Seventeen Percent of Kindergarten Kids Redshirted

[proud2BlibKansan]

Does it tell you that something is haywire when almost 20 percent of children are being held back from entering kindergarten for a year because of the irresponsible stupidity of a generation of adults who have ignored everything we have learned during the past hundred years about child development? From today's Times:

. . . .Hers is a popular school of thought, and it is not new. “Redshirting” of kindergartners — the term comes from the practice of postponing the participation of college athletes in competitive games — became increasingly widespread in the 1990s, and shows no signs of waning.

In 2008, the most recent year for which census data is available, 17 percent of children were 6 or older when they entered the kindergarten classroom. Sand tables have been replaced by worksheets to a degree that’s surprising even by the standards of a decade ago. Blame it on No Child Left Behind and the race to get children test-ready by third grade: Kindergarten has steadily become, as many educators put it, “the new first grade.”

What once seemed like an aberration — something that sparked fierce dinner party debates — has come to seem like the norm. But that doesn’t make it any easier for parents. . . .

Why have adults running the schools acted so irresponsibly to create kindergartens that are inappropriate for kindergartners? Because the U. S. Chamber of Commerce has insisted on "accountability" for all public spending on schools, while the sewers of Wall Street and the corporate headquarters continue to stink up the entire country. The Times lead story this morning is about the abandonment of Wall Street by the small investors, who have taken out over $30 billion this year alone from the Wall Street betting windows.

more . . . http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/08/seventeen-percent-of-kindergarten-kids.html

[TexasObserver]

1. Recommend

[Liberty Belle]

2. Starting kindergarten later is best for most kids. Ask any teacher.

That's the advice every teacher I asked told me. Both our kids have late fall birthdays.

We held back our very bright son, who has a genius IQ, on that advice. He went on to become valedictorian in high school and get his engineering degree from Berkeley. Our daughter also started late, though for medical reasons (needed heart surgery when she was five). She's small for her age and also still napped and was a bit hyperactive, so starting her earlier would have been disastrous. She's now at UCSD striving to get into medical school. Both were leaders in their classes on many levels.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. It's better because kindergarten is now watered down 1st grade

This isn't about kids with late birthdays. It's about changing our standards while ignoring what we know about child development.

[Dappleganger]

25. Bingo!

And more children being forced to go on medication so they can "pay attention."

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. I remember well when they stopped taking naps and having snacks in kindergarten

In my district that was at least 20 years ago. And it's been downhill for these poor little babies ever since.

[Dappleganger]

35. Our boys...

would regularly just drop down and fall asleep if they didn't have a nap time. When their bodies shut down there really wasn't much you could do.

:rofl:

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. There are always several kids every year who do just that

Too bad our admins don't pay any attention to what the kids are doing, how they are reacting to these 'reforms'.

[Dappleganger]

38. We would get a call from the teacher

asking what their bedtimes were. When they found out it was usually 8PM or even earlier, they left us alone. They slept hard and played hard, you know?

I have no idea just how much admins know about what's going on inside the classrooms, but can imagine that teachers don't want to rock the boat, if possible.

[Orrex]

Congratulations to your kids, but a handful of anecdotes can't be used to justify a national policy

It could as readily be said that two other kids--advanced for their age--were harmed by delaying their entry into kindergarten. It's not as simple as holding up two glowing successes or disastrous failures; the system as a whole needs to be assessed.

The primary purpose of preschool and kindergarten should be to build the skills of basic socialization. Instead, these grades are now used to teach basic reading and math so that kids are ready to fill in those precious Scantron bubbles when their time comes.

[flpab]

18. late birthdays

I started first grade when I was five, no kindergarten back in 1958, birthday Dec so I was always the youngest. I played catch up for many years. Hated being in the b reading class. I think the cut off is now Sept.

[Gormy Cuss]

41. It sounds like you would have benefited from the old style kindergarten

with its focus on learning readiness rather than learning.

I was 4 when I started and was the youngest kid in the class every year of elementary school
and I was also the highest achiever. I could read at a third grade level in first grade and my math skills were always ahead of the class.

Our two anecdotes together illustrate why the individual child's readiness should be assessed and monitored rather using some blanket age cutoff.

[LWolf]

45. It's not better if kindergarten is a developmental program

instead of an academic program. That's what kindergarten is supposed to be about. How to sit. How to listen. How to wait your turn. How to use crayons, scissors, pencils, glue, etc.. How to share stories and turn pages. How to get along with others and function in a larger group. Colors. Shapes. Counting. One-to-one correspondence. Patterns. Letters. Sounds. Rhymes. Singing. Movement. Rhythm. How to follow directions. Tactile experiences. Time. Writing your name. How to have a conversation.

It's supposed to be about getting children ready for first grade.

