Is this ready for the likes of Kindergarten?
I'm in an internal debate on this topic. He'll be one of the younger ones because of his mid-June birthday.
Pros of Starting Next Year
- extra year to gain more self-confidence (very shy)
- extra year to grow (he's fairly small)
- extra year to spend time with family
- when he does start, he'll be ahead academically
- ????
Cons of Starting Next Year
- will kids think he's dumb because he's older?
- other kids his age (cousins and in primary) will be a grade ahead
- ????
Pros of Starting Next Year
- extra year to gain more self-confidence (very shy)
- extra year to grow (he's fairly small)
- extra year to spend time with family
- when he does start, he'll be ahead academically
- ????
Cons of Starting Next Year
- will kids think he's dumb because he's older?
- other kids his age (cousins and in primary) will be a grade ahead
- ????
AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!
Opinions anyone?
7 comments:
That is a tough one. I have talked to several moms lately that have decided to keep their kid home an extra year. I have heard alot, lately, that boys tend to need an extra year to mature and be ready. I don't know? But I am wishing that I would have kept Bryce back a year. He consistenly test a year behind the grade he is in & gets really frustrated with the work from the grade he is "suppose" to be in. I really wish I had kept him home longer. Now that I am going to work for Bryan, for a little while, & sending the kids to school, I am really wishing I had kept him home an extra year. He needed it, so now I have the decision to put him in third grade or hold him back. Being a parent is hard sometimes with all the decisions we have to make trying to do the right thing. :( Good Luck! I know that is a tough one.
Oh this is a good topic. I held my June and July birthday boys, and March actually. Haven't ever, ever regretted that decision. They weren't fully ready for different reasons (social, speech...) and this gave them the time to get ready, and most importantly, allows them to be at the top of their class physically and academically. My mom sent my brother (August) right when he turned five and he says he wishes our mother had held him back a year so he could reach his peak athletically. Academically it's probably good he went. Good luck! You'll do what's best for your boy.
Thanks girls (Liz & Kim) for your comments. I have also been trying to figure out what was best for my little boy (well, i guess he isn't so little). But I felt like he needed to stay back but I have been trying to convence Bryan. These boys some times need us to help them see things clearer! haha. I think your right, that being in a new school, new area and coming from Homeschooling the past 1 1/2, he won't know what he is missing. I love having a blog so that we ask each others opinions. Thanks again girls! Liz, I hope I helped you too! LOL
i know without experience with kids i can't offer much, but i have been on both sides of the issue. I was born on the deadline, so i was always the oldest in my class until i skipped fifth grade and then i was the youngest. for me, it was best to skip. i was really awkward until then because i always thought of myself as older. i was bossy, dorky, and way too into school. skipping a grade made me more social and normal.
however, i think it is way different for a boy. would caleb have better oppurtunities to play sports if you waited a year? i know that isn't all that matters, but the kid LOVES it, and that alone may be worth it. on the other hand, i think it is great for a boy to spend a year in college before a mission... but that is far off.
the thing is, he is your kid, and you definitely know what is best for him. better to hold him back now than in first or second grade. we ALWAYS knew the kids who got "held back."
I don't know...your answer, but Joel and I already know ours for Jack. His birthday is July 10, and we are holding him back. They say with boys there are really No developmental cons for holding them back. I might change my mind with Jack, when the time comes, but right now I am holding him back. I am thinking later years too...I don't want to have to deal with the driving issue and dating when all of his friends can and he can't. I also want to send him straight on his mission out of High School. Some like to get a little mature by attending college for a year, but I want to let him do his Junior year summer at a church school and then the following summer send him. Joel...all he is worried about is strength for football...who knows if the kids will actually like sports, although it is highly probable :). Good luck! What a HARD decision!
Just thinking about you since school started yesterday & wondered what you guys decided to do? I took mine to school yesterday & I think it was harder for me than it was for them. So far so good, they love it. We will see when the fun of the first week is over & they get down to business if they all still love it.
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