Should my LATE summer bday child move on to 1st grade or repeat K? - Page 2

[Astoria]

I have a different opinion. I think repeating kindergarten is a much better option. I think it is healthier to be the eldest rather than the youngest child in every grade. I think that both socially and academically children who are on the cutoff line fair better if they wait a year than if they go on ahead. My own personal experience of this (my mom pushed me ahead and I was always the youngest in my class) was that I faired well academically but socially was fine in the early grades but clearly was younger than the other kids as pre-puberty and puberty hit. I felt shy and overwhelmed and personally would have been better off with a younger group of kids. Plus there have been studies showing repeatedly that teachers, even those reminded to consider "age," report the 50% of kids who are the oldest in their class to be smarter and better behaved than the other half who are the younger. They are much more likely to get good grades and positive affirmation of their abilities. Also remember you are possibly deciding which year your child will go to college or leave home. Maybe not, but if that is a consideration, that extra year of maturity and having your child home can be great and give you a more mature kid in the living away from home / benefitting from college situation.

Only you know *your* kid, teacher's opinions don't matter at all. My opinion is shaped by my experiences and my preference to "keep kids young." But trust your instinct, you probably already know the answer.

[straighthaircurly]

Originally Posted by ChristaN

I'm thinking that this article regarding delaying entry to K/redshirting is likely what the OP is referring to. That article and one other that I can't remember the location of are two well done meta-analyses of the literature relating to redshirting that show it is generally not beneficial in the long-run.

In regard to repeating grades, I honestly don't know what the literature says and all children are individuals and the research may not apply for all children.

Thank you for this link. We are dealing with similar issues and while I certainly want to do what is best for my DS I am getting really tired of everyone telling me that I should automatically hold him back because he is a boy. There is so much more to him than just being a boy. Our challenge is separating out personality traits from maturation issues. For example, he is and always has been much more stubborn/persistent than the average child. I don't waiting a year will change that.