Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

This is not a black and white subject.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

No, but it sure is a good one.

Jane

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

As Blake said, it's not black and white.

If a child is showing early signs of great athletic prowess this decision could be a life changer.

Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers is a fascinating read, and may cast some light on this subject.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

My parents heard the same thing. I'm glad they didn't listen.

There are many factors that go into such a decision. This is probably the single least important.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

Try being the kid in gym class that's a year or two younger than his classmates. I assure you it can be a big problem.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

That is me. When I graduated high school, I had just turned 16.

I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

Then consider yourself blessed.

But what works for you doesn't necessarily work for everyone else.

It's a tough decision for parents. It's not black and white.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

I absolutely would. I guess we had different experiences.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

What he said exactly.

I don't mean to say the decision is easy, I just mean to say that sports is probably the reason that will contribute least to their happiness and well being.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

A year or two might make a difference, but I thought we were talking about someone being "close to the cutoff" and thus less than a year younger than the typical classmate.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

I don't mean to bring up a dead thread, but I did go and pick up a copy of Outliers. Even outside of sports, there were clear indications in the studies used by the author that being the eldest among your classmates gives one an initial small advantage that compounds into a much larger one.

For example, on 4th grade aptitude tests a student born immediately following the grade cutoff on average scored 14% higher than students born closer to the cutoff for the following year. If that prevents the student from being placed in an honors/advanced track, that small initial difference is compounded, and can be further compounded in years to come.

We all like to think we (and I assume our kids) are really intelligent/hardworking and are capable of bucking a trend like this. But why have them start with a disadvantage when we could be giving them/ourselves an advantage?

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

Disclaimer: I have not read the book.

I would certainly hope so; that child has had 11 more months of existence and brain development; cognitively (s)he is much older than classmates. In the fourth grade, that is a big big deal.

Empirical evidence is good, and certainly has its place. Especially when related to things such as robot design and construction. However, if my parents had waited the extra year to place me into school, I may have lost the drive, the motivation, the challenge in that year of academic inactivity.

As has been said before, this is not a black-and-white issue; statistics derive from people but people are not statistics. Your individual mileage may vary.

I wasn't too pretty do to homework, and I don't believe I've ever met anybody who is.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

Interesting data, but what is the harm in starting them early and holding them back a grade later on if needed? Wouldn't that give them an advantage over the student that stayed home and waited for a year? I completely agree it isn't a simple choice, but why do you have to pick? Can't you have both to some extent?

Jason

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

That path is fraught with peril methinks.


Stayed home and waited? Life is school. The child matures and learns during that year. Hits the ground running next year.

I'd say no.

Re: Someone at JC Penney didn't get the message
 

You were one motivated 5 year old! :)

No argument here with the caveat that people are statistics, but nothing ever says you the individual has to be close to the mean. Though statistically, most people will be.

I would imagine some of the social stigma that goes along with being held back a year would be quite harmful.

Back on the subject of T-shirts, I think they could send an equally inappropriate message if they sold t-shirts for engineers that said, "I'm too good at math for normal social interaction." They would get a lot of laughs at tech schools, which is really not a good thing.