Why is redshirting so common around here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think redshirting is significantly more common here as opposed to where you grew up, instead it's as opposed to when you grew up.

When we were kids, it wasn't common, now it is. Ask your friends back home what their K classes are like. [/quot

It is more common in the metro area than in other areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is redshirting so common around here? Because slowly but surely American parents are picking up on the fact that keeping young children (under age 7) in a more playful, relaxed, nurturing environment longer will benefit them in the long run much more than sending them off into academic learning before their bodies, minds and souls are really ready for it.

+1000

-10000 keep telling yourself that your child is better. My child is in an academic preschool and loves it. He's thriving and learning the necessary skills to be prepared for K. He can play and relax at home. He is in several activities and guess what... he still has plenty of time for homework, workbooks, and playing.

Wait - is he still just in preschool?
academic school + several activities + homework + workbooks

Wow!

You should read up on current research in early childhood education. Seriously.

Research seems to change every 10 years to reflect a different optimal outcome.

My K daughter is the youngest in class (Nov bday). Fortunately, we're in a school system with a Dec 31 cutoff. She would only report playing all day in PreK to the point where I wondered if she was learning anything other than social skills. Turns out, the school taught academics in a fun way. In K, she has about 20 mins of homework a day, reads well and loves it, and has two 30 min recess periods during the school day. They're learning cursive, basic arithmetic, and daily art class as well as music and dance (the latter two are actually foreign language class). I'm all for play, but I want DD to pick up more than social skills during the day.

[Anonymous]

Three spring babies and one summer baby for us. My youngest, a boy, is the one with the summer birthday but we are going to send him. I see how his older siblings are very bored in some classes, math in particular, I cannot imagine him being a solid 9 months older than them and not being bored. It is a tough decision though when the American elementary day is so long - a lot of other countries, where they go younger, have a 1/2 day program for the first two years of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has a September birthday. He will be in K for only a few weeks before he turns 6. Is that ok with you?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is common is any affluent area. The belief is that it gives boys an edge in academics, social skills and athletics. It was the same where I grew up (Lake Forest, Illinois).

+1 Beverly Hills born and raised - it was the same here in my parent's generation. My father redshirted for sports.

Just look at "Beverly Hills, 90210" - most of them were in their 30's in high school.

Lol!!

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is common is any affluent area. The belief is that it gives boys an edge in academics, social skills and athletics. It was the same where I grew up (Lake Forest, Illinois).

+1 Beverly Hills born and raised - it was the same here in my parent's generation. My father redshirted for sports.

Just look at "Beverly Hills, 90210" - most of them were in their 30's in high school.

hahaha!

OP, what school/town? I have this concern with my mid-August child. I would like to start her on time but don't want her to be the youngest by months if not a year. So annoying I even have to think about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

hahaha!

OP, what school/town? I have this concern with my mid-August child. I would like to start her on time but don't want her to be the youngest by months if not a year. So annoying I even have to think about this.

Just curious why this is so concerning (absent something specific related to your DD)? I have a late December birthday, and I was one of the youngest, maybe the youngest, in my class. I was more than a year younger than some of my classmates. I'm also really petite, so I was probably noticeably smaller than other kids when I was in elementary school.

And it just didn't matter. I did well in school, had lots of friends (my BFF had a December birthday and was a year older, actually), and played sports. I just don't think these things matter as much as we worry that they do. Every kid is going to have their own struggles in school...by trying to game systems you're just teaching them that it's okay to shy from a challenge.

FWIW, DD is January-born so we really don't have an option. I used to worry about her being bored as the oldest in her class...but now I starting to think she might not be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP while there is a lot of redshirting when you speak of your personal experiences I think you may be confusing school cutoffs with redshirting. For example in NYC the cut off was 12/31 when I was a kid and it still is. My friend's son who is two days younger than my son is already in first grade while my son is in K. That is not a redshirting issue. So while starting K at 4 in NYC and other big cities may be common it just doesn't happen here.

