From: caroline@topaz.Stanford.EDU (Caroline Lambert)
Subject: Re: Starting Kindergarten
Organization: Stanford Univ. Earth Sciences
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 22:58:00 GMT

In article <65290@apple.Apple.COM> scott@Apple.COM (scott douglass) writes:
>gazit@antigone.usc.edu (Salit) writes:
>>
>>However, the trend postponing all kids by a year worries me. At this rate
>>my son (birthday mid-July) will end up being the youngest in his class when
>>kindergarden time comes...
>>
>Yeah, this bugs me too.  My son will be five in late October, and the
>cut-off is the first of December.  There is really no doubt that he's
>ready for kindergarten, and his nursery school teachers agree.  The
>only reason I would consider holding him out is that everyone else
>does and he'll end up in a class with kids more than a year older than
>he is!  And when the difference is between five and six, that's a big
>difference!
>
>I was talking with a mom I met at the park and asked where her son
>went to nursery school.  She said Young Fives, which is a local program
>for kids who are waiting out a year.  So I figured he had a late fall
>birthday.  Wrong -- he had turned five in May!  This kid will be six-and-
>a-half when he starts kindergarten -- at the same time my kid starts
>at four!  Hopefully not in the same class....

I wasn't going to participate, but this is my current pet-peeve. I do
hope those parents who use the Young Fives program will have a very
good explanation to give to their child when the child is older. We
have some friends whose son is a fall baby and is going into the Young
Fives program. This boy is a few months younger than my daughter and
we consider him to be her friend. However, because he is being held
back he will end up in the same grade as my son, who is 15 months
younger. The parents of this boy say they want him in the Young
Fives program because he is socially immature. Is that what they
are going to tell him? If not, what? Personally I don't think he
is immature; he's just not as mature as the parents perceive a 4
year old should be. It also implies to me that they think social
skills are more important than education; I suppose this is a matter
of debate but it seems to me the wrong track. Young minds are sponges;
resistance to learning increases with age, and ability to learn 
decreases with age. That doesn't mean 3 year olds should be taught
to read, but certainly bright 5 year olds shouldn't be held back.

Oh well, I suppose everyone judges based on their own experience.
I have another friend who doesn't want her daughter to be the youngest
in the grade because she was the youngest and thought she suffered
because of it. I, on the other hand, was 2 years ahead of my age 
group (due to having most of my elementary schooling in England),
and was extremely proud of the fact. All of my brothers and sisters
were one year ahead, except for my youngest sister, who was already
young for her class, so my parents left her in her proper age group.
She developed an inferiority complex because of this which has had
a profound effect on her. She's a bright kid but she still thinks I'm
infinitely smarter than her because I was young for my grade and she
wasn't.

--
Caroline Lambert  				
Seismic Tomography Project		        caroline@topaz.Stanford.EDU
Department of Geophysics, Stanford University	
From: student5@nmtrain.HP.COM (Training)
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 22:21:52 GMT
Subject: Re: Extraction of baby teeth
Organization: HP Santa Rosa Site (NMD MTA MWTD). - Santa Rosa, Ca.