school classes or SATs? Because if I wasn't mature in high school because I graduated at 17 not sure what waiting another year will do for me when I want to apply to a university with my subpar grades. What is the upside of a gap year for someone like this? Seems like it just prolongs the inevitable. I'd rather have the extra year of maturity before high school, not after, when the damage is done. Seems obvious. |
Care to back this up with facts? I'm sure it makes you feel good to say, but it's not true. |
This is just so black and white that it can't possibly be correct. I have a kid born within days of the cutoff. In her current grade, she would have been greenshirted in Maryland, but went on time in Virginia. If we'd lived on the other side of the border and we'd followed the Maryland cutoff, she would have gone on time in Maryland and been redshirted in Virginia. Which one is the "correct" grade? So far she's at the top of her grade academically, even as the youngest. But she finds it emotionally hard. She really wants to play more, have less seat time, and she struggles with some of the executive functioning expectations that come with being in the higher grade. She also finds it socially hard to be the youngest. It's hard to keep up when the majority of kids are 10-15 months older. I have no doubt that she'd have had less stress in the lower grade. |
A gap year doesn't increase maturity and if you aren't mature enough to go to college then you don't go. If you have subpar grades, you go to a college that will take you with those grades. However, the discussion is about holding back 5 year olds so you cannot predict the future. If your child struggles in school, help them or get a tutor. If your child is struggling in another area, help them. Adding a year isn't helpful if they have not been taught the skills they need all along. College is not childhood. You are an adult at 18 regardless of if you are in high school, college or no school. No, our parents did not coddle us. You grow up, you go to college, you work summers to help pay expenses and then you get a job and move on with your life. Babying your kid is why these kids aren't able to grow up and take care of themselves. |
You're right, you can't predict the future. And maybe everything will work out sending a 4 or just turned 5 off to kindergarten, or maybe it turns out they weren't ready. And you won't know it was a mistake for a few years. But, if my preschool teachers are recommending waiting a year, guess what, I'm going to do that because better safe than sorry. I see no drawbacks to waiting and potential downside to going too soon. Not sure why a gap year keeps getting proposed as if it changes anything. And it's not the redshirted kids who can't take of themselves. Why ever would you think that? Redshirted kids are associated with higher SES backgrounds, the exact type of kids most likely to graduate and succeed, at any age. Are you thinking of another group of kids? |
+1 I don't a single redshirted kid who dropped out of college or took longer than 4 years to graduate. |
Oh and you must know *every* redshirted kid there is. Who even knows that sort of thing?? Except maybe... other parents who redshirted their own kids. Everyone here is justifying and rationalizing their choice. The best and only answer is - 'I am their parent and did what I thought was best for my kid' and leave it at that. |
Meh it's the same as those who keep saying they know every redshirted kid is dumb and babied for life. But at least we agree on 'MYOB". |
|
So Much ridiculous speculating on here. Look one got an October kid and a September kid. The September kid was redshirted. He’s literally a couple weeks older than plenty of on time kids in his grade. He’s right on track with all the same abilities as his sister who fell on the other side of the cut off. It’s absurd to say someone who didn’t know his birthday would be able to identify him as redshirted. He’s of average height for his grade and fits right in with a the boys maturity wise and academics wise. It’s just the right place for him and that was obvious in preschool where he was still working on a lot of kinder readiness skills when he was 4.
I can count on one finger the times in all my three kids’ classes the times we’ve encountered a redshirted kid who seemed too big and old for his grade. I don’t think he was necessarily brighter than other kids but just huge and dominate at sports. But it was literally once. Most of us who wait with our late summer kids truly know it’s the right timing for our kid to develop and thrive. Also we’ve known one green shirted kid, and while he was a wonderful boy and he and my son got along great, in general he was struggling a lot socially in the grade. Really the right thing is to act based on your own kids’ developmental needs and readiness and not an score about sports, boredom, etc. not fair to the kid to make decisions for them based on adult anxieties. Finally on sports- not sure this benefits kids in the way anti redshirters believe. Many sports place kids by birth year, or grade so it’s of no benefit to be old for your grade. Rally this is Most sports we know ( soccer- birth year, swimming, must move up according to your birthdate, etc). For things like gymnastics and baseball, kids move up by ability / achievement. It doesn’t matter what grade or age you are. |
|
My newly turned 6 year old (August 2015) is going to 1st Grade, and so are his two cousins July 2014 (redshirted) and October 2014 (missed cutoff). They're all about the same size and same level for reading and math.
My kid knows he's the youngest in his class, but he's doing well in school and is social skills are good. I think he would have been at a disadvantage doing another year of preschool or Kindergarten. All this to say, each kid is different and you can't go by statistics for what's best for your individual child. |
First of all, I was asking about kids born between October and December. A kid with an August birthday is pretty close to the middle of the pack, albeit still on the young side. Secondly, as well as he's doing, you do realize that he'd be doing even better had he been redshirted. A kid with a January birthday who did poorly would've done even worse had they started a year earlier. A kid with a December birthday who excelled would've done even better had they started a year later. Any individual would do better starting later than earlier. |
I've watched these threads for years, and I've always wondered just who exactly these anti-redshirters are. They exist in an imaginary reality, they can't do basic math, they can't read statistics or studies, they are viciously mean, wildly socially awkward, and with clearly strained and challenged family relationships. And then I realized: they are exactly what they accuse redshirted children (children!) of being. They are like much of Qanon, actually fighting the demons in the mirror. It's sad. They deserve compassion. |