I was so going to stay out of this, I really was. We leave in a few hours for the happiest place on earth...but
I have to call you out.
There is NO WAY YOU WOULD sacrifice your child for the good of the whole, if you really felt they needed an extra year! NO WAY!! And for you to claim you would is just plain silly.
I think every teacher would be thrilled if the parents concentrated SOLELY on their childs needs, thats MY concern....MY CHILD!!! I don't really give a darn how the rest of the class does, I care about MY child, and HER future.
I have said it a million times WE HAVE NEVER TALKED TO A TEACHER WHO SAID 'REDSHIRTING" is bad...EVER!! And we did extensive research on this topic.
And, you can find evidence for anything you want.
We found much evidence to show that the younger a child is when they start K, the more likely they are to drop out, to do drugs, to drink, have sex, not go onto college, even suicide.
I understand the way statistics work, I understand with the internet you can find sites to back up anything you want, so in the end we went with real life experience. Once again, not a single teacher we talked to had a bad thing to say about redshirting, all were very pro redshirting!! As a matter of fact, most teachers said they wished MORE parents would do this, because our kindergarten is VERY academic, and many young kids just can't keep up with the program.
If my child has had the same amount of preschool as your child, just because their birthday is a few weeks before the cutoff, how does that make them so much more ahead???? Most parents who redshirt, know this before they even start kindergarten, and they adjust preschool as well.
Glad your kid is doing fine, find it amazing YOU would find a way to solve her problems by whatever it takes. BUT WHEN people solve their problems, and its NOT the way you think it should be solved, you complain that its unfair to YOUR child, and we weren't thinking about the good of the class.
Oh, and I have pointed out this as well, our state is CHANGING the cutoff date, so kids MUST be 5 when school starts (sept 1 will be the new cutoff). So, as far as I am concerned, my redshirting MY kids is 100% valid, considering the state feels the same way I do.
WOW - Can I just say that as one of "those" parents I am surprised by this as a teacher's viewpoint....One of my main reasons I am against it is for the teacher's sake. I honestly think that in some cases it is too much to ask a teacher to handle 4 year old 'still learning their letters' kids along with 6 year old already reading kids in the same classroom with parents insisting on them recieiving 1st and 2nd grade work since the K curriculum is too easy for them.
My dd is doing fine in school and not having a difficult time at all. And if she was - I would find a way to solve that issue whatever it takes.
I guess in your classroom you'd be happier if every parent concentrated SOLELY on their own child's needs and constantly pulled you in their kids direction instead of, as some of us think, the greater good and fairness of the whole classroom (teacher included) being considered.
Almost makes me want to throw in the towel and become unopinionated on this topic. If a teacher can't see a bunch of 'would be 1st graders' negatively affecting a child on the low end and wanting to help every child in that classroom to have the same chance, then I guess I shouldn't want to either.