Comments on: Academic Redshirting

By: Machelle

Machelle — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:13:56 +0000

I am the mother of a 6 year old girl with a August 9th BD. She went to Kinder and half way through we considered T-1 but by the end of the year were given the option to go to 1st. We did 1st believing in our daughter. She has since shown to be ADD and not able to handle meds. She has made better than average grades the entire year. She is very close to her friends in 1st, due to school and dance classes they share. We have been given the option to retain her to give her time, but she is very upset at the mention of the idea. She says she will be embarrassed and cries as if it would be the end of the world in her mind. She questions her own self estem but these friends lift her up as do we, but they seem to make such a difference. IF anyone has advice please post it to me!

By: Kaycee

Kaycee — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:41:17 +0000

I have a real problem with a lot of the subjective information in this article. I was a 1st grade teacher for many years and I am also a mom of boys who have summer birthdays. I think we place a lot of pressure on the academic readiness and not enough focus on the emotional and developmental readiness of these children. The example I always would share with the parents of my young students who were struggling in either area and were clearly not in need of any special testing or diagnosis was this one. You take a child who was born on Sept. 3rd and one who was born on aug.30. The Sept. baby was walking and had completed so mmany develomental milestones before the other child could even hold his head up.

I do not believe that all children with summer birthdays should automatically be considered for an extra year, but I do believe that if there are concerns or indications that youngness is an issue that may hinder their success in the classroom it should be a positive experience to gift that child with an axtra year to grow and mature. The classroom is not the only place that it will affect them in the future.

The biggest shame in LISD was getting rid of the D-1 (Developmental first grade) The whole objective of this grade was to create an environment for children who were identified as”young” to grow and mature academically and socially before heading into the academic pressure of first grade and all the years that follow.

I thought it was interesting that it was written that these kids all tend to equalize around what…3rd grade or junior high?. In my experience, the younger students who exhibit young tendencies tend to be the followers rather than the leaders and seem to show lower self esteem. This scares me when we are looking at these kids in high school and facing peer pressure and enironmental influences.

I am a huge fan of waiting an extra year if there is a concern about maturity despite a child’s academic aptitude. My oldest son, for example , has a May b’day and has always been exceptionally bright. We asked for the D-1 testing for him in Kinder. and his K teacher was reluctant because he was so successful academically. We pushed a bit and he showed to be a perfect candidate for the program because his maturity was testing about 6 months behind his actual age. That extra year was the best thing ever for him.

My other son is now in Kinder. We weren’t sure about his readiness, but decided that we would see since we thought his issues were more in the academic realm than the developmental. Well, he has been quite academically successful and after speaking with his teacher (often) she confided that if we should choose to repeat Kinder. it would be more for the developmental/ maturity reasons than academic. This just reaffirmed my opinion that we really need to take good long look at our spring and summer babies and talk with our teachers to try to make sure that we are adressing these emotional needs early in the game.

By: nicole

nicole — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:20:09 +0000

Melissa–your situation is a perfect example of eventually holding a child back because they need it, not to give them some kind of head start on his/her peers. I’m so glad this year is going well for your son.

Regardless of what we do with our kids, we will always ask ourselves if we could have done better.

By: MeLissa Mullin

MeLissa Mullin — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:19:19 +0000

I know all to well the fustrations of this decision. I was 100% against redshirting my son, whose birthday is the end of May. His preschool teacher said he needed another year. Nope he was way to bright. I really tought I had a genius on my hands. He was reading at 3 1/2 no way was he going to stay back..So off to Kindergarten he goes.. His kindergarten teacher says he needs to stay another year, he is not mature enough. By this time he has had a horriable year and he hates school. He never gets to play at recess and really dosent have a lot of friends. But he’s so smart. NO!! Off to first Grade..
Same thing.. He never gets his work done , he is always in trouble. Makes straight A’s but his teacher says I think he needs to stay with me… NO!!! Yep off to 2nd grade… His second grade teacher was awesome.. She put him on a behavior plan, he actually started to play at recess. But he still was having huge meltdowns and spending time in the prinicpals office. She suggested at the end of the year she keep him for another year. Being that 3rd grade starts TAKS and they are way more serious and strick. Ok .. This is his 2nd year in 2 Grade and he has blossomed.. He is the leader of the class. He has had the best year ever. I only wish I could take him back to preschool and start over. May have made those 3 years go so much smoother.

By: Em

Em — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:47:18 +0000

Great article Julie! I think you really hit the nail on the head with the 1/2 day vs. full. 8 – 3 is a very long day for a little one. I can appreciate the reasons why LISD extended the day, but I often wonder how the younger kiddos make it through. As you know, Oldest is a late September birthday and went to three years of preschool, and still has cranky issues by Thursday. I would have loved to put him in private 1/2 day kindergarten, but at his age, I felt I would be holding him back.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The curse of a caring parent?

By: nicole

nicole — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:58:14 +0000

This was a very interesting article to read. Four of my kids have September/October birthdays, so the decision is made for us anyway. Those four will always be the older ones in their classes. Having my kids so close in age as well, I can really see how it is an individual thing. My second daughter, who is in kindergarten this year, was definitely ready to start when her big sister started, both academically and socially. However, my son, who is 5 1/2 and not in school yet, is definitely benefiting from this extra year at home. I have an August birthday and so was always the youngest one in my classes. It didn’t hurt me at all, but the expectations in the early grades have changed quite a bit, academically speaking, and I only went to half-day kindergarten. Like the article states, I think it has to be decided on an individual basis. Holding a child back because they truly aren’t ready for school, because of academics or behavior, is a good thing, I think. However, the idea that it is done just to give those kids an advantage is a little over-the-top. Really? What kid needs an advantage in kindergarten?

By: Jamie Harrington

Jamie Harrington — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:56:08 +0000

As a former LISD kindergarten teacher with a child who turns 4 on June 1 of this year, I know that it is time for me to start thinking about this. In some ways it really seems like a good idea, because it would give her the opportunity to be the oldest in the class, she would have the extra knowledge that went with another year of preschool, etc.

I am so torn about this issue though. Part of me thinks it would be selfish to hold her back, and part of me thinks it would be a great idea. I have been looking into that school that does homeschooling half the week, and then you bring them in for school the other half (Coram Deo Academy), and I have looked at maybe doing a private kindergarten program the first year, and then if she needed it, I would start her in regular kindergarten the next year instead of just putting her straight into first grade.

This is such a complicated issue, because I am not just worried about what happens when she is 8 or 9, but also when she is 15 or 16 as well. It means she will start her sophomore year with a driver’s license… and it means she will be old enough to go clubbing with college kids when she is a senior in high school… is this age gap worth worrying about? I mean, I was an early October birthday, so I had pretty much all these same thing, right?

By: Heather Hyde-Herndon

Heather Hyde-Herndon — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:54:31 +0000

My son has an October birthday and tested into kindergarten at 4 years and 10 months. He experienced a lot of challenges during his school years (he’s now an adult), and I often wondered if he would have been better served by waiting an additional year.

The assessments made by Ms. Haule that any “red shirt” advantage gained was diminished by middle school has helped me to put it all into perspective.