Re: study of red****rting (late entrance to kndergarten)

On Jul 18, 10:55=A0pm, "toypup" <toy...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Nikki" <skavan...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:z-Cdnc7dmMLOTx3VnZ2dnUVZ_qTinZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > The problem we are also dealing with is that when it becomes soooo
comm=
on
> > the typical age really is a young age. =A0My kid was born in April so
n=
early
> > 5.5yo when he started kindy. =A0He was the youngest boy in the class.
=
=A0He
> > repeated a grade and he is the oldest of course but there are a few in
> > there with him.
>
> So true. =A0DS is a June birthday against a December 2 cutoff and he was
=
one
> of only two boys in class not red****rted. =A0That made him among the
youn=
gest
> of the class and the second youngest boy.
>
> The oldest boy was a mid-December birthday who was red****rted. =A0He is
b=
right
> (though not as bright as it would first appear considering his age),
read=
ing
> at the third grade level when kindergarten started.

I just want to make sure that I'm following you.  The school has a
December 2 cutoff, so the mid-December kid would have missed the
cutoff and been one of the oldest in his class inherently.  Then the
parents held him back a year, so that he'd be nearly 2 years older
than kids who just made the cutoff?

SNIP

> Honestly, my opinion is that there is a test for skipping grades, make a
> test for red****rting. =A0There are kids who need it, but only kids who
ne=
ed it
> should be red****rted. =A0My guess is some of these competitive parents
(n=
ot
> all are competitive, but it can get that ways some places) wouldn't
=A0wa=
nt
> their kid to be officially declared not ready for school by anyone but
> themselves and will stop with the red****rting already.

And what would that testing show?  Would it show that a child is
socially awkaward or backwards, and that his/her true peers are kids a
year younger?  Would the test include an OT screen to make sure that
the kid is sufficiently physically developed to be able to do things
like writing?  Screening for ability to focus and pay attention for
long periods required by schools?

I was always at the top of my class academically, but there is no
question whatsoever in my mind that my childhood would have been much
better had I been red****rted (which my parents requested and the
school refused).  I was born on the cut-off day, and never
particularly mature even for my age.  My true peers were at least a
year younger than me.  With the kids in my grade, I was miserable.  I
vividly remember hiding under the stairs in my house and playing with
my dolls at the same time that the kids in my grade were organizing
*make out parties*

For DS, its the opposite.  He has learning differences, but DH is
convinced he's actually just pretty much a year delayed in some
things.  OTOH, he's big for his age, and extremely popular and well-
adjusted socially.  We decided not to hold him back.  Its been a good
decision (so far), as the delay seems to be disipating, he's an A/B
student, and happy as can be.

Also remember that red****rting became more popular as (i) kids were
expected to do more academic things at younger ages (as kindergarten
became what first grade was when I was a kid, parents began holding
back their kids so that they would be first-grade age in
kindergarten); and (ii) schools began to demand that boys sit quietly
through long periods, at young ages, with extremely reduced recess and
gym times, things that boys often have great difficulty doing.

It may well be that there is too much red****rting.  But testing is not
the answer,

Barbara