Have you heard about Redshirting? Exactly what is Redshirting? It
is a practice that several schools have adopted. The thing to
determine is whether it is right for your child.
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| What is Redshirting? |
I first heard about this on 60 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtEsw49o4RY,
It is a practice of holding a kindergartener back because it
supposedly gives them an edge on the other children. There was
emphasis that holding a child back will help make that child a
leader and that that child will have an advantage over other
children. Also, there is an emphasis that bigger is better. I have
even heard some teachers say, “Oh that student is struggling so.”
My response to that is, “Life is a struggle.” I talked with
another principal that did not encourage “Redshirting.” She
stated, “A good teacher will find the problems that a student has
and find a way to reach that student.”
Age
I started school at age 4 and turned 5
that September. I could not imagine being held back because of my
size or because the teachers felt that would make me a better leader.
I recall loving school and looking forward to graduating to the next
grade.
Parents
This is an individual decision that
parents are choosing to do. There are parents that do not agree with
it. I believe that bigger is not always better. Your size will not
determine your outcome. Just look at the models that were told they
were too short or too big. There are now models of all sizes. Just
think of the basket ball players that were told they were too short.
How many have stereotyped people that you need to be a certain height
or size to succeed. That is definitely not true. This is a
parent's personal decision. However, I disagree with “Redshirting.”
Debateable
According to abcnews, Dina Abou Salem,
Redshirting is still debatable. There are those parents that believe
that holding their Kindergartener back will make their child bigger
and better and possibly more emotionally able to handle school. One
parent stated her reasoning was that holding her child back would
ensure that her child did not attend college too early. I still say
that older is not necessarily better nor a guarantee of maturity.
What are Your thoughts about “Redshirting?”
Photo Caption: Commons, Wikimedia.org,
Vector Image, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
license.
Source:
“Redshirting in Kindergarten StillSubject to Debate,” Dina Abou Salem via Good Morning America
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