[madmom]

54. In our district that was/is pre-kindergarten. That's what my daughter did in her

pre-kindergarten class in the early 90's, when they thought they weren't quite ready for regular kindergarten.

Funny thing was when she was "tested" for school she was having a bad allergy problem, stuffy head & nose, talking funny, not hearing well all the symptoms. Well the tester said she wasn't ready because she "didn't talk well enough" didn't pronounce her words right. Well alright, they wouldn't let me re-schedule so she was put in pre-kindergarten. As it was she was an honor student all through school. Was this because of or in spite of the extra year?:shrug:

[LWolf]

55. She may have been an honor student with or without the extra year.

Or the extra year may have benefited her. Who knows?

The push for academics in K was in place in many states in the 90s. That's where the standards and accountability movement stressing grade-level standards and high stakes tests got started, before it ever went federal under GWB. California was one of those states; I taught there at the time.

The real issue isn't what age students should start kindergarten; it isn't about "grade levels" at all. The real issue is that some students come from enriched backgrounds and are already ready to learn, and others don't. All children need developmentally appropriate activities to prepare them for academic disciplines. Some get it at home, some in pre-school, and some not at all.

That's why I've always been a supporter of universal preschool. Not an academic preschool, but a developmental preschool that could reach children during the peak years of brain development: birth - 4 years.

[Orrex]

4. recommended

My son is in first grade, so the standardized testing is still two years in his future. However, the curriculum is set up to devote class-time EVERY DAY getting him ready for the tests.

I have little criticism for the teacher or for the school district itself, because it's clear that they're struggling under the demands of the various incarnations of NCLB, but the net effect is to destroy any interest that the children might have in learning so that the district as a whole can chalk up a slightly brighter result when test-time comes.

And, since the purpose of NCLB et al is to divvy up the funding, one has to ask: who benefits? Certainly not the current students, who sacrifice quality education for the sake of test scores. And just as certainly not the future students, who will likewise have to sacrifice education in favor of test scores, so that funding can be maintained.


The war on public education is an atrocity that's been going on for 40 years or more.

[exboyfil]

20. That is shame except for 6th grade instruction in

math, I had no complaints at my daughters' elementary school. I don't think they are teaching to the ITBS (our state test) but our kids still do well on the tests.

Does anybody like NCLB? We have excellent schools, but my daughters' Junior High is still on the list of "Schools in Need of Assistance". If enough suburban schools appear on this list, then NCLB's future is short (thank goodness).

[exboyfil]

5. This was a debate that my wife and I had about our

youngest daughter. Her birthday is Sept. 5th. The school cutoff was Sept. 15th. I wanted to put her in when she was still 4 (not redshirt her) but my wife wanted to wait another year (she would still be 5 when Kindergarden started). The deciding factor was our church preschool was not in synch with the school at the time so she would have only had one year of preschool.

My wife was right. While she is doing well (accelerated in Math and Science), she is not the top student in her grade. She is one of the older kids but not the oldest. She would have almost surely been the youngest if she started a year earlier.

I was an interesting situation. I started 1st grade without Kindergarden when I was 5 (Birthday is Sept. 20th). It was a really bad year for me. My poor performance in 1st grade, combined with the fact that I missed a month of 2nd grade when we moved to California, put me really far behind. My parents should have had me repeat 1st grade in California. I guess I am the person that I am because they didn't, and I still have done reasonably well (two Masters degrees). Still I wonder how it would have been if I had repeated 1st grade. It took me until 4th grade to really catch on.

[greymattermom]

6. homework

My grandson just started half day kindergarten. He has homework every day.

[Orrex]

8. My first-grade son has more assigned reading homework every day than I had in 10th grade

And I was in Honor's English, for whatever that's worth.

Granted, he's not slogging his way through Ulysses or The Canterbury Tales, but I can't help noticing that it seems as though they're trying to extinguish--rather than nurture--children's love of reading, rather.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Homework has become insane

Please understand that many of us teachers do speak out against draconian homework policies. We aren't listened to but we do speak out.

[Orrex]

16. Don't worry--I have absolutely no doubt about that.

Over time, I've spoken with a few dozen teachers about NCLB (and its ilk). Every single one of them hated everything about it.

They recognized it as a horrible weapon against public education masquerading as a pro-student teaching policy.

[Dappleganger]

28. Our district has actually begun to listen to parents' complaints re: homework.

They have reduced the amount in addition to adding mandatory study hall which at least gives the children regularly access to teachers when they need help. Our middle school just changed over to block scheduling this year (ugh), but added in study hall 4 days a week so that was a benefit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. That's great news!

[Posteritatis]

44. How much say do you generally have in it?

Is there a "you must assign foo hours of homework per subject per night" policy from on high, internal pressure because of teachers who overassign of their own accord, etc? How micromanaged is the process in your experience?

