Does anyone use calendar years for grades/promotion?

[scrappyhappymama]

I am considering switching the timing for our grading and promotion to the calendar year instead of the school year. I am wondering if anyone else does this, and if so why? I am also interested in any pros and cons.

 

For us, there are several reasons I am considering this. This most important one is that I feel it would fit the way my children's ages/grades fall better. For example, my first son's birthday is mid-June, so he is always "youngest in class." We started him in pre-k at just turned 4 and in K at just turned 5. Academically he is doing fine, but socially he is a little more immature than some of his peers and he is also very small physically, so it stands out. He also already bemoans the idea of growing up and having to leave his family. I know he'll feel differently when he's there, but still, on the schedule we have now, he'll be graduating at 17 and off to college at just-turned-18. I honestly think he would be just as happy to graduate in Dec at 18, and then have a little time off before starting college, or maybe even easing into it with a few spring classes. I *know* I am over-thinking the future a bit for an 8 year old, but I'd rather make a change now rather than later. I also think I could easily sell the change now- telling him we are going to finish up 2nd grade this fall and start 3rd in January.

 

It would also work well for our second son. He turns 6 at the end of October. Right now, he's not quite ready for 1st grade, and we have K work we are still working on. But, I also have a hard time seeing waiting another full year to start 1st with him. He's really in-between, and I think he'd benefit from several months of K and then starting 1st in January.

 

We also homeschool year-round, and especially through the summer since it's so hot here. We take breaks in the spring and fall when the weather is nice and usually take off a long break for the holidays in December. It just seems like this would be more conducive to a calendar year school schedule.

 

I know we'd have issues with grade level and promotions in other areas like sports and extra-curricular activities, but the ones that go by grade take my word for the grade level now, and others go by age so that would not be affected. Other than that, are there any other drawbacks I should consider?

[Laura Corin]

I'd only be concerned about outside classes. For your young-for-year child, you might want to consider dropping him down a whole year just for outside purposes, then keep him going with academically-appropriate work at home.

 

You are right though: children do change. Calvin started off as youngest in year (in Hong Kong, December 31st cut-off). Then I started home educating him and worked to the cut off used in England, so he was old in the year below. Then we moved to Scotland, where there is flexibility, and he has chosen to be youngest in year again when he goes to B&M school on Thursday. I could not have predicted this when he was younger, so I'm scrambling a bit to catch up in a couple of subjects.

 

He will be finished with school at 17 but is already planning his gap year in China and the States.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Wee Pip]

We did this with my 9yo, but it has been rather confusing and difficult. Her bday is Oct & our school cut-off is Dec 1st (so by school standards, she'd have been 4-turning-5 in K, youngest in class). To further confuse this, the teachers here (MI) strongly urge parents to NOT go by cut-off date and wait a year (stressing 5-turning-6, oldest in class option). I attended the K-round up meeting and frequently hear same advice from parents & teachers I talk to. So...what to do?

 

Going by a Jan 1st date makes social activities difficult to judge because it doesn't fall within the school cut-off. Do I put her in ending 3rd grade VBS or ending 4th grade? When she starts AWANA in the fall, do I put her with the grade level up or grade level down (because technically she'd be 4.5 grade level). Some things (AWANA) we picked that grade level when she was 5, so she is stuck with what we chose back then (so she's stuck in 5th gr for AWANA). For VBS, I "measure" her against the other kids - if she seems similar in height to the younger group, that's where she goes. Also, for some reason there was a huge birth of BOYS in 2000, so if I put dd in the upper grade level, she's usually the only girl with all boys. She hates that!!! LOL. So, it works out better to put her with youngers if there are more girls in that group.

 

Academically: our goal is to get our kids a bachelors degree by age 18/19. However, in "real life", I ended up repeating 2nd gr with her because she hit a bad attitude wall at age 7 (same age as her sister is now, who is also going thru that awful attitude phase, hmmmm). Then, we sped up to try to catch up, so we did the half year thing (Jan 1st grade transition). We school year round. By summer, I never felt like we made enough progress in our books, and was frustrated. I realized this year that I really needed a clear cut-off grade and a summer vacation:) So I'm bumping her up into 5th grade in all subjects except Math. (She reads very well and tested above avg in all subjects on the IOWA test).

 

All that to say...I think it can work for the relaxed family that isn't going to be stressed, frustrated, or confused by it...but it wasn't us! LOL.

[scrappyhappymama]

I'd only be concerned about outside classes. For your young-for-year child, you might want to consider dropping him down a whole year just for outside purposes, then keep him going with academically-appropriate work at home.

