OK everybody, it's time to let loose with your comments about Dan Winter's special report about "Redshirting" your kindergartner.
If you miss the story live during our 10 o'clock newscast Tuesday night, I'm hoping you'll be able to watch it online.
Don't be shy ... the blog is here so you can discuss what you see as the positives or negatives of this trend. Feel free to share your personal experiences as well, and as always we welcome your feedback!
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12 comments:
HI! I am a little frustrated and frankly baffled as to why the presented story had the slant that it did. I am the mother of a 6 year old kindergarten student who needed an extra year. He is a great kid who is sensitive and smart and who loves school. Never once did the thought of athletics enter into the decision to keep him back. His teachers stated that socially he would benefit from another year. I think it is irresponsible to use the tone as well as the implication that people who do this are somehow trying to create "super students" when what we as parents are trying to do is have happy children who enjoy school and succeed. I am a Master's prepared professional who worked with with college students for 10 years and there were many instances when I dealt with very young freshman (17 years old) who could have benefitted with the extra time. Please understand that I can certainly see both sides of the issue but when one is presented by a PhD and the other by a teacher, who I agree with by the way, it lends more credibility to the former. Thank you for asking for opinions. It is important for people to know it is ok to want your child to be really ready.
I think your segment on "redshirting kindergarteners" could have been more balanced. My 24-year-old son started kindergarten when he was 6. At the time he was 5, Urbandale schools had a program called optional kindergarten. They screened children and got input from parents and preschool teachers. My mother taught 3rd grade for more than 30 years and she said by the time kids were in her class she always knew who the youngest students were because they struggled and were less mature. The year my son was in optional kindergarten there were 45 kids in three sections. The following year they all went to regular kindergarten. I don't think any of the children or parents considered that year of optional kindergarten a "failure." I also doubt anyone sent their child to optional kindergarten so they would make the football team in high school. I personally wanted my son to be the first of his friends to get his driver's license because, even at age 5, I knew that he would be a very careful, safe driver. I was right. He also graduated second in his class and is nearly finished with his master's degree now. One of the two students who graduated first in the class was a friend of my son's who was more than a year younger than my son. When my son was 5 he was socially immature and not as advanced in his gross motor skills as he should have been at that age. Intellectually he was, and is, way ahead of most of his peers. My husband and I have never regretted giving him a year of optional kindergarten and another year to mature before starting school.
Posted a blog about this. No child should be held back except in the case of underdeveloped social and/or mental skills. There really is no other excuse for this. Only extremely self-centered and egoistical parents would hold their child back from their age peers except for the above reasons. Just no excuse for the 'stoopids', as I call them.
Erin & Diane,
Thanks so much for watching, and posting.
I'll let Dan respond directly to the comments regarding the content of his story.
Frankly, I'd never heard of this before, or at least never heard the term "redshirting" used in reference to waiting to send kids to kindergarten. I guess technically, that's what my folks did with me! My birthday falls late in September, and I could've started school when I was four (nearly five). Both of my parents were very young for their respective graduating classes, and hated it, so they didn't send me to school until I was nearly six. I can't see that it gave me any kind of advantage over my classmates ... I graduated from both high school and college with people who are a lot smarter and more talented than I am!
This is an interesting topic, keep the comments coming!
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Had to leave another comment on this subject. Although I was 5 yrs. old when I started kindergarten, I was still 17 on the last day of my senior year of school. I turned 18 before graduation ceremonies. This made me actuall older than many in my class, but younger than several others. My birthday being almost the end of May, put me about in the middle of the age group (this is only a guess). Do not recall anyone in my class that had been held back and definitely do not remember any of them needing to. I still maintain that the children needing to be held back is a very, very small percentage and in no way should they be held back just to gain an athletic or academic advantage over other students to appease some ridiculous idea of their parents egoism.
I was curious about how close the kids in the story are to the cut off date? I think there is a big difference in not sending kids with April birthdays versus August birthdays. My son is 10 and his birthday is at the end of August. We chose not to send him and we are very happy with our choice. His birthday was after school started! His preschool teacher said that he would be "OK". As parents we wanted him to do better then just "OK". He was not interested in writing his name until he was 5 1/2. That would've put him half way through kindergarten, and he would've been very frustrated by then. And for the record, athletics never played into any of it. He really isn't interested in sports, and isn't very competitive. I'm happy that he'll get his drivers license first, and not have to ride with other teens. I'm also happy that he won't be going to college at 17.
