So I have to make a very crucial decision about my 6yo regarding retention in first grade and would really appreciate some mommy to mommy advice. Just a little background on my daughters particular situation...... * Bday wise- She should have been in K this year, not 1st -I chose to move her on to 1st grade because she had completed K at a private school with different age requirements than the public school and was doing fine academically, so there really was no reason for her to repeat K at the time. * Halfway through the year, she was really struggling with her reading tests and math and the teacher was somewhat concerned. I almost pulled her out at that point and put her back in a K class, but teacher did not agree, as she thought it would be too disruptive, so we didn't. * Age-wise- she is obviously the youngest in her class. Would be going to 2nd grade at 6 years old and then turning 7 in Sept. In our district all kids are already 7 going into 2nd grade. * She is aware of her age difference and the fact that she should be in K and has been actually expressing lately that she wants to repeat 1st grade! * She is also in a dual language program (half day English/half day Spanish) with 2 different teachers. The program is challenging in and of itself and the children actually have to be at a certain level to be in the program (she has always met the minimum criteria). They are pretty much all above average kids and I can see that compared to the other 1st grade classes, their work has been more challenging. So, now fast forward to the present...... Just met with the teachers today and bottom line is that they BOTH recommend moving on to 2nd grade. They are also recommending her to stay in the dual language program (which she again met the minimum criteria for). She also shared her end of year test scores with me and she had a 76%(percent) in reading and a 65% in math. This is basically a test that covers what they should have learned all year. But by these scores I truly don't feel like she has mastered 1st grade curriculum. The teachers reasons for moving on......they feel she is mature and at the same level of the other kids. They are concerned that it will hurt her socially to repeat 1st and not move on with her friends and they feel that although she will have to work hard, that she can hold her own if she were to move on to 2nd. So overall, they basically don't think retention will really benefit her all that much, as I don't think they truly feel she is behind! In the public schools, especially in the primary years, their main focus is reading! My hesitations with moving her on........SEVERAL. She's not in the right grade age-wise and she is begging me to hold her back because she wants to be the oldest, rather than the youngest! I'm thinking long-term, when she goes to middle/high school this could have a much bigger impactl. I'm also scared that the difficulties with math (that are so developmental IMO) will only get worst. That she will always be expected to behave and perform a whole year older than what she should be. That she always feels like she's one step behind, trying to catch up, when in reality she is a very bright little girl. And that it's either now or never for me to retain her! You get my point! If she were to stay in 1st next year..... She would have a totally different curriculum in the spanish part of her day. Basically, they were using a K spanish curriculum this year since it was the 1st year of the dual language program and they felt the kids needed this foundation. So next year, she will be getting the 1st grade spanish reading curriculum. So at the very least she will be challenged in that area. The english part of the day, however, will remain for the most part the same, but the teacher assured she would differentiate instruction for her in reading. If she were to go to 2nd next year..... She would be doing a 2nd grade spanish reading curriculum. So in essence, she would be going from a K spanish curriculum (this year)to a 2nd grade curriculum. That alone does not make sense to me and I fear I just may be putting too much on her plate. So now I don't know what to do, listen to her teachers, listen to my child, or listen to my gut? The school is giving me the final say on things because of the age factor no matter what and the teacher said that the final decision was mine and that she would support me no matter what I decide. I am very back and forth on this and tend to over think things a lot! So I know it's a very long post but just wanted to get some opinions based on all the new information, scores, etc. Just some additional info I forgot to add (since there's so many details) Her RIGBY reading level is at a level 19, and 16 is minimum criteria to be promoted to 2nd. I think this is mainly why the teacher thinks she should move on. They really technically do not have a valid reason to retain her. She feels that I should just tutor her over the summer in her weak areas of math so she catches up in that area. But the way I see it, she could a B/C average student if she moves on, with a probably a lot of work/tutoring or an A/B student if she were in the right grade. But I'm not sure if this is really a tutoring over the summer thing, as the teacher suggested. I think certain things are just developmental and the brain just gets it when you are ready to get it. As to why she wants to do 1st again? I think it's a combination of things. Well, she says she wants to be the oldest to be the leader and she says that 2nd grade is going to be too hard! I think it also has to do with her LOVING her teacher and wanting to stay with her because it feels reassuring to her, she is also a very shy little girl and this teacher has actually really helped her blossom this year. I did actually ask her how she would feel about all her friends moving on to 2nd grade? and she said she didn't care about that and that she would just make new friends. I do worry very much though about how this will truly affect her. So should I retain or have faith (and a whole lot of tutoring) and push on?

do you feel is/are an absolute must to continue over the summer? I'm asking because I worry about my ds "losing" information and us having to spend unnecessary time in the fall reviewing. I'm thinking we'll continue with math practice, but is there something else I should be worrying about? Thanks!

(No, not of water.....) As I mentioned below, my sons are dragging themselves through French, protesting that it's pointless because they "won't remember any of it anyway." Sad, but likely true.... Now, certain subject areas build on previous knowledge/ skills, such as math or writing skills. But what do you do about retention of content-focused subjects--history, geography, even science? Despite our years spent on studies in these areas, I know my sons have little recollection of much of what was in, say, astronomy or biology or Renaissance history. I confess that my great fear is that they will be put on the spot, as it were, by instructors they may encounter beyond homeschool and reveal what will appear to be (and perhaps truly be) their/ my educational failures. It's the rare person, like SWB, who has a photographic memory and just plan remembers everything she reads! But there must be some sort of happy medium--so how do you determine just what degree of retention is reasonable or expected in any given subject area, and to what end?