When I was growing up some of my classmates skipped a grade and enrolled in a grade ahead of us. For example, one of my school classmates was shifted directly from grade 5 to grade 7, and the reason was that he was the smartest student in the class. Teachers felt that he might do well even when he will skip the level. Now as the society has progressed, things have gone against the tide. Now the smartest children are held back for a year intentionally, and the reason is to gain a competitive edge over the classmate. The concept is known as redshirting. It does not seem logical like how staying back can give the smartest kid an edge over the ones who are enrolled in school and are continually learning. Academic redshirting is common among kindergarten children by their parents. In this practice, parents do not enroll their children in the kindergarten schools which are present in the region such as Kindergarten school in Sharjah for a year. The percentage of redshirting is increasing and according to the data estimates the redshirting percentage in the United States is between 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent. It is reported that boys were two times more likely to experience redshirting as compared to the girls. There are several reasons cited by the parents who are holding back their child such as the child is the youngest in class, not emotionally fully developed and others.
It is commonly believed that redshirting has more advantage and usually pays off for most children. According to the research, there is a significant correlation between entrance age of school and academic performance later on. There are two different hypotheses which further explore the relationship between age and the school performance.
There is a mechanical relationship between age, maturity and the development of the brain generally known as cognitive development. The older kid will have more cognitive development and maturity as compared to the younger kids, therefore, would be better able to understand the problems and solve it.
The academic pressure for the kindergarten is increasing. Kindergarten has become more like a first grade because of the number of subjects and studies the children undergo. Exemplifying Kindergarten school the administration is giving their best shot to prepare the children for the studies ahead fully. In this thriving environment, older children are more likely to adjust and perform better as compared to younger kids. But if your child is ahead of class and performing better does that mean he or she is learning better? It might be the estimation that the older child with better cognitive development will be sharp. The estimation can be accurate. But there is a fine line between being bright and learning. When you child is sharp, then it means that he will be quickly bored and demotivated in class. Take for example, if you are attending a course, and you learn some of the topics you already know or understood way before your other course mate then what would you do? You would want to skip the topics you know, or you would be least interested in that course. Same goes for the child who is older and ahead of other students. He might be the sharpest, but he is not learning as much as other kids in the class are. In other words, there is no standardized or universal age for enrolling your child to the kindergarten but if you do not have substantial reason to hold your child back for a year it is better to have them enrolled in the Kindergarten school in Sharjah even if he or she will be the youngest in class. Somebody will always be youngest in class so why not your child.
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