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<title><![CDATA[Comments for entry "Parenting that Makes a Difference" at Dilbert.com Blog]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/752]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Regular thoughts and updates from Dilbert.com]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from toddmedema]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1408607]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Maybe on an incredibly macro scale, but I was a year young in my school, and I graduated salutatorian and went to CMU (enjoyed your earlier comic about that, btw)...so, I disagree :P

My counterpoint would be that younger minds tend to learn faster, so if your child gets into school earlier, they could potentially pick things up faster...which seems like just as big an advantage. Hard to tell, though, without doing a huge research study]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[ThuPMCDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from XX_EE]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1395417]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Unstructured play time is first; letting the child choose and read as many books as he or she wants is second. 

I was one of the youngest kids in my classes, but I was unusually bright; I tended to catch on so quickly that I was usually bored anyway. My sister was one of the oldest kids in her classes, and she always did fine, too.

You're not planning to have kids yourself at this late stage, are you [wink, wink]?]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Ham24]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1375218]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[It doesn't matter what month one is born...what matters is inner desire.

My sister was the oldest.  She received all of the priviledges, etc.  My brother was the youngest.  He was the baby and received all of the attention.  I was in the middle.  Or, as I like to say, &quot;I got whatever was left over.&quot;

My sister had a very outgoing personality.  She was the life of the party.  And, boy, did she party.  She snuck out of the house, disappeared for days on end, and pretty much cut half of each school year going out to parties.  My brother played sports -- baseball and golf.  He was quite good at it, and had a scholarship from a college to go play ball.  Unfortunately, he got injured his senior year of high school, and couldn't play.  He, too, pretty much cut half of his school year to work on baseball and golf.  My parents wrote this behavior in both.  For my sister, it was a &quot;stage&quot;.  For my brother, it was &quot;cute&quot;.  

I was neither the life of the party, or good in sports.  I spent my time reading.  When I wasn't reading, I was riding bikes.  I left home at age 17 -- tired of the double standard, and being held to a higher standard than was expected of the other two.  Perhaps it was for the best.  I served 10 years in the Military.  I was the first to graduate from college.  I have 3 degrees now, and am preparing to chase a 4th.  I have been all over the world traveling and working.  (My brother is almost 45, and still lives at home with my mother.  My sister is married, and, finally, settled down.)

I have 2 kids.  They are their own persons.  I don't hold them to some obscene standard.  I do enforce two rules: 1) Respect their Mother, and 2) No abuse toward each other.  A lifetime's worth of learning awaits them.  As long as they respect their mother, and don't kill each other -- or anyone else -- I've done my job.  

I won't be driving my kids to soccer practice.  I won't dress them in a suit and tie and send them to a snooty private school with spoiled silver spooners named &quot;Buffy&quot;, and &quot;Parker&quot;, and &quot;Mitsy&quot;.  I want mine to get bumps and bruises.  To play in the dirt.  To learn that everyone is not a winner.  

And, to learn that, yes, sometimes, life sucks.  It isn't fair.  

]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMCDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from SamWang]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1321733]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[As it turns out, there is a lot of research on this subject - though it is not portrayed well by Malcolm Gladwell. My fellow neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt and I wrote about academic redshirting for the New York Times last year. It can be found using the web search &quot;redshirting.&quot;

As we wrote then, &quot;academic redshirting&quot; - the practice of purposely holding a child back from entering kindergarten - is done for 1 in 11 children. There is a belief that this somehow gives kids an advantage. Thanks to Gladwell, the belief that parents do their children a favor by redshirting seems especially prevalent among business types. 

However, as Sandra and I pointed out, this is exactly backwards. After reviewing the evidence in depth, we found that the scientific research argues in the other direction: the advantage goes to children who are *young* for their year. 

It is ironic that Gladwell's original point has been taken up by ambitious parents who think they are doing their child a favor. The research evidence doesn't even hold for all sports; for example, it isn't true for women's sports, noncontact sports, or even some contact sports. In short, if you are trying to raise the next Wayne Gretzky, sure, hold your boy back. But if you want your child to achieve academically, become better-adjusted, and avoid delinquency - all signs point toward letting him or her advance.

Sam Wang
Author, Welcome To Your Child's Brain
Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology, Princeton University]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriAMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from SamWang]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1307016]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[As it turns out, Mr. Adams's essay has it exactly backwards. The evidence quoted by other commenters is also interpreted incorrectly. My fellow neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt and I wrote about academic redshirting for the New York Times last year. It can be found using the web search &quot;redshirting.&quot;

As we wrote then, &quot;academic redshirting&quot; - the practice of purposely holding a child back from entering kindergarten - is done for 1 in 11 children. There is a belief that this somehow gives kids an advantage. Thanks to Gladwell, the belief that parents do their children a favor by redshirting seems especially prevalent among business types. 

However, as Sandra and I pointed out, this is exactly backwards. After reviewing the evidence in depth, we found that the scientific research argues in the other direction: the advantage goes to children who are *young* for their year. 

It is ironic that Gladwell's original point has been taken up by ambitious parents who think they are doing their child a favor. The research evidence doesn't even hold for all sports; for example, it isn't true for women's sports, noncontact sports, or even some contact sports. In short, if you are trying to raise the next Wayne Gretzky, sure, hold your boy back. But if you want your child to achieve academically, become better-adjusted, and avoid delinquency - all signs point toward letting him or her advance.

To read more about this topic, readers are welcome to visit the website for my book, Welcome To Your Brain.

Sam Wang
Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology
Princeton University
]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[ThuAMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from SamWang]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1286880]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[As it turns out, Mr. Adams's essay has it exactly backwards. The evidence quoted by other commenters is also interpreted incorrectly. My fellow neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt and I wrote about academic redshirting for the New York Times last year: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/dont-delay-your-kindergartners-start.html

As we wrote then, &quot;academic redshirting&quot; - the practice of purposely holding a child back from entering kindergarten - is done for 1 in 11 children. There is a belief that this somehow gives kids an advantage. Thanks to Gladwell, the belief that parents do their children a favor by redshirting seems especially prevalent among business types. 

However, as Sandra and I pointed out, this is exactly backwards. After reviewing the evidence in depth, we found that the scientific research argues in the other direction: the advantage goes to children who are *young* for their year. 

It is ironic that Gladwell's original point has been taken up by ambitious parents who think they are doing their child a favor. The research evidence doesn't even hold for all sports; for example, it isn't true for women's sports, noncontact sports, or even some contact sports. In short, if you are trying to raise the next Wayne Gretzky, sure, hold your boy back. But if you want your child to achieve academically, become better-adjusted, and avoid delinquency - all signs point toward letting him or her advance.

To read more about this topic, readers are welcome to visit my website, welcometoyourbrain.com.

Sam Wang
Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology
Princeton University]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TuePMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="false"><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1286880]]></guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from SamWang]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1286875]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[s it turns out, Mr. Adams's essay has it exactly backwards. The evidence quoted by other commenters is also interpreted incorrectly. My fellow neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt and I wrote about academic redshirting for the New York Times last year: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/dont-delay-your-kindergartners-start.html

As we wrote then, &quot;academic redshirting&quot; - the practice of purposely holding a child back from entering kindergarten - is done for 1 in 11 children. There is a belief that this somehow gives kids an advantage. Thanks to Gladwell, the belief that parents do their children a favor by redshirting seems especially prevalent among business types. 

However, as Sandra and I pointed out, this is exactly backwards. After reviewing the evidence in depth, we found that the scientific research argues in the other direction: the advantage goes to children who are *young* for their year. 

It is ironic that Gladwell's original point has been taken up by ambitious parents who think they are doing their child a favor. The research evidence doesn't even hold for all sports; for example, it isn't true for women's sports, noncontact sports, or even some contact sports. In short, if you are trying to raise the next Wayne Gretzky, sure, hold your boy back. But if you want your child to achieve academically, become better-adjusted, and avoid delinquency - all signs point toward letting him or her advance.

To read more about this topic, readers are welcome to look at the scientific evidence, which is all linked at welcometoyourbrain.com.

