Anonymous wrote:Because I want her to go to medical school and any advantage will help and because I was extremely young for my grade and it was terrible.

Anonymous wrote:Why OP keeps bring up redshirt? There are always some kids who are taller, stronger, or smarter than your kids, regardless age.

Anonymous wrote:My son was born in mid-November, in our district the cutoff is November 1. If I could easily ignore that I probably would, but we had to jump through a few hoops, so he was redshirted. Definitely no physical advantage - he’s always been on a smaller side for his age, probably some advantage maturity wise. But if he’d gone to school in his year, he would have definitely been one of the youngest tiniest students.

If you want your child to fit in, doesn't it make more sense to send them on time than hold back? The vast majority of kids go to school on time, so a red-shirted kid will almost always be the oddball in terms of age when they're with a group of their classmates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though he's mature and independent and was reading when he started K, he struggles a bit more at school.

Personally, I'd rather my kid do okay playing by the rules than excel by cheating.

LOL. I love how a decision that another family makes is "cheating" just because you are terrified it will give their kid an edge over your precious little Larla.

It's not cheating. The rules explicitly allow it. Make choices for your own family, and let others make theirs without having to listen to your whining about how the small percentage of slightly older kids is ruining your darling's experience.

I guess redshirting isn't cheating as long as the redshirted kid isn't allowed to enter any competitions, such as class president or valedictorian. They also shouldn't be allowed to take honors or AP classes, because if a redshirted kid is feeling bored and unchallenged, all that means is that they shouldn't have been redshirted, and that the parents and school really consider moving them to their age-appropriate grade. If redshirted kids wants to play sports, they should be forced to play in their age-appropriate grade. I don't even think redshirted kids should be allowed to apply to any top-20 colleges.

If parents who redshirt really aren't doing it for competitive reasons, then they should be fine with their child not being allowed to compete. Otherwise, they're taking away the victory from an age-appropriate classmate who truly deserved it. If an 11-year-old 5th-grader becomes class president, that means they're being rewarded for proving that they're smarter than most 10-year-olds(How much sense does that make?). A 15-year-old 9th grader taking all honor's classes is only proving that they're too advanced for 14-year-old work. If a high-school senior who should be a college freshman is named valedictorian, they've just robbed the salutatorian of some well-earned glory. If a redshirted student gets into Harvard, they've just killed a life-long dream of whoever was first on the Harvard waiting list.

But I also hate the idea of him dying on the battlefield or succumbing to peer pressure in college because he is trying to fit in.

Anonymous wrote:Our preschool teacher recommended it because our DS, whose birthday was right on the cut off, was shy. I almost cried, I was so ready for him to start kindergarten, and I asked her repeatedly as we neared the end of the school year if she still felt the same way. She did, so I signed him up for one more year of preschool.

I think he would have been fine if he had gone to school with his peers. He still had a difficult time relaxing in the beginning of each school year anyway, which was his only issue, so it didn't really help him to wait. He's not an athlete so it didn't benefit him that way, and he's also off the charts smart so I don't think he had an advantage academically either. So all in all, I really don't think it was a benefit.

I know kids who skipped a grade who are sort of left out socially as kids enter puberty. That seems worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though he's mature and independent and was reading when he started K, he struggles a bit more at school.

Personally, I'd rather my kid do okay playing by the rules than excel by cheating.

LOL. I love how a decision that another family makes is "cheating" just because you are terrified it will give their kid an edge over your precious little Larla.

It's not cheating. The rules explicitly allow it. Make choices for your own family, and let others make theirs without having to listen to your whining about how the small percentage of slightly older kids is ruining your darling's experience.

I guess redshirting isn't cheating as long as the redshirted kid isn't allowed to enter any competitions, such as class president or valedictorian. They also shouldn't be allowed to take honors or AP classes, because if a redshirted kid is feeling bored and unchallenged, all that means is that they shouldn't have been redshirted, and that the parents and school really consider moving them to their age-appropriate grade. If redshirted kids wants to play sports, they should be forced to play in their age-appropriate grade. I don't even think redshirted kids should be allowed to apply to any top-20 colleges.

If parents who redshirt really aren't doing it for competitive reasons, then they should be fine with their child not being allowed to compete. Otherwise, they're taking away the victory from an age-appropriate classmate who truly deserved it. If an 11-year-old 5th-grader becomes class president, that means they're being rewarded for proving that they're smarter than most 10-year-olds(How much sense does that make?). A 15-year-old 9th grader taking all honor's classes is only proving that they're too advanced for 14-year-old work. If a high-school senior who should be a college freshman is named valedictorian, they've just robbed the salutatorian of some well-earned glory. If a redshirted student gets into Harvard, they've just killed a life-long dream of whoever was first on the Harvard waiting list.