The stuff I experienced as a student's all over the place, from very little stuff to occasional incredibly useful stuff to my fifth grade math teacher who assigned four to six hours a night all year, but I also got out of high school shortly before I started hearing of how overloaded students were becoming these days. I don't dispute for an instant that that overload exists, but I'm curious as to when and where it came from.

[eridani]

43. That was my major beef with school when I started first grade

Going to school cut into my independent reading time.

[Orrex]

46. That's the problem, and it goes even a bit farther:

In addition to cutting into his leisure reading time, the strict nightly requirement has dulled his interest in reading overall and turned it from a pleasure to a chore.

[seabeyond]

7. my son has gone thru the grades as the youngest. he was older than me when he started

school. yet he is almost always the youngest. his bday is in spring. he turned five, he went into kindergarten. and he was the youngest. made it hard for him in many respects, but he was ready, and capable and accomplished. but to have the majority of the class a year older had him behind in the physical (big deal for boys) and emotional.

i had a friend who has a son my kid's age. she held him a year. she wanted him to be able to be the top of everything. so start him a year later, and the kid has the advantage.

a bet of nuisance. but their reality.

[SoCalDem]

9. We have a November and 2 December birthdays & all three were CRUSHED

to have to wait that extra year..and with no preschool for my boys, so was I :rofl:

[seabeyond]

10. lol... i have an oct one too. but again, with so many being held another year, he is not the old

one in class. i was four going into kindergarten. oct. they still allowed me.

but i had preschool.

my kids were ready for school.

i want my oldest out as fast as possible. he was adultlike even as a little kid. sooner he gets out of highschool, the better he will do. though he has learned to adapt to the kids, he seperates himself.

[Dappleganger]

29. Our son is the 2nd youngest in his grade.

He really struggled at first which is why we homeschooled him for awhile, but when he was in 4th grade it all evened out. He is gifted and we really didn't want to keep him behind, and now I'm glad we did what we did. He's 17 and a senior now and doing great.

[Billy Burnett]

11. Prepping kids to conform to the corporate state (via corp testing) is a sales pitch used on parents.

Remember, the kids are our future. :scared:

[Dappleganger]

31. They use guilt to shame children and their parents.

If they aren't "ready" the parents are to blame, but look at the expectations--what do they really KNOW??

[Billy Burnett]

36. I think that fear is more the tool used on them.

If our kids don't make it to the banking/insurance/energy CEO class, then they're (and we're) going to be screwed by the other kids that do. We want to make sure our kids (and us) get the ROI.

Remember, the kids are our future, and they're gettin' all trained up for the dismantling (stealing) the remaining "wealth" here. Remember, the kids (our personal kids) are our (personal) future. :scared:

[Dappleganger]

39. Good points.

As if I don't put enough fear into our kids about the current economic situation. :(

[Billy Burnett]

40. I wonder how much Google analytics will pay for these test results.

It is a gold mine for marketing. Keep in mind the Golden Rule ... those with the gold rule.

[Pathwalker]

13. Can someone please explain to me the reason for all this "testing"?

Because I seriously do not understand WHY they are just teaching to tests? It seems that the result will be a generation of kids who are only qualified to be professional test takers? How does this really educate a child?

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. To comply with federal mandates

The uncreative thinkers who are NOT educators in the US Dept of Education have decided that standardized testing is the best way to assess our schools. That's why.

[Pathwalker]

17. But what is the result? I realize that's their excuse, but

what will be the end result - the children are not really being helped by this - or are they?
It just seems so monumentally stupid, is this somehow NOT harming their futures? I can't understand WHY anyone would think this is a good idea.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. The end result is a generation (maybe more) of kids who can't think

We are teaching them to memorize facts, not to solve problems. We used to teach the facts and then how to use them to think critically. Not any more. And yes, it is indeed monumentally stupid.

[Dappleganger]

33. Good test scores=higher grade for schools=more funding money.

Not to mention bragging rights and bonuses.

[Dappleganger]

34. BTW

I do think that teachers should be well paid and be able to earn bonuses, but not THIS way.

[lostnfound]

19. Personally I suspect that there are $creative thinker$ BEHIND the uncreative DOE people

I would have thought that any suspicions on the education deform agenda were unfounded tin-foil-hat conspiracies, but after learning how the schools were (once upon a time) shaped for purposes of social design by those who wanted to sort/classify/homogenize the untamed masses, particularly lower classes, it doesn't take much imagination to perceive that education deform occurring simultaneously across the country could easily have had a hand in designing the new mandates and destruction of the public school system.

