I've seen a lot now about how kids with birthdays close to the cutoff are being held back. As someone whose birthday is a shave close to the cutoff line herself, I have plenty to say about that.
It is common knowledge that you should watch a kid's maturity level first and foremost. When my mom tried to start me in 3K, I was having none of it, despite the fact I had been babysat and in the company of kids my age quite a bit by that point. These kids were all ugly and white, not brown like I thought people should be. I thought they were going to try to turn me white too, and the teacher was so mean I couldn't stand it. A year later, they put me in 4K, but the school made me do 3K activities a few times a week. I fit in better with the 4K people, so they let me go on. But I was a crybaby. And though I know part of that is the fact that I was in doctors' offices so much as a little one (which as you can imagine would make most children scared in new situations) I also think part of it had to do with age. I never felt like I was exactly with my peers as far as feelings. I always felt either too far ahead or too far behind them, emotionally. Now I feel like I'm too far ahead and that I'm old before my time, which is so ironic considering I'm the youngest in the class. Maybe this is why I sought the company of those a year younger than me throughout most of my schooling. Had NFC had their way, I would have been in their class anyhow, so it sort of makes sense.
I don't think I would have gained much academically by being redshirted as I would have just going to a different school altogether, and research shows this also (the difference usually closes around the time kids start middle school.) I was an early reader and early talker; I already made the kids in my class feel like they were light years behind me as far as that one. Physically, also; I was always short and relatively weak, though I'm sure had I been kept back one year I would have been at least a little stronger than my classmates. Emotionally, it's hard to say. I don't know what I would have been like without the problems I had.
After watching those around me, I don't think redshirting "always" helps, but it can in some cases. I have seen a few people in the year above me who defffffffinitely would have been helped if they'd been kept back. Boys are usually redshirted more, and I can see how that's a good thing, by observing the boys I've known. The September-born boys were always ahead in some senses (and if they lacked in anything, which they did, they wore it like a badge). The summer boys.....just....don't got swagga'. The same does not hold true for girls, who basically don't show marked intelligence differences across the twelve months. Emotionally, though, I've noticed that a lot of the oldest (September-November) and the youngest girls (July-August) suffer the most cases of insecure attachment. In other words, they are either mistrustful or needy. I can't stand needy people no matter the month they are born, but I definitely identify with the feeling of not being able to take people at their word, and I think some of it is the baby trying to make sure she's not taken advantage of or carted to a point of no return.
The three kids I've known who skipped grades did well like book-wise, but as far as maturity....I have to say, the girls still win. The boy is never going to be as mature as his classmates. And I will not friend him on any site. (Forgive your enemies; never forget their names.)
So my take on redshirting? Case by case obviously, but if I had to make a general statement: keep boys back; keep girls in the grade assigned; watch PTSD kids closely and delay physical activities for the weaklings. Don't make a kid skip a grade unless they can handle it in every sense of the word.
And I am going to bed. Goodnight.
