GT Seminar I: The Kindergarten Debate

     After reading this article, I can easily compare Wang and Aamodt's findings to those of Malcolm Glawell's findings in chapter one of The Outliers. I can compare both of these viewpoints, because they both believe that birthdates are a key factor towards your success. For example, in The Outliers, Gladwell goes to talk about how hockey players born right after the cutoff date have the best chances of going professional. He states that this is because the kids born in January obviously have had more time to mature than those born in December of the same year. In the article about Kindergarten, they frequently mention the term, "redshirting." Redshirting is when you delay a students participation in school to have him "a leg up" on his future classmates. Personally, I find myself agreeing mostly with Wang and Aamodt's theory that starting something late can actually be a disadvantage. Children should start all activities as soon as possible. In my case, I would rather work with kids who start off as more talented than me. When people are better than me at anything, I strive to beat them. It's just in my competitive nature. I bring this characteristic with me whether I'm in the classroom or on the softball field. Being the younger kid can end up being better for you, and can help to push you to reach your own goals. I truly believe the words Wang and Aamodt have written; and this article is pretty interesting to me. In the end, you can say that I am a supporter of Wang and Aamodt's theory, that starting something late can actually be a disadvantage.