OP here. I was referring to the summer birthdays who started K at age 6 instead of age 5. Point taken though that the cutoff dates are different down here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is common is any affluent area. The belief is that it gives boys an edge in academics, social skills and athletics. It was the same where I grew up (Lake Forest, Illinois).

+1 Beverly Hills born and raised - it was the same here in my parent's generation. My father redshirted for sports.

Just look at "Beverly Hills, 90210" - most of them were in their 30's in high school.

Lol!!

Why?

It's a joke. "Beverly Hills, 90210" was a TV show where the actors playing high schoolers were older, one was in her 30's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give your child every possible advantage. We're doing it.

Actually, you are taking away a year of earnings. Also a year of fertility if you have a DD.

How? She's not getting older faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give your child every possible advantage. We're doing it.

Actually, you are taking away a year of earnings. Also a year of fertility if you have a DD.

How? She's not getting older faster.

She will meet her milestones later. She will graduate from college at 23 (not 22) and probably marry a year later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
To give your child every possible advantage. We're doing it.


Actually, you are taking away a year of earnings. Also a year of fertility if you have a DD.


How? She's not getting older faster.



She will meet her milestones later. She will graduate from college at 23 (not 22) and probably marry a year later.

This is a ridiculous statement. I went to school on time and ended up doing a PHD and didn't get married until I was 37 by the time I found Me right. I have friends who went to school that were younger than me and decided to get married and start families at 19. Your daughter will not lose a year of fertility, but they may chose to have kids early in life, later in life or not at all. If anything, having a more mature child in school who excel at sports and academics are less likely to get "in trouble" when it comes to boys.

You do realize that some people marry while still in college. I have many friends that did. Some of them in Med school. These females actually started their family while in residency. Age at which they started college had nothing to do with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

hahaha!

OP, what school/town? I have this concern with my mid-August child. I would like to start her on time but don't want her to be the youngest by months if not a year. So annoying I even have to think about this.

Just curious why this is so concerning (absent something specific related to your DD)? I have a late December birthday, and I was one of the youngest, maybe the youngest, in my class. I was more than a year younger than some of my classmates. I'm also really petite, so I was probably noticeably smaller than other kids when I was in elementary school.

And it just didn't matter. I did well in school, had lots of friends (my BFF had a December birthday and was a year older, actually), and played sports. I just don't think these things matter as much as we worry that they do. Every kid is going to have their own struggles in school...by trying to game systems you're just teaching them that it's okay to shy from a challenge.

FWIW, DD is January-born so we really don't have an option. I used to worry about her being bored as the oldest in her class...but now I starting to think she might not be.

Because I started at 4 (late Oct. bday; was reading chapter books), was also very petite, and had the opposite social/emotional experience as you, which had implications for most of my schooling since I lived in the same town my whole life. Confirmation bias, PP: just because this didn't happen to you personally doesn't make your experience universal. Just as my experience is not universal, but it is certainly something I'll take into account when I start DD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
To give your child every possible advantage. We're doing it.


Actually, you are taking away a year of earnings. Also a year of fertility if you have a DD.


How? She's not getting older faster.



She will meet her milestones later. She will graduate from college at 23 (not 22) and probably marry a year later.

This is a ridiculous statement. I went to school on time and ended up doing a PHD and didn't get married until I was 37 by the time I found Me right. I have friends who went to school that were younger than me and decided to get married and start families at 19. Your daughter will not lose a year of fertility, but they may chose to have kids early in life, later in life or not at all. If anything, having a more mature child in school who excel at sports and academics are less likely to get "in trouble" when it comes to boys.

You do realize that some people marry while still in college. I have many friends that did. Some of them in Med school. These females actually started their family while in residency. Age at which they started college had nothing to do with this.

Not PP but her point is clear and indisputable - if you hold a child back in K they will, of course, be 23 when they graduated from college. Should they choose a profession with a mandatory retirement age at 65, the child will absolutely have one year less of earning.

Sheesh... it always amazes me how personally some of you take a simple factual statement. Yes, of course, kids who are redshirted can go on to happy and productive lives!!!

[Anonymous]

Don't people generally graduate college at 21?? So the red-shirted kids will be 22, not 23??