15 September, 2009

Amy School ~~Update~~

We had such a hard decision to make yesterday...Our Amy got accepted for Grade 1 she will be 6 in Jan '10....so we where super excited, but then when I spoke to her current teacher, she said that academically she is bright and very ready and will do very well, but socially and emotionally she does not think she is ready...so I think we will be putting her into Grade 0 rather...I think it is the right decision, so that she can mature a bit more...!!!

Do you think it the right thing to do...? Would love some feedback please...

13 comments :

  1. when i read your post about it yesterday, i thought 'oh oh'!

    personally i believe that a child should
    never go to school earlier. they might be ready academically, but not emotionally.

    when she is ready, school will always be easier for her. especially since her birthday is so early in the year, she will be older than so many of her classmates.

    why would you not want her school life to be easier? and why would you be in such a hurry for her to be 'big'?

    the pressure our kids face these days is huge. life is hard enough to cope with. why would you want to risk making it harder for her?

    that is just my opinion. :-) it is still your decision.
    good luck!

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  2. Hey Sophs

    I also thought she may not be ready BUT she is a mature 6-year old emotionally so I think she will cope ... However, Grade 0 is a fantastic stepping-stone for school readiness ... My niece, Caitie was ready for school academically at the same age but my sister sent her to Grade 0 instead because of the same comment by her Pre-school Teacher ...

    In many ways, it was a good decision but academically she is bored as she is way ahead of the other kids ... especially in reading ...

    I don't think this is a bad thing necessarily but I think each child is different and should be assessed accordingly ...

    You have a tough decision to make - I don't know which route I would take ...

    Jacki is right - you don't want her to grow up too fast with too much pressure - that's also no good ...

    Good Luck, my friend ... have been of no use ... tee hee ... but am here if you want to chat or vent ... tee hee ...

    Love, T xxx

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  3. Hi Sophia!

    Okay - this is sooo my question! We never even CONTEMPLATED keeping Sabrina back because she was always on track academically, and was emotionally ready and in line with her peers, so we were assured she was READY.

    In Grade one she coped extremely well academically and is currently in an extension class and is an A student - BUT - socially and sometimes emotionally it has been A STRUGGLLE to keep up with the pace - up until Gr 3 she was always last to keep up, and finish her work and often had to stay in at break. Her Gr 1 teacher who was very pro keeping children back, and did so with her own, was the first one to raise the issue with us. She We wanted to keep her back but her teacher said "too late" - academically she would get bored so we had to push through. Emotionally she is such a well adjusted child, but even to this day, she still chooses to be a "little girl" if you know what I mean, and it gets trickier as they grow older from a social perspective. In Gr 2 Sabrina herself once said to me that she wished i had kept her back - I was stunned. She slowly came right in Gr 3, and now she flies academically, but if I could do it all over again I would DEFINITELY have kept her back in Gr 0 from a SOCIAL and self confidence perspective, and to avoid her having to have fought so hard to keep up.

    These little ones that are borderline are the most difficult ones, especially if they fare well academically...so that's my story - good luck and remember..mothers ALWAYS know what's best for THEIR children.

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  4. I have to tell you at our school "emotional maturity" is always preferred & we prefer to take them a year later. My own daughter (27 now ) was kept back in class one & it was traumatic for her & us - its much easier in grade 0. Which we didn't have then LOL.

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  5. My DD's birthday is the end of October and we kept her back in grade 0, we had her assessed and she was borderline - academically she would cope but emotionally they had concerns.
    She is grade 3 now, a lot of her friends are in grade 4. When it comes to athletics and swimming she competes in her age group and not with her class.
    All the teachers have said it was the best for her though.
    So now she is one of the top students instead of being one of the struggling to keep up students.

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  6. I never had that decision to make with Leanne and Grant. Leanne was 5 turning 6 in the year she started school and was the youngest in her class (birthday in May) and Grant was already 6 when he started school (birthday early January). Now with the introduction of Grade 0, I think i is meant to be the stepping stone between nursery school and "big"school and I am sure that it would be better to keep Amy back now, than later on when she has established friends and they all go to a higher grade. You will make the right decision for her.

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  7. Hello & congrats to her for making grade 1! I think it's better to start from the beginning to the end rather than skip because maybe there are a few other things to learn. As well as, maturing (like you said). Hope all is well! Take care<3

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  8. she is going to be a big girl for the rest of her life!! Emotionally it is so important for her to be strong to cope in the big world - i think gr 0 is the best decision you'll ever make! Better now than later - when all her friends move on and she has to stay behind. Good luck with your decision - it is not an easy one - good thing you have a choice.

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  9. Add in my two cents worth.... having a little guy (in stature mainly) who's birthday is at the end of the year.. he is one of the youngest in his class... academically one of the brightest though... and thankfully has settled very well. I see some of the other kids you are younger than him (ie turned 7 right at the end of Grade 1 - like Amy would) actually battled with school work and making friends. Aaron also took about six months to actually settle in to Grade 1... but made the transition to Grade 2 without a hitch! The emotional readiness does play quite a big role... so maybe best that at this stage you keep her in Grade 0... rather now than later in life when these things get noticed by their peers.

    Hope all our bits and pieces help you and don't lead to more confusion. Just remember, she is your child, you're a great mom and you know best!

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  10. I think the absolute best person in the world to guide you on this is Amy's existing teacher, she will have Amy's best interests at heart and will also understand the education system better then anyone. If it was me I would probably go with her advice - specially if your gut says the same thing.
    xxx
    A

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  11. Hi,

    A bit late I know. When I first read your other post i also was a tad concerned. As bright as she is, if she is not emotionally mature enough she is going to struggle. And she's little still. Why the rush? Let her be a child for just that year longer! Once they start school, it's hard work.

    Good luck. Am sure she'll do fabulously in Gr 0 and which will just give her good grounding for the rest of her school career.

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  12. Sophia, don't know you- arrived on your blog via clicking scrap Convention buddies' links-- But for what it is worth here is what happened to me-- I skipped 2 grades in a row (due to being academically inclined) when I was VERY young in the private, boarding school system. at 12'ish my parents settled in SA & gave me the choice of continuing as I was or coming home-- Most boarding school brats would have done as I did-- I chose home. I sailed through school & 2 University degrees without any academic stress whatsoever BUT I will forever carry the scars of landing (totally without any frame of reference) in a class of hormonal teenagers, average age 14, class sl*t and chief bully was 15... BTW am pushing 50 now so please take into account that was a much gentler(!) world. Wish you and your daughter well.

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  13. Think you made a good decision. If she's not emotionally ready it can be hard.....maybe not now but when she's older, say early teens.

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Thanks for stopping by, I love reading all your comments...♥