Reply to Girl with August Birthday - when to start school

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Girl with August Birthday - when to start school"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote]MCPS can't please everyone. For those that think that "formal" education should wait until 7 (as in Finland), K and 1st in MCPS are way too structured, not enough fun, etc. Others believe a strict academic environment is appropriate from a young age. For them MCPS is not teaching enough content. [/quote]

Oddly, MCPS is highly structured yet covers very little content. There isn;t much fun in K and 1st grade but there also isn't any academic learning going on unless your child never went to preschool, doesn't know her letters, can't count, and is just learning shapes.

There is no reason whatsoever to red shirt for academic reasons. There are reasons to red shirt because the day is so structured and the kids are expected to sit still. MCPS teachers want you to red shirt so your kid behaves while she is bored. The class sizes are large and recess is a bit of a zoo.

The social reasons for red shirting are legitimate. MCPS does very little to help kids navigate social situations and girl bullying is common. Its harder on younger girls who are less socially mature. The flip side is that sometimes the red shirted girls end up being the bossy, bully in the group and have their own issues because they are so much older.

For boys, its more of an athletic issue. After school sports are a big part of the social life for many kids. The younger boys can have a harder time doing well on the team. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics