Comments on: Redshirting: Holding kids back from kindergarten
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- Freedictionary.com defines 'retarded' as 'Occurring or developing later than desired or expected; delayed.' As a verb, 'retard' is defined as 'To cause to move or proceed slowly; delay or impede.'
By delaying your child's entry into kindergarten, you are, by definition, retarding your child.
This retardation reminds me of when I played in racquetball tournaments. Players were classified by the letters A, B, C, and D - with A being the best and D the worst. It was common for A players to enter as B's. B players would enter as C's, and so on. An A player could easily win first place in the B division. He'd then feel better about himself and his shiny trophy might impress others. It's a practice known as 'sandbagging,' and it's unethical. Do you really want to retard your child so that he can sandbag his way to undeserved accolades? - Reply to this comment
- Back in the day, the popular thing was for kids to skip a grade. That's how I ended up graduating from high school at 16. The only downside to that was I had to wait a year and take driver's ed with the juniors. Other than that, I was as smart, if not smarter, than many of the other kids in my class.
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- I think redshirting is fine for different reasons, mainly because a 5 year old should be playing outside and being a kid, not stuck in a classroom under artificial lights and forced to sit still for 6 hours. But then I guess in today's times they probably aren't playing outside, they're sitting in front of the TV or their video game systems. Not that this all matters to me anyway, I was homeschooled and am going to be homeschooling my children.
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- Why does no one, (or at least the ones that I have read) talk about the fact that we are pushing our kiddos to know more in Kindergarten? We are expecting them to sign their name and to work on writing, prereading and social skills in preschool. These are skills that used to be taught in Kindergarten 30 years ago. We expect that Johnny and Susie will go to Kindg. with these skills and others that would be considered not developmentally appropriate years ago. Its that way all through elementary school now. Algebra in 4th grade? Maybe this is why we have generations of stressed teenagers? What really does AP classes get for you anyway? They don't get college credit? You still need a college degree and will take those same classes in College? I KNOW, I know.. we all want better, more and advancement for our children. I DO TOO!~ But at what cost??? If they do not attend Kindergarten at 5 whats the BIG deal???
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- My brother once told me that he did not know what he would have done if one of his sons who was born in September had not been able to start kindergarten at the age of four. He said his son was just too smart to stay home another year. Today that son is very successful in his chosen career.
One of our sons who was born in October also showed very early signs of being quite intelligent. I asked the school if he could start kindergarten early because I could see that he was not going to function well at too low of an academic level. The answer was no, the school board had decided that a child had to be five years old on September 1, to start kindergarten that year, there would be no exceptions. It is a long story including the fact that our son did not make it into the school's gifted program probably because of redshirt children in his class filling the program. But, I understand testing on my brother's son, our son, and some other family members has revealed some very intelligent people.
Recently this very intelligent adult son moved home after years of living on his own. He is now sleeping on our couch, eating with the help of food stamps, and working very little at a minimal job. I think that from the beginning I could see that the school was not equipped to properly meet his needs and our family has paid and continues to pay a high price for that. I think that redshirting discussed in this show is just another indicator of the gross failure of our public education system to meet the needs of the children and families it theoretically serves. - Reply to this comment
- Is it called redshiting, because these are kids from GOP households who's parents want to give them a false sense of elitism over their peers...???????
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- I was always among the youngest in my class. I started Kindergarten at 4. I was 17 my entire first semester at college. And yet... I had a master's degree with a 3.7 GPA at 23. I adapted.
These are the same moms who shield their children from the natural consequences of their actions. They are the reason we can't play dodgebal. Stop coddling and empower your child to step up. You'd be suprised what s/he can do. Kids don't need everything to be easy. They don't need to always win. Hard work and tenacity will serve a child better than 278 trophies they didn't earn. - Reply to this comment
- My spouse was held back, and was valedictorian in his graduating HS class. I went early to kindergarten, still 4, and wasn't as good at my class rank, but we ended up at the same Ivy League school. As a girl, I was happy that I didn't have to deal with "female issues" in grammar school.
My middle son started kindergarten at 4 as well, slightly older than I was, and is doing fine. He is at the top of his class and testing in the highest percentile. What matters is what works for the child, not for the parent.
What I think is unfair is holding back a child so that they are bigger for sports. There is a freshman HS basketball "phenom" who is 16 years old because he was held back. It's laughable to think that they ignore the age and tout the grade. - Reply to this comment
- I was redshirted by the school I went to later.
The results were that I had to put up with a 2 time flunkie that grew up that much ahead of the others. He was a punk brat spoiled and protected by the school and church because his family was corrupt and broken. We got into fights almost every day and the school turned their eyes elsewhere.
I was the first male minority to attend this school. O how I learned to hate people there.
But the theory is sound as I went to a separate high school and advanced a year while there....too bad my parents couldn't afford my education any longer as my father became ill.
Today, I have a home, career, and work with Nobelists.
I hope this helps you. If you have children watchout for them, don't depend on school authorities, use common sense if the school stinks move the kid out. - Reply to this comment
- I have never before had any inclination to leave comments on any story - but this one is very much an exception and very close to my heart.
My son and my husband were both 9/2 babies (not planned in any way). They both started Kindergarten at 4. Both of them were the youngest and smallest students in their classes, and both of them graduated at the top of their respected classes at 17 with scores of life long, true friends.
Our son, at 3, was reading the local newspaper. He was even able to read the stories out loud with no problem, and could easily comprehend what the stories meant and could discuss them with absolutely anybody. I still giggle when recalling his teachers calling me to ask what some of the words he used meant, as his multi-syllabic speech confounded a good percentage of his teachers.
Being the smallest/youngest in his class, our son was also very involved in Martial Arts (as was his Dad). This not only taught him physical training without the idiotic competition, but also taught him to be able to take care of himself with honor. (I still giggle about him effortlessly holding down 3 huge football players, all of which are still his good friends - without leaving a single bruise or scrape on any of them - when I told my son to let the big football players up as he was going to embarrass them, at least one of them noted that he had never seen anybody be able to do that and wanted to know how.
Our son is a 24 year old, happily married Navy officer now - after serving less than two years so far.
I'm pretty sure that we did the right thing. He was ready to start school, and he did great! - Reply to this comment
