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Redshirting: Holding kids back from kindergarten

July 8, 2012 4:00 PM

Morley Safer reports on the rising trend of "redshirting," delaying kindergarten until children are 6 years old. Will this make these students more successful in school and life?

Redshirting: Holding kids back from kindergarten

60 Minutes OverTimeKindergarten "redshirting." What would you do?

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by the_educator July 24, 2012 6:39 PM EDT
I agree with other viewers here. This is a one sided story. I was born outside the US, in Asia. I am an October-born and was the youngest in my class, and also the smallest until I was 14. I was kept from participating in various leadership positions and sports despite my ability (which only I was aware of). I also went to an 'all-girls schools' where "older and meaner" girls were more popular than the nicer ones. Unfortunately, I also attended a school for the gifted and my EQ and IQ was fine--making me mentally and emotionally ready for my grade but size did matter and so did confidence. Like the previous person said, I remained shy for a longer time and never gained traction.
Eventually, my mom sympathized with me and helped me take a 'gap-year' in 12th. When I went to my college after that, I suddenly became the smartest, toughest, and even wisest person. My friends came to me for advice and eventually that was the profession that I would choose. I didn't feel so shy anymore and the confidence I gained helped me do well in my life. I topped my undergraduate college charts was in the top 1% of the graduating class of 400 students (not that I cared about it but it just happened), and eventually came to US on a scholarship with full merit. Graduated with a Ph.D. and research from UC Berkeley; I am an educator and am a full time independent college admission advisor. I too see the same trend and pattern among my 'younger' high school students now and feel sorry for those who are struggling to gain traction or some basic visibility among peers. It's like they don't exist (most of them tell me the same thing).
It's not the maturity or intelligence but the confidence level, and from my own experience, I know that I would have loved my high-school more had I stayed back for one year. Eventually, I loved my college and my classmates and was a good-fit, no matter where I went. The teen years are terrible for a shy kid and redshirting can do wonders for a kid who is slightly self-conscious. Had my parents not supported me with a gap year, I would have never had the opportunities that I am enjoying in my life today and would have been labeled as a 'failure' for the rest of my life.
Today my child is at an age where I will be making that decision in a couple of years. Right now he is four and in preK and I have no plans about gaming the system; so at age 5 he will be in Kindergarten. But like me, my child is petite, and shy. He speaks three languages fluently, is truly gifted, but his motor skills are on the 'slow' side. If I find that he is struggling with presenting himself to his fullest ability, I have no qualms about holding him back—--we will wait and see.
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by dnd306 July 9, 2012 8:58 AM EDT
The gains from red-shirting are mostly gone by the time the kids are seven or eight and have all developed fine motor skills and self-regulating behaviors. At that point, your red-shirted child will have to deal with potentially being outshined by children who are months or years younger. Young kids are obsessed with their age and they will notice that Johnny is in second grade but all the other eight year olds are in third grade. I find it odd that the report assumed the younger kids would be at a disadvantage long-term.
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by akauffman02 July 9, 2012 1:10 AM EDT
It makes me very sad that the only side to this coverage was to give the child an edge over everyone else. My daughter has a speech delay and a winter birthday. I have been so thankful for our extra year - not to give her an "edge", but to give her therapy a chance to catch her speech up with her peers. I have heard of many parents holding their children back so that their therapy could be utilized to catch their child's physical ability up with their cognitive. Kids do need to learn that someone is always going to be last, and we don't always win. So, to hold back for a sports edge - does frustrate me, but it is the parent's choice. We, as parents, should have the control and option to make decisions regarding our children, not the school system or the government. I just wish this story had been more well-rounded and showing more reasons for holding back.
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by ConcernedGranny July 8, 2012 8:49 PM EDT
The coverage of this issue seemed more shallow and one-sided than I usually see on 60 minutes. Some issues that needed to be included are the changes in structure to kindergarten...it is now what 1st grade used to be and many children are not ready for the emphasis on seat work and academic learning at age five. Some comparisons with Europe would have added an awareness that this country's emphasis on academics is out of step with much of the developed world. An additional problem is the stratification of pupils into reading groups in the primary years. Placement is correlated with age and has a bigger impact on depressing the performance of students in the low group than on improving the performance of those placed in the high groups. Until kindergartens return to a basic honoring of the developmental variety of young children I am fully supportive of parents deciding to keep their children back a year.
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by ConcernedGranny July 8, 2012 8:48 PM EDT
The coverage of this issue seemed more shallow and one-sided than I usually see on 60 minutes. Some issues that needed to be included are the changes in structure to kindergarten...it is now what 1st grade used to be and many children are not ready for the emphasis on seat work and academic learning at age five. Some comparisons with Europe would have added an awareness that this country's emphasis on academics is out of step with much of the developed world. An additional problem is the stratification of pupils into reading groups in the primary years. Placement is correlated with age and has a bigger impact on depressing the performance of students in the low group than on improving the performance of those placed in the high groups. Until kindergartens return to a basic honoring of the developmental variety of young children I am fully supportive of parents deciding to keep their children back a year.
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by teacherone July 8, 2012 7:59 PM EDT
I was a very shy child all through school. I was the youngest in my class. I knew most of the work .However, I never spoke up in class. I was also the oldest child in my family. I taught kindergarten for 28 years. I saw children who where the youngest in the class over and over with my personality. I came to relize that if I had gone to school the next year my life would have been very different. I think sex and birth order are also factors.
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