I was disappointed that the story was so negative about delaying kindergarten. My children have summer birthdays and we have the benefit of our school district offering a Pre-K program. My son, now 18, has a late August birthday. His preschool teacher and a Pre-K teacher who visited the preschool programs in the spring, both recommended that he attend Pre-K. He was a big kid and they said to not let people discourage us because of his size--this was social. My daughter's birthday is in July. They said she'd be ok in either program, so we chose to send her to Pre-K. My sister, who has an August birthday, really struggled socially and emotionally when she was in junior high--too late to delay a year then, and academics weren't the issue. (Also note that when we were in kindergarten we went every day for half a day, not all day like our kids go.) Now, my sister is dealing with the issue of whether her July birthdate son should repeat Kindergarten because he is struggling--is that better than delaying in the first place???? Both of my kids are active in sports. Neither is a "star". They are good students. We would make the same decision again in a heartbeat. I know people who regret NOT sending their child to Pre-K. I don't know anyone who delayed their child that wishes they hadn't. Go out and speak with some Kindergarten teachers about their students. Another note, my son saw the news story with me last night and he said he's glad he didn't go to Kindergarten a year sooner. Thanks for the opportunity to share our opinions.
To Heidi. Sounds like your son fits exactly like I said in earlier post. No child should be held back except for social and/or mental reasons. Not 'wanting' to write his name until 5 1/2 fits right in there. By the way I was just a few days past 3 months after my fifth birthday when school started. I was also just past 3 when I started reading and just around 4 when I started writing my name.
It's Dan Winters, here.
First of all, I want to sincerely thank all of you who have responded. I knew going into this story that it would generate great discussion and, hopefully, get parents to think more about a very important decision, which forever affects their child's life.
I was surprised to learn how much research Dr. Susan Hegland (the ISU professor) was able to find on the topic of redshirting. As for the "slant" some of you feel the story contained, the simple fact is that the research we compiled (dating from 2006 all the way back to the 1980's) found that many educational "experts" agree that there may be drawbacks to some children being redshirted. That is why I interviewed Jerry and Marla Carr.
The Carrs are extremely pleased that they delayed both of their sons from starting Kindergarten by one year. It was not to give the boys an edge. It was to ensure they would be up to par socially with the other children in their classes. I hope these points weren't lost amongst viewers. Additionally, Marla is a 7th grade English teacher who, as I mentioned in the story, sees redshirted children as more socially mature. If Marla doesn't qualify as an expert on the topic, both personally and professionally, then I don't know who does.
I appreciate how frank you have been in your replies, but I must say that if you're making generalizations and calling children names, then you need to take a step back. The decision of whether or not to redshirt a child is ultimately the parents'... and it's often a difficult one. Keep in mind that once a redshirted child becomes a full grown adult, no one can really tell they were delayed in starting school. If the parents made the right decision then hopefully, neither can the child.
As a Kindergarten teacher and parent of a “red shirt” Kindergarten student, I would like to make a few comments. First of all, I was disappointed in the perspective presented in this story. In all my years of teaching, I have never had parents delay starting their children in school because it would benefit them in athletics later. I think research would show that almost all parents who wait to send their children to school do so because the children have summer birthdays and would benefit from additional time for social/emotional growth. Many families will make this decision not at the start of Kindergarten, but at the start of preschool. In this day and age of high-stakes testing and much more rigorous Kindergarten, it is more important than ever that children enter school ready to listen and participate actively in their learning. This is why it is so essential that all Iowa children have access to preschool programs. The professor from Iowa State used the term “held back”. That term references retention. That would mean that a child would need to repeat what was already done. A practice that is rarely used any longer, and one that research shows can impact self-esteem and possibly high school completion. To delay starting a child is to be proactive to ensure a positive educational experience. I have never had a parent say they regretted waiting to send a child to school. On the other hand, I have had several tell me they wish they would have waited. I really wish you would have interviewed some Preschool and elementary teachers….the perspective would have been more in balance.
My son turned five 2 weeks after starting Kindergarten, I was nervous about sending him at first, he would be the youngest kid in his class. However he had been to preschool and his teacher said that she thought that he would be fine. He is a big kid, bigger than all of the kids in the school and I now think that had I let my worries (because he was my baby) hold him back he would have actually had more troulbe and enjoyed school far less. He started first grade this year and is doing fine. My goals for him are for him to be a happy well educated person who loves life, and enjoys what ever career he chooses. No matter what that my be. What better message to him than to be what makes him happy!!!
Dan, I'm sure it wasn't your intent for the story to have negative slant towards delaying, but with statements like "this has already HAPPENED to (x number) of children...." it sounds like a crime being committed against them if you wait to start Kindergarten until they are older. Hawkeyemom's perspective was exactly what I expected from one of the best experts you'll find--a Kindergarten teacher. Again, thanks for the opportunity to discuss the story.
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