1. My new haircut. Intended to do this 9 weeks after L was born -- 9 1/2 months later, I finally felt ready to give up my easy ponytail look!
2. Thinking a lot about this article on "red shirting" your kid. L's birthday is May 24th, which will make her one of the young ones in her class -- did any of you have that experience growing up?
3. Excited about my interview series next week -- you can read more about it here. Can't wait to share the views of these five women with you!
4. Heading out of town this weekend to visit my in-laws in beautiful, warm, sunny Florida. Expect lots of pictures when we get back!
5. Speaking of sunshine, we've had so much of it this week, plus some downright balmy temperatures. Somebody's been very excited:
6. Do you subscribe to NPR Book Notes? It's one of the ways I find recommendations for new books that aren't just fluffy bestsellers. This week's pick on how habits form sounds fascinating (did you hear about how Target's spending habit-based marketing made the dad of a secretly-pregnant teen go ballistic? It's all in the book!)
7. I'm dying to try these two recipes. And I'm starting to try to find the perfect first-birthday cake for L -- let me know if you have a great suggestion!
8. Guilty pleasure this week: watching the first couple of seasons of Medium on Netflix. I don't believe in any of that stuff, but it sucks me in somehow. And I can't get enough of their middle daughter! Definitely wouldn't mind if L turned out as quirky and spunky as that...
9. Chag Purim Sameach, a little late!
Happy weekend, all :)
Cute haircut!! Also love L's little face in that last one. So fun. Enjoy Florida:)
ReplyDeleteLove the new haircut! It looks great on you
ReplyDeleteHello there! I SO need a haircut too and this has me inspired.
ReplyDeleteand re: redshirting - I was one of the youngest in my class with my birthday at the end of September. You said your daughter's birthday is in May, so I am assuming that the dates have already been cut back so far that I wouldn't have even made the cut to my class if I were born today. When I started my senior year of high school I was only 16. When I was in elementary school (1st and 2nd grades) I think my parents thought of holding me back, but I remember being terrified and horrified at the prospect. I didn't want to be seen as "stupid" OR to lose all the friends that I had already made. Growing up and going through school I always remembered a couple kids who's parents held them back (one in kindergarten and one in 2nd) and after that point they were a year behind me and it was always really weird that they were no longer in my grade. Obviously school is about education, but there is a lot of education that goes beyond the books and that includes socialization and teaching children how to interact in society. I think it's a great idea to red shirt a kid, but I can't stress enough the importance of doing it before they actually enter school and make bonds with classmates. I obviously turned out fine, and by the time I was in middle school I was testing at a high school senior level. But, do I think I would have benefited by being a year behind? I turned out fine, but I do think it could have only helped or made things better, if not for cognitive development but for emotional maturity levels.
Cori, Studio One. You can tell her I sent you. ;)
DeleteThe cut-off date for the school district where I grew up was August 15th, I believe -- I had two friends who had the same birthday at the beginning of August but one was exactly a year older. I don't know what the policy is here...it's just been on the brain!
It's funny that you mention "redshirting." We were talking about it yesterday at playgroup, and it's something that we're going to seriously consider as the time gets closer. Noah's birthday is in August, and so he'll be among the youngest in his class. I'm definitely not opposed to is, especially since boys tend to be behind girls developmentally anyway.
ReplyDeleteLove your new haircut! That picture of L is adorable! Hope you have fun in FL, can't wait to see pictures!! Oh and I love the show Medium too, I always get sucked in!
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing a lot about redshirting too, I'm not sure what we are going to do yet but from experience it was hard being the youngest in my class in a lot of different ways.
I'd love to hear more about your experience, Jennifer -- future post?
DeleteSure I would love to write a post about it hopefully in the near future! Right now our computer is getting fixed so I wont be writing much this week since I'm doing it from my phone.
DeleteLove the haircut! Very cute!
ReplyDeleteThat article on red-shirting your kid is really interesting. Avery is a June baby, and she actually IS the youngest kid in her preschool class. I was talking with her teachers and they said she was right on track with starting kindergarten on time. But they said that each parent should consider where their child is at developmentally when they start kindergarten, whether they are summer babies or not. Sometimes kids that have fall and winter birthdays are better candidates for being held back than summer babies just because of how they learn. It was really interesting to hear them talk about it.
A few little girls in her class started a 4-year-old ballet class together, which Avery can't do because she is too young. So she's had a hard time understanding that, because she wants to do ballet really bad. It's pretty sad. : (
Stephanie, the ballet class example is definitely something I worry about -- my birthday is in January, so I was always smack-dab in the middle of the pack. But it's good to hear that her teachers think everything will be fine even if she is a little young!
DeleteLove your haircut!
ReplyDeleteI love the hair!
ReplyDeleteRedshirting is an interesting topic. As a teacher, I saw some children who I think it worked really well for, but on the whole my personal opinion is that it does not benefit the child. It seems to me that giving a child the opportunity to be among children slightly younger can build confidence by giving them an edge, and can give them the opportunity to be something of a mentor, and some children may benefit from that, but it's not challenging. This is an older NYTimes piece on the issue that really has me convinced that for most children it is not the best idea: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/dont-delay-your-kindergartners-start.html?_r=1&emc=eta1 Personally, I was the youngest person in my grade all four years of high school and I can see a number of ways in which that benefited me.
Enjoy Florida! I look forward to those pictures!
LOVE the haircut!! And regarding red shirting, Ellie is a Nov baby, and the schools here just moved the cutoffs from Dec to Sept. So problem solved...we have no choice! She will HAVE to wait one additional year before starting kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteKyna
Your hair is really cute!
ReplyDeleteI actually had a conversation about redshirting with my daycare provider the other day. I've been thinking about it a lot since Liam's a May baby, too.
My brother was born in July. He did really well on the kindergarten prescreening, so mom sent him to school shortly after he turned 5. She regretted it later on, because she felt like he wasn't emotionally prepared.
Instead of going straight into college after high school, he joined the National Guard-- he spent a year at basic training then at AIT. He's since been really successful. I tend to agree that redshirting probably doesn't have a major impact on the rest of a child's life but may have some immediate impact for some children.