 

 

Thanks for the feedback! I'd really prefer not to drop an entire year I think. If we decide not to switch to calendar year, we'll probably stay as is. Academically, my son is at or above grade level. For example, he's the youngest in his Sunday school class, but the best reader in the class. So I really couldn't justify to him repeating all of 2nd grade. But he is not excited about moving up to third grade yet either (that whole feeling like he's growing up to fast) so I think he'd like ot continue 2nd for a while, knowing he'll start 3rd in a few months. Of course, these are all just labels. In actuality, we continue on where we left off in each subject and don't worry about specific grade levels.

 

He will be finished with school at 17 but is already planning his gap year in China and the States.

 

 

Right now, I think the gap year idea would be perfect for him. But I was in the same position as he, with a summer birthday and graduating at 17. I did well in school, so I saw waiting to go away to college as not quite measuring up somehow. My folks wanted me to spend a year or two locally taking a few classes, but at the time I felt like I'd worked hard in school, so I needed to go straight to university. I'm concerned my son will feel he needs to go straight on to university to justify his schooling,if that makes any sense. I'm thinking that a calendar year schedule will give him the flexibility to relax the timeline a bit. ;)

 

We did this with my 9yo, but it has been rather confusing and difficult. Her bday is Oct & our school cut-off is Dec 1st (so by school standards, she'd have been 4-turning-5 in K, youngest in class). To further confuse this, the teachers here (MI) strongly urge parents to NOT go by cut-off date and wait a year (stressing 5-turning-6, oldest in class option). I attended the K-round up meeting and frequently hear same advice from parents & teachers I talk to. So...what to do?

 

Going by a Jan 1st date makes social activities difficult to judge because it doesn't fall within the school cut-off. Do I put her in ending 3rd grade VBS or ending 4th grade? When she starts AWANA in the fall, do I put her with the grade level up or grade level down (because technically she'd be 4.5 grade level). Some things (AWANA) we picked that grade level when she was 5, so she is stuck with what we chose back then (so she's stuck in 5th gr for AWANA). For VBS, I "measure" her against the other kids - if she seems similar in height to the younger group, that's where she goes. Also, for some reason there was a huge birth of BOYS in 2000, so if I put dd in the upper grade level, she's usually the only girl with all boys. She hates that!!! LOL. So, it works out better to put her with youngers if there are more girls in that group.

 

Academically: our goal is to get our kids a bachelors degree by age 18/19. However, in "real life", I ended up repeating 2nd gr with her because she hit a bad attitude wall at age 7 (same age as her sister is now, who is also going thru that awful attitude phase, hmmmm). Then, we sped up to try to catch up, so we did the half year thing (Jan 1st grade transition). We school year round. By summer, I never felt like we made enough progress in our books, and was frustrated. I realized this year that I really needed a clear cut-off grade and a summer vacation:) So I'm bumping her up into 5th grade in all subjects except Math. (She reads very well and tested above avg in all subjects on the IOWA test).

 

All that to say...I think it can work for the relaxed family that isn't going to be stressed, frustrated, or confused by it...but it wasn't us! LOL.

 

Thank you SO much for sharing your experience. It definitely gives me some more issues to consider.

 

I know it will make activities a bit more difficult, but I actually would prefer to have the flexibility to choose up or down.

[Ellie]

Since most things that have to do with promotion and grade level (e.g. Sunday school, or some sports, or, I dunno...Scouts?) assume children are promoted in the fall, I just used that to "promote." However, that promotion really had nothing to do with what we were doing academically, but only had to do with grouping children by their approxmiate ages, so it made sense to me to follow that model. We, too, homeschooled year-round; we moved to the next academic level whenever I thought my dc were ready for it, whether that was in January or September or July, but they were "promoted" to the next Official Grade Level in September.

 

Although your ds might seem "young" to you, it is only because right now, he is. It will not be thus when he is, well, older. My very strong recommendation is to use the grade-level-promotion thingie the way it would be if he were in school. It will make things much simpler, especially in a few years when you realize that he is just as mature as the other dc with whom he'd be in school and you try to figure out how to skip him a grade on paper. I say this as someone who spent 16 years in leadership with a support group and an umbrella school.

 

My birthday is in July. My dh's is in September. Neither of us ever felt "young" in any of our classes over the years. I think now it's way too early for you assume that your ds will always be "young" for his grade.:)

[Lovedtodeath]

I tried it but it didn't work because she didn't like being behind her best friend who is the exact same age as her and promoted by the PS schedule.