1920s: train all those untamed farm boys to sit in a classroom for so many hours a day, get up when the bell rings, sit down when the bell rings, get measured, sorted, tracked and classified, flip the kids over regularly to reduce "indiscriminate fraternization" etc. Great system for producing technocrats and factory workers (and only incidentally reducing the autonomy that had been instilled in the American citizenry in prior generations.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. It's always about money, isn't it?

Damn.

[immoderate]

53. It's a strategy from "The Wizard of Oz"

Wizard to Scarecrow: "I can't give you a brain, but I can give you a diploma."

Case study: Me. I went to a traditional kindergarten. Coloring, blocks, play house, choo-choo train, etc. I remember my ability to read "clicked in" in the third grade. It all came together, and suddenly, I could read anything. I demonstrated to my parents by reading aloud from "Origins of Species." I graduated high school at 16 and college at 20.

Of course the point is there is no template that works for every child.

--imm

[Peregrine]

14. It depends on the intent

Now take a look at high school football crazy states. I had a parent voluntarily hold back his son in 8th grade because he wasn't big enough yet to play football in HS. This guy was a behavioral specialist at a school that gets all of the kids with juvenile records.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I don't think kindergarteners are being redshirted so they can play football in high school

[Orrex]

27. You're right--they're being redshirted so that they can play high school football in kindergarten!!!

(couldn't resist) :P

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. Well. Considering the Sec of Ed's main qualification is playing bball with the prez

You might not be too far off.

[Dappleganger]

23. Those of us with boys should take note.

Warning: gross generalizations ahead.

We had not one, but two "late-bloomers" which resulted in some homeschooling during the elementary years. By the time they reached 3rd grade things had all evened out, but I can't imagine trying to push square fitting children into round molds with these expectations once again. They were not stupid or lazy, and neither were we as parents. I wouldn't change anything except being better about not listening to other stupid parents with no knowledge of how children develop.

And the author of the article is correct: it's all about the TESTING and not about the CHILD.

[seabeyond]

42. my oldest was alway early in development. my youngest always late in development

by the time my youngest was about three i let the concern go because i learned he always caught up.... just in his time.

[lostnfound]

47. Rather than a love of learning being kindled, I see a lot of social shaping going on

Most parents of boys will talk about the early years being all about "getting their son to remember to bring.." and the notes from the teachers (especially younger teachers) will say 'so-and-so chose not to turn in his homework' etc. The current thinking seems to be that kids are to be constantly reminded that their choices determine their future.. I see this as innocuous at the individual teacher level and insidious as a nationwide epidemic. I see it as good parenting on one hand and as irrational indoctrination that ignores childhood brain development on the other. In other words, I am ambivalent about it. I do not mind the teachers who use these words; it is obvious to me that they are trying to do their very best in a very difficult job. But so many of these 'helpful societal messages' are repeated these days that it starts to make you wonder how Aldous Huxley was so spot on, so early.

Expecting the kids to do 'x' day after day when they are 8 is one thing, but expecting them to do 'x and y' on Mondays and Thursdays and 'a or b' on Tuesdays and 'm' by next Friday and 'z' on Wednesdays unless otherwise instructed doesn't seem to fit naturally with the development stage they are at. It's often bewildering even to parents. But if the kids learn nothing else, they learn the meme 'so-and-so chose to fail'..

[lostnfound]

48. The problem feeds on itself, as younger ones are less ready to handle

the absurd developmental expectations that are getting put upon them. The challenge according to most parents isn't that their children don't understand the work, it's simply remembering to bring assignments home or back to school etc. or having the attention span to deal with long tests. The younger ones in a class are at risk of being made to feel inadequate or stupid, when it is simply brain development. Significant homework and being told "your child chose not to hand it in" (the new euphemism for "forgot") is the norm now for even the lowest grades.

On edit: you know, I didn't hold mine back, making him one of the youngest in his class, because I didn't want him bored out of his mind with a thinned-down curriculum. To the extent that school is about exposing them to an intellectually stimulating / nourishing environment, it's good to have more. But to the extent that it is about testing to see if every little speck of data, it's a difficult line between wanting your kids to set high standards for themselves and having them feel inadequate in comparison to the (mostly older) kids in the class. Giving them time to be a kid needs to be a priority too.

[RandomThoughts]

49. Great comment.

A good reason for art and music classes in schools also.

[Klukie]

50. My kid's school district has pushed the cutoff date back to May 1rst

My son is the youngest in his class....at least seven of his classmates turned 6 in July and August. I am not quite sure how to feel about this. So far he is holding his own, but when they are this young six months can make a huge difference in development.

[maryf]

51. Kids need to play...

they develop their imagination, creativity, critical thinking skills...drone learning kills all that...K&R

[underpants]

52. Careful say something bad about kindergarten and you get dumped on here at DU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9154810&mesg_id=9154810