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Redshirting in Kindergarten...thoughts?
22 March 2012
I know this is a hot topic right now, and this is a conversation that I am constantly having with parents and peers. It is the topic of holding a child back from entering Kindergarten so that child will have an advantage of being older when he/she starts. What are your thoughts? This is a video clip that my friend showed me from 60 Minutes on "Redshirting" kids from entering kindergarten.
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Our librarian at school watched this 60 minutes and was telling me about it. That was teh first time I'd heard red shirtting used in kindergarten. I've encouraged friends whose boys have august birthdays to wait before starting them in kindergarten. Not so they have an advantage but so they will be successful. A lot of times those boys are just not mature enough yet. Most kids are going to be more succesful starting at 5 or 6 rather than 4. It's interesting that we can take anything and make it negative.
ReplyDeleteI watched that episode of 60 minutes. It was very interesting. I think the most interesting point was that the advantage of being older carried through high school. The older students scores higher on SAT or ACT tests. If I had a child with a summer birthday, I would wait to send them. I realize that there are exceptions, I have had students with September birthdays be very successful. I also think at times parents are being too extreme. I had a student who had a February birthday who didn't come to kindergarten until he was 6 1/2. Ultimately, I think it should be that parents decision. They should be allowed to make the best choice for their child.
ReplyDeleteI am struggling with this right now! My oldest daughter had a June bday, started and did great....my son will turn 5 this June...I just DON"T KNOW if I should send him. I just don't know what to do =(
ReplyDeleteJennifer
First Grade Blue SKies
I've always encouraged parents of summer babies to wait a year, especially boys. They may be ok academically, but espcially now that kindergarten has so much going on, it's hard for those kids maturity wise. Plus, it never hurts to keep them your baby for one more year!
ReplyDeleteVickie
I don't know how I feel about this. What if you start kindergarten as the oldest kid, because your parents made you wait a year, and then you fail a grade later on. Then when you will be driving by the time you are a freshman... which will do 1 of 2 things. It will either make you the most popular freshman or it will make people think that you are (I can't think of a better word- sorry) dumb. I know in high school we had a kid who was older and everybody made fun of him.
ReplyDeleteMy son is a sophomore in high school this year and he has a summer birthday. Overall it was a good decision for us to have him start kindergarten when he was 5. He keeps up in school, sports and socially seems more mature than some of his peers. Parents know their child best however I feel there is a lot of pressure right now to have younger kids wait. Someone in the class will always be the youngest though. Tough decisions for parents these days. =(
ReplyDeleteI think it's important that parents retain the right to make the final call. Don't forget that the public schools receive money for each child that enters school, so when a parent holds a child back, it costs the school money. To prevent this a lot of districts have tried enforcing a rule that doesn't give parents the choice, which is absolutely wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt should definitely be the parents choice. Most of the time, when waiting a year, it pays off. I can easily see, in the first graders I have, the ones who are older. They are more mature and ready for the workload.
ReplyDeletewww.123teachwithme.com
I think it all depends on the child. My mom redshirted me b/c I was just too shy- I literally wouldn't talk to anyone! (The same goes with my best friend ironically!) So I went through school with my irish twin (we are 11 months apart) in the same grade and we loved it! But every child is different. If the kids is mature enough and has a pre-k background or a lot of help at home... then sure- send them on. But I can tell you that so many of my kids were NOT ready b/c they had NO pre-k or help from home. It's sad.
ReplyDeleteI have the OPPOSITE problem. I teach at a charter school and 3/4 of my class this year are late summer birthdays! I think some parents are bringing their very young K's and 1's to our charter school because they are not as developmentally ready as their peers! Did I mention that they are all boys!!!!! I only have 4 girls in my class.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, our cut off date for K is Sept. 1st for most public schools around here and my daughter's birthday is Sept. 2nd. I didn't start her early and she ended up skipping 3rd grade.
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Pamela
First Class Teacher
Wow, that was an interesting video, thank you so much for sharing it! I have 5 children and 2 with summer birthdays. I sent my daughter (she is now 15) and I held back my son (he is 10). My daughter does well in school and is #26 in her high school class but I have always questioned my choice and regretted not just waiting. She was shy when she was younger and school in the early years was often hard for her. We see the sports advantage right now with our son even at 10, he is a top player and other coaches are always trying to "steal" him. He gets a lot of extra coaching attention (in a good way) because they see great potential in him and he is a top player.
ReplyDeleteWhere I work we often encourage parents to wait because academically our school is challenging. Many times it is the younger children that are retained in K or 1st. Statistically I bet if you checked the birthdays of retention students the majority would be younger learners.
I think as a parent if you have any hint of doubt you should definitely wait. In the long run I don't see any disadvantages to waiting an extra year.
Simply put...is the child ready for all aspects of "formal" school - academic AND social? In our neighborhood, too often parents send their "young 5's" to Kindergarten because it's free daycare. Many of them know that their child will end up repeating, but look upon it as their child's "preschool" year that they didn't have to pay for.
ReplyDelete