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[quote=Anonymous][quote]Really? [b]There are junior varsity soccer teams for 8 year olds? And there are advanced strings classes for 9 year olds? There's regular leveling across elementary schools in America where the stronger musicians and athletes are separated out by age 8 and 9? Yeah, I didn't think so. [/b]The problem with grouping for academics at this young age is that kids' minds are so flexible and changing. And there are kids who arrive in kindergarten, but have had limited reading and vocabulary experiences. They begin to thrive once in school, but still need more schooling and experiences to really take off. If you were to test them at age 7 or 8, they might perform as strongly as their peers who came into school with a rich language experience at home.

Save the tracking for high school.[/quote]

Yes, they do track in different sports and activities at that age range, and in some younger.  Serious, competitive gymnastics starts around age 6.  The most promising go into a very different type of program than kids like mine who are at a very different level.  Travel soccer?  Age 9.  Serious music vs my 1 class/week strings student?  Hours of training each week by this age.  Serious differentiation in dance?  In ballet, it starts at age 8, competitive dance around 7-9.  Swimming?  The kids on the swim team in my neighborhood are doing daily practicies around ages 6-7, where my kid who loves swimming but is not at an advanced level either goes once a week for 50 minutes, or goes just for fun.

If you look at all kids activities across the board, most of the serious differentiation occurs either a little before or just after 3rd grade.

I will speak to dance because that is the activity I know the most about.  Serious differentiation at that age for the few kids who are ready can create wonderful results, and allow those kids to take off at a pace and level that best suits their ability and learning style.  But guess what?  Many other kids taking the slow and steady route begin to catch up, and sometimes surpass the early bloomers right around high school.  They were not damaged in the least by other kids having the opportunity at an earlier age to learn at the speed and level that best aligned with their ability.  Letting kids move at the right speed, at all ends of the spectrum, truly is the best way to achieve success.  Different paths might lead to the same outcome, and that is okay.[/quote]

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