Sam Wang
Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology
Princeton University]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TuePMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from quicksilver]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1285649]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[I'm going to get downvoted but I say the bes non-optional thing I've done for my kids is that they don't watch TV or nintendo.  None.  We have no cable or rabbit ears.   Guess what?  They like each other and are able to play and love to read.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from shortsonthehighway]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1281874]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Interesting subject matter, of which I am no means an expert and can only offer my own experience:

I was born in November, and was reading by age 3. Mom thought I was advancing too quickly to keep at home, so she fudged my birth certificate (district rules said the child had to be 5 by start of school year) and put me in school.  For years I was the youngest in my classes, which also meant I was the typically the smallest (no star athelete, was I). My younger brother was born in August, so he started on time with his peers-and he was usually average size along with his classmates.  Now, fast forward 40 years later for me-I have two college degrees, retired after 21 years Army, now work for a different govt agency, have investments and am married to a woman with 3 college degrees (most importantly, I am happy with my life. Success?)  My brother dropped out of high school, has a minor criminal record, a history of drug use and struggles to pay bills. He married a nice woman and has a terrific young daughter, so his good luck must be ruled out of this experiment.  I would lend credence to the study Mr. Adams mentions-IQ definitely was a factor in our family's story, as both my brother and I were tested in school, with my results being well above average, and my brother's average.

The difficult part for me now is my children, twins born in December.  We have a decision to make that could possibly affect their entire lives.  I hope they both test out smart!]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from april26]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1278524]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Research I saw today shows that in BC (Canada) children born late in the year have a 25% greater chance of being diagnosed with ADHD. 

Being diagnosed is something like that can really impact on your health (pumped with pills), life, foundation for education and self-esteem, when the real problem is that the child is less emotionally mature in comparison to the class average.

I was more than a year younger than my classmates (my mother was the school secretary and because I could already read and count they let me go into grade 1 when I was 5.)  I think as a girl you don't have many of the issues that boys have with bullying etc. but I was a little short so I kept to sports like swimming and tennis where size wasn't important and never did well.

Near the end of school my friends were all going to parties and were interested in boys long before me so I was a little left out, but then I ended up doing better academically without the distractions. By the time I was permitted to wear make-up and date, I had seen all my friends go through traumatic relationships, and I could avoid some of the traps. 

You make the best of what you're given.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[TueAMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from SamWang]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1264917]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[As it turns out, Mr. Adams's essay has it exactly backwards. The evidence quoted by other commenters is also interpreted incorrectly. My fellow neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt and I wrote about academic redshirting for the New York Times last year: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/dont-delay-your-kindergartners-start.html

As we wrote then, &quot;academic redshirting&quot; - the practice of purposely holding a child back from entering kindergarten - is done for 1 in 11 children. There is a belief that this somehow gives kids an advantage. Thanks to Gladwell, the belief that parents do their children a favor by redshirting seems especially prevalent among business types. 

However, as Sandra and I pointed out, this is exactly backwards. After reviewing the evidence in depth, we found that the scientific research argues in the other direction: the advantage goes to children who are *young* for their year. 

It is ironic that Gladwell's original point has been taken up by ambitious parents who think they are doing their child a favor. The research evidence doesn't even hold for all sports; for example, it isn't true for women's sports, noncontact sports, or even some contact sports. In short, if you are trying to raise the next Wayne Gretzky, sure, hold your boy back. But if you want your child to achieve academically, become better-adjusted, and avoid delinquency - all signs point toward letting him or her advance.

To read more about this topic, readers are welcome to visit my website, welcometoyourbrain.com.

Sam Wang
Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology
Princeton University]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[SunPMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="false"><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1264917]]></guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from SamWang]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1264727]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[As it turns out, Mr. Adams's essay has it exactly backwards. The evidence quoted by other commenters is also interpreted incorrectly. My fellow neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt and I wrote about academic redshirting for the New York Times last year: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/dont-delay-your-kindergartners-start.html

As we wrote then, &quot;academic redshirting&quot; - the practice of purposely holding a child back from entering kindergarten - is done for 1 in 11 children. There is a belief that this somehow gives kids an advantage. Thanks to Gladwell, the belief that parents do their children a favor by redshirting seems especially prevalent among business types. 

However, as Sandra and I pointed out, this is exactly backwards. After reviewing the evidence in depth, all the scientific evidence argues in the other direction. In fact, the advantages goes to children who are *young* for their year. 

It is ironic that Gladwell's original point has been taken up by ambitious parents who think they are doing their child a favor. The research evidence doesn't even hold for all sports; for example, it isn't true for women's sports, noncontact sports, or even some contact sports. In short, if you are trying to raise the next Wayne Gretzky, sure, hold your boy back. But if you want your child to achieve academically, become better-adjusted, and avoid delinquency - all signs point toward letting him or her advance.

