Ah, but in high school, he'll be bigger and older than the other sophomores so he'll have that advantage, right? I've always thought red-shirting for athletics was a bit far-fetched. I know someone who did it with a son who had a December birthday (cut-off here is Sept 1) so that he would be the biggest kid in high school and play football and basketball. That made him, what, 1 year and 9 months older? Anyway, he ended up hating sports, much to his parents' dismay and excelled in theater and choir.
This study, though, disturbs me. It doesn't take into account so many aspects, such as IQ, challenge level, red-shirting.
I, too, am afraid it will be used against acceleration. Wish I could write a well-formed response to the author and ask her to address the issue with gifted kids.
On quantifying maturity: I think the Iowa Acceleration Scale asks about this. IIRC, we chose to err on the side of caution and put our son down as the lowest category of immature. He's a July birthday so most people here would have red-shirted him. In fact, he has one teacher who insists that he has been grade-skipped twice, not just once. I just nod my head and go on.
Okay, I just reread this and realized that I don't even make a point. I'm not sure what point I wanted to make. Sorry 'bout that!
Last edited by petunia; 11/20/12 03:57 PM. Reason: apologies for rambling!
