Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one other than other red-shirters believes your reasons. We all know you are giving your child an advantage by ploppping them ahead of the line. At least own it.

Well clearly not all, as a number of anti-reds hirters are claiming it actually disadvantages the redshirted child.

The anti-red-shirter response here is: red-shirters BELIEVE that they are giving their child an advantage (which is evil of the red-shirters) but actually they're not (come-uppance for the redshirters!) except maybe they are (reason why it is an anti-red-shirter's business at what age somebody else's child starts K).

It's all over the place, logically, but it covers all the bases emotionally, for the anti-red-shirters.

Hah! Too funny yet so accurate. I’m on another forum which is EXTREMELY anti-redshirting and I just want to post this in response to them.

I would not spend a lot of time on a forum that is "EXTREMELY" anti-redshirting because I would be worried about their judgment in other matters!

I red-shirted my son, and so far it's been good. He is very small, and had really bad behavior when he was 4. We put him into Catholic school Kindergarten first, with the idea that it was a trial for him - if he behaved, he would stay, and if not, we'd move him to public school. Red shirting him was the right decision, he is well adjusted and confident.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one other than other red-shirters believes your reasons. We all know you are giving your child an advantage by ploppping them ahead of the line. At least own it.

Well clearly not all, as a number of anti-reds hirters are claiming it actually disadvantages the redshirted child.

The anti-red-shirter response here is: red-shirters BELIEVE that they are giving their child an advantage (which is evil of the red-shirters) but actually they're not (come-uppance for the redshirters!) except maybe they are (reason why it is an anti-red-shirter's business at what age somebody else's child starts K).

It's all over the place, logically, but it covers all the bases emotionally, for the anti-red-shirters.

Hah! Too funny yet so accurate. I’m on another forum which is EXTREMELY anti-redshirting and I just want to post this in response to them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one other than other red-shirters believes your reasons. We all know you are giving your child an advantage by ploppping them ahead of the line. At least own it.

Well clearly not all, as a number of anti-reds hirters are claiming it actually disadvantages the redshirted child.

The anti-red-shirter response here is: red-shirters BELIEVE that they are giving their child an advantage (which is evil of the red-shirters) but actually they're not (come-uppance for the redshirters!) except maybe they are (reason why it is an anti-red-shirter's business at what age somebody else's child starts K).

It's all over the place, logically, but it covers all the bases emotionally, for the anti-red-shirters.

+1 - save this summation for the next red-shirting thread.

Logic is not a core competency of the anti-redshirt contingent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one other than other red-shirters believes your reasons. We all know you are giving your child an advantage by ploppping them ahead of the line. At least own it.

Well clearly not all, as a number of anti-reds hirters are claiming it actually disadvantages the redshirted child.

The anti-red-shirter response here is: red-shirters BELIEVE that they are giving their child an advantage (which is evil of the red-shirters) but actually they're not (come-uppance for the redshirters!) except maybe they are (reason why it is an anti-red-shirter's business at what age somebody else's child starts K).

It's all over the place, logically, but it covers all the bases emotionally, for the anti-red-shirters.

Anonymous wrote:No one other than other red-shirters believes your reasons. We all know you are giving your child an advantage by ploppping them ahead of the line. At least own it.

Well clearly not all, as a number of anti-reds hirters are claiming it actually disadvantages the redshirted child.

No, not in my book!

I'm another poster who can't fathom school as a competition.

As a member of society, it seems like it behooves us all to give each child the best possible education. For some children this may mean starring K early and/or progressing faster, others may need a little more time before starting K and/or ned to move slower, or some combimation of the above. Children are unique in a multitude of dimensions and one size definitely doesn't fit all.

From a more selfish standpoint, if someone's child isn't developmentally ready for school, they're more likely to be disruptive to the class. I'd rather my child "compete" with an older child than have a younger child interfere in my child's education.

I can't understand how a child born a few days before the cutoff and redshirted is signigicantly more competitive than one born a few days after the cutoff. Do you think parents whose children are born in the fall are gaming the system to give their children an advantage?

I have a summer birthday. I was always one of the youngest in my grade. I was smart (ended up in gifted programs), but when the rest of my class was learning to read in K, I struggled with it. Despite my mom working all year with me, it didn't click until the summer after K, and I think a large part of it was developmental. While I'm naturally short, being the smallest didn't really bother me. What did bother me, is that I never really seemed to fit in. I always had a few friends, but in high school, I found my niche with a group of girls a year behind me. I just seemed to fit with them better.

There are many reasons parents might want to give their children an extra year besides them thinking their children are dumb or trying to strategize how to help their children get ahead of your children. These reasons are NONE of your business. Making the decision to redshirt is something they are probably struggling with knowing that while it may help some problems, it will certainly create others. They have a lot of factors to weigh, but competing against your child, almost certainly, isn't one of them.

Anonymous wrote:By fourth grade, when kids are becoming more independent and competitive in the classroom, and in ec’s like sports and theater tryouts, etc., the kids are tuning into the fact that some kids have the advantage of age.

Really? That's not been my experience. Occasionally I do know when a kid's birthday is, because of birthday parties, and I can't tell that there's any correlation between age and success, either in the classroom or in sports and theater try-outs. Or even height, within a grade.

Anonymous wrote:By fourth grade, when kids are becoming more independent and competitive in the classroom, and in ec’s like sports and theater tryouts, etc., the kids are tuning into the fact that some kids have the advantage of age.

I guess that's your experience - but not everyone's. My daughter is not competing in the classroom. Maybe some kids are but it sure isn't our experience...

By fourth grade, when kids are becoming more independent and competitive in the classroom, and in ec’s like sports and theater tryouts, etc., the kids are tuning into the fact that some kids have the advantage of age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This has never come up with DD or her friends -- seriously. I don't know where you guys live that everyone is so obsessed with this.

Doesn't your DD know how old her friends are? I bet if you asked her if Jane is 7 or 8, or 9 or 10, that she'd know.

DP. But why would I ask? Plus knowing how old a kid is doesn't tell you when the kid's birthday is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids are not obsessed. They are naturally curious about one another and asking a friends age - at recess, camp, sports, art - is an easy get-to-know-you question. It’s usually one of the first things my daughter would tell me when she met someone new (I met grace and she’s 8!) either because she was happy to know someone her age or because she was impressed someone older would play with her. It’s normal.

Sure and I never said the kids were obsessed - it seems like its the parents. Of course kids know each others ages - but that doesn't mean they have a running tally of who started school a year early. That is the obsessed part.

I meant late.

Anonymous wrote:The kids are not obsessed. They are naturally curious about one another and asking a friends age - at recess, camp, sports, art - is an easy get-to-know-you question. It’s usually one of the first things my daughter would tell me when she met someone new (I met grace and she’s 8!) either because she was happy to know someone her age or because she was impressed someone older would play with her. It’s normal.

Sure and I never said the kids were obsessed - it seems like its the parents. Of course kids know each others ages - but that doesn't mean they have a running tally of who started school a year early. That is the obsessed part.