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Speak up (to your school) if you are worried about all the redshirting
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Anonymous
| So they get shut out early. That is life and a good lesson for them to learn. They can still do the sport outside of school, take clinics etc. Maybe they can try something else. It is so tiresome to listen to parents complain about their child not getting to do a certain sport because other kids beat them out of a spot, gets more playing time etc. LIFE IS NOT FAIR and too many parents feed into the attitude that everything should be perfect for their kid. They still have tryouts in HS and maybe the opportunity will come. Maybe not. |
Anonymous
| I don't understand how your april boy can be 18 months younger than some. i get the 12 months younger - that's a april-may boy who redshirted and august boy who redshirted would be 8 months older, but isn't that the extent of it? someone who is 18 months older would have to be November of the previous year - so if your kid turns 7 in April of first grade, that kid would turn eight in November (the begining) of first grade to be 18 months older. no one is doing that are they? |
Anonymous
| I am still waiting for the name of the schools with the 7 yr olds in Kindergarten..... |
Anonymous
| well, if a child has a late may or early june birthday and is red-shirted he will be 7 for a few weeks of k - but then a bunch of classmates would turn 7 in september anyway, so it's only a few months difference from the fall kids. either way, a summer birthday child will just be either one of the very oldest or one of the very youngest. |
Anonymous
This makes no sense. I don't know of schools that have teams with limited squads until at least 6th grade, and more commonly 7th grade. By that point the differences due to chronological age are far outweighed by the differences due to experience, talent, practice, and timing of puberty. My DS plays on a travel soccer team (so we know the precise birthdate of every boy, and they are within a strict 12-month range). By U13 (7th grade), the boys ranged from well-into-puberty to not-even-close, with the tallest boy more than 12 inches taller than the shortest boy, but there was no correlation to birthday. |
Anonymous
| Not the April birthday PP, but although its not 18 months with an April birthday, the 18 month spread can happen. If a parent redshirts a March birthday (it is happening) and you send your September birthday who barely makes the cut-off "on time," that is an 18 month difference. In the last couple of years, I have heard parents considering holding back their March to May birthday sons for the perceived age advantage alone, where it used to seem that it was only considered for summer birthdays. It will be interesting to see if the trend continues and whether private school policy changes and how. I'm also a bit intrigued by my observance (admittedly only anecdotal) that parents in the public schools in our area seem to consider holding back August and September boys based on individual assessments as to maturity, etc. but generally don't consider holding back boys with earlier birthdays or girls at all unless there is a very specific developmental reason. In fact, "giving the gift of time" or holding back to avoid being the youngest (where the child is within typical developmental range for his/her age) is frowned upon and almost scoffed at as being an "over the top," uptight approach to parenting. We have had children in both private and public and have found the attitudes and practice to be completely different in our area. |
Anonymous
| Where is the March redshirting happening? Can you please name some of the schools? |
Anonymous
Thank you - This is very interesting. Our son plays U11 travel soccer, has an April birthday and is small for his age. He is one of the youngest at his private school because almost all April - September birthday boys waited until age six to start kindergarten. I am so surprised to hear that the height difference does not seem to correlate to birthday? I guess that is encouraging in some respect for my son -- and also that your view is that the chronological age differences start to be outweighted by other factors. We are bracing for the fact that our son likely will look like a "little boy" next to "men" in the next couple of years. |
Anonymous
Yup. This is exactly my fear -- and this is a terribly unfair result. My April Birthday boy is only five, but there is a redshirted kid in his class (april bday) who turned six before my son even turned five. This is pre-k. The parents have told others that they did it cause he was small, but he caught up this year and is more than a head taller than all of the kids -- even my son who is the 95th percentile for height. Look, i don't think anyone is arguing that bdays right before the cut-off matter. It's when June, May and now APRIL bdays are being held that we have to figure out a way to put a stop to it. |
Anonymous
I had twin boys who turned 7 at the end of Kindergatern (May) at Little Langley, and they were not the only ones. But that was several years ago. I think the admin has changed, and someone said on another thread that they are not as militant about redshirting as they were in our day. |
Anonymous
You're welcome. It's true, once you get into early adolescence, the range of when boys start puberty/grow/put on muscle is huge. Add to that factors of talent, of who has worked hard to develop skills, who has experience, etc., and age really is not an automatic advantage. My son's teammates are now 15, and the range still is from one player who clearly is all the way through puberty to a player who is just starting to grow. For a boy on the small side, or who looks like puberty will be late, the best advice is to learn to use it to your advantage athletically. I've seen small, speedy boys run right fast the bigger, more muscular players! |
Anonymous
|
Teacher here...
As I said, parents shouldn't just take the advice of teachers/admin blindly. Determine the bottom line. If a school articulates a developmentally or educationally based reason for a decision, hear them out. If it's clear something else is at play (which it OFTEN is, no denying that), call them on it. Parents are integral to the process. But I'm getting frustrated as I see people here saying, "Well, let me tell you about development," and essentially discounting my opinion and the years of study and experience that have gone into the formation of it. Do I know everything? Obviously not. But I have 9 years experience plus a BA and MA in early childhood education; I do know a thing or two. So when people on here, or in my classrooms, try to tell me that red shirting isn't a big deal and has no impact and that teachers should be able to easily differentiate over 16+ months in a non-multi-age grouping, I have to call BS. My practical and theoretical experience has told me exactly the opposite. If a parent comes to me and thinks his/her child is not ready for Kindergarten, I ask them why. If they're simply concerned about struggling, I inform them that struggles are part of the process and that the teachers in K are trained and equipped to support those struggles. I also inform them that redshirting is likely to lead to greater struggles. If the concern about struggles is related to a legitimate learning, language, social/emotional, or other type of issue, than I work with them to explore supports that are needed, either in the current K classroom or in a place better equipped to support those needs. One example, anecdotal, I realize, but it offers some reality: I had a child in my Pre-K group this year who entered at 5.4. He was flagged as potential for LD but the thought process was give him an extra year of Pre-K and he'll "grow out of it". Well, a year later and he hasn't "grown out of it" because you can't. He is now going to the right school that is suited to serve him, which is great. But now he'll be 6.4 at the start of K and his parents spent an extra year's tuition hoping time would fix a diagnosable special need. |
Anonymous
| I'm a Lowell parent and I know the Junior K program, which I guess is the Pre-K, has several children who are now 6. Half the class, I think, started the year at 5 and all of them will go to K. I don't even think they accept young 5's into K anymore. And this is because of red-shirted kids in the program who required more, the class got pushed ahead, and now the young 5's can't keep up. |
Anonymous
| People have asked about schools with 7 year olds in K. GDS has 6 year olds in PK. Turned 6 in April. |
Anonymous
| What would people consider a "young 5?" My son will be 5.4 yrs old when K starts at the end of August. I wouldn't consider him a "young 5" since he turned 5 in April. My neighbor's son started K at 5 years and a few weeks and now years later, she wished she had held him back. He is having social problems b/c he is immature and the kids are annoyed by him. |