To read more about this topic, readers are welcome to visit my website, welcometoyourbrain.com.

Sam Wang
Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology
Princeton University]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[SunPMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Chairman]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1259926]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Born in February, pushed into the class ahead.  Always the youngest in the class, and the smartest.  But I never had the social or emotional development of the rest of the class, never fit in and still don't.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[SunPMCSTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from arnolddsouza]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1242356]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[They covered this in the first Freakonomics book.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[SatAMCSTE_Rrdrd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from GovBert]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1240945]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[When I read this I thought that Scott gets funnier after a few cosmopolitans, and that it was bunk.  That was 2 days ago.  Thinking about it now I realized he might be onto something.  I come from a family of 6 kids with birthdays distributed from oldest (1) to youngest (6): 1) June, 2) Mid March, 3) April, 4) Mid March, 5) May, 6) Late March.

The higher education degrees attained by my siblings and I, in the same order as the birthday months are: 1) PhD Animal Science, 2) Did Not Finish BS Animal Science, 3) Bachelor Business, 4) Did Not Finish Bachelor Arts, 5) MS Mech Engineering, 6) BS Animal Science.  Based on this, there is a direct correlation between birth month and degree level attained.

However to assume causation without any more evidence is shoddy science at best, but it is very interesting that it worked out so well.  Also, in our school district the cutoff for a class was being born before Sept 15.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from oconnellc]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1240174]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Praise your children for their effort, not for their accomplishments.  I just finished reading &quot;Welcome to your Child's Brain&quot;.  Fantastic.  Written by a couple neurosurgeons...  Children will do what it takes to continue to get your praise.  If you praise them for being smart, they won't try anything hard, because they won't excel at it and won't earn your praise.  The 'older' child who breezes through grade/high school thinking they are brilliant are screwed when they get to college.

The worst thing you can 'optionally' do?  Give your child Ritalin to help them concentrate and get better grades (note, I'm excluding children who actually have attention 'issues' and need it).]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from leiapiztha]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1233562]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Wow.  That's amazing.  I always assumed it was vast personality differences, but maybe you're right!  My older sister was born July 9th, and was always among the youngest in her class.  I was born December 28th, and thusly was among the oldest.  I had no trouble making friends with a wide variety of people, was always considered &quot;gifted&quot; (intelligence-wise...not athletically).  My sister was always awkward with making friends, and to this very day doesn't really have any friends that didn't start out as my friends.  I'm more successful in business and socially.  Sad to think it may be something as simple as birth month...but it now makes me supremely happy that my twins were born in December.  Interestingly (perhaps) my husband is also a December baby (which makes for an expensive month) and he also was &quot;gifted&quot; in school - both intellectually and athletically. That's nifty!]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from bushidomonk]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1223913]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[To answer your hypothesis, I was born in November, which put me about 40 days from being the oldest in my school year. I did well, so well that two months in, I actually skipped third grade and was put in fourth. Then I became the youngest of my class. 

I admit I had some trouble adapting socially. It literally took years to get back to the standing I had with people of 'my age'. But that's setting aside the academic and sports domain. I had no problem whatsoever in any disciplines. I have two siblings, both in average months. They're doing rather well in their adult lives, but I'd say, given some objective and some subjective points, that I'm the most successful of the three, although I spent most of my school years as the youngest person in my class.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from TexasBob]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1222907]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[A very interesting theory.  I am the second of five of which the youngest is 30 and the oldest 40.  My older sister has an early birthday (September) and the rest of us have late birthdays ranging from May to July.  The two most successful (in a &quot;doing great, but could be homeless in a week if we lose our jobs&quot; sort of way) both have late-month birthdays.  The older sibling with the early birth month advantage is less successful compared to two of the four late-month siblings in my family.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from jeffw_00]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/1222610]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[I think if you did a study, you'd find that both the oldest and youngest excel (the youngest are most aware of their difference, so most likely to actually try to do something significant to compensate).

Scott - how do your comments square with the observation that girls mature faster than boys, so intellectually, across gender, there could be as much as 2  year spread in intellectual maturity within a class, with young boys at the bottom and older girls at the top.  This may be consistent with the concentration of girls at the top of college graduating classes recently.]]></description>
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