[robsiew]

Personally, I would find it difficult to promote my kids in Jan. here. No one else in the community does that. We have a Sept.1 cut-off for everything PS and community involved. I think it would really confuse my kids when they attend outside the home activities if they were changing grade levels. Now, we school year round so whenever we're done with a grade level of curriculum we just go up to the next... so "curriculum" wise my kids could actually be in several grades at once! Age wise they are the grade they would be in PS.

[GoVanGogh]

My DS has a very late December birthday, so I run our school years from January to December and go by age and not grade.

We are on our fourth year and it hasn't created any major problems.

 

I work at his grade level, depending on subject, so it doesn't matter (to us) for "promotion" purposes. If people ask what grade he is in, we just say that we don't follow grade level but he is X years old. If it is an outside activity that goes by grades, I place him where he would be in public school. But - really - sports classes, art lessons, science classes, etc normally go by age and not grade anyway. I think Sunday School is the only thing I know of that goes by grade and we don't have DS in our church's Sunday School anyway.

 

He has two good friends that are in public school and they make a big deal about their grade level. They know we homeschool and don't follow public school grade level and it has never been an issue.

 

My thinking: We don't follow the public school scope and sequence, so why should we follow their arbitrary grade levels?

[cottonmama]

I have been toying with this idea as well. If I do this, though, I would still give dd a nominal grade level based on her age, and just plan her schoolwork January-December.

 

I'm hesitant about doing it this way mostly because we are looking to move to a different state next year (don't know where), and I worry that this would make complying with some states' regulations too complicated. (Submitting August-May plans while working off of January-December plans just sounds confusing to me...)

[scrappyhappymama]

My thinking: We don't follow the public school scope and sequence, so why should we follow their arbitrary grade levels?

 

This. For many reasons a calendar year schedule would work better for us. We like to take off the month of December. This would be less disruptive between "school years." We like to school through the summer when it's so hot, but we don't get as much done as we'd like when we are finishing up some subjects and I am prepping and planning for the following year.

 

Still pondering, and open to feedback, but in so many other areas I've cut the strings to public schools... why not here too?

[RachelFlores]

Personally, I would find it difficult to promote my kids in Jan. here. No one else in the community does that. We have a Sept.1 cut-off for everything PS and community involved. I think it would really confuse my kids when they attend outside the home activities if they were changing grade levels. Now, we school year round so whenever we're done with a grade level of curriculum we just go up to the next... so "curriculum" wise my kids could actually be in several grades at once! Age wise they are the grade they would be in PS.

 

 

Everything here is on a September 1st schedule too. We just started dd on K level work this month, but she is preK according to her age (sept 11th birthday), she is speeding through math right now but poking along with everything else, especially handwriting. I'm not pushing anything, just trying to go at her level. I totally get why you would want to "promote" in January. I think dd would fit that schedule far better, but one of the main reasons I homeschool is to be able to work at dd's level, whatever that happens to be. Dd is calling this year preK and I'm ok with that. I don't know what we'll do if we put her in public school, but if we continue homeschooling I feel good about "promoting" with the school system no matter what curriculum level we are using. If we homeschool in high school I totally plan on having dd take classes from the local community college so by the time she graduates she will "hopefully" have an associates degree.

 

BTW I am a July birthday (ps grad) and my parents required me to go to a local college while I lived at home my first year. It wasn't MY favorite year of my life, but it could offer your son an easy transition from home to a university.

[GoVanGogh]

For many reasons a calendar year schedule would work better for us. We like to take off the month of December. This would be less disruptive between "school years." We like to school through the summer when it's so hot, but we don't get as much done as we'd like when we are finishing up some subjects and I am prepping and planning for the following year.

:iagree: That was exactly why I switched - well, that and the fact that DS has such a late year birthday. It just made sense to me to go by his age. Grade level is so arbitrary anyway and each district/state has a different cut-off anyway.

 

but in so many other areas I've cut the strings to public schools... why not here too?

:lol:

That was my final thinking. Hey, why I am still using their school year??

[Lovedtodeath]

 

BTW I am a July birthday (ps grad) and my parents required me to go to a local college while I lived at home my first year. It wasn't MY favorite year of my life, but it could offer your son an easy transition from home to a university.

There are also many ways to get started on college credits from home without setting foot into a classroom. You don't have to ship them off the minute they graduate.:)

[scrappyhappymama]

There are also many ways to get started on college credits from home without setting foot into a classroom. You don't have to ship them off the minute they graduate.:)

 

SO true! :001_smile: We do plan to do some dual credit stuff in high school and I am totally OK with him deciding to stay home for a while. In fact we live within commuting distance of two different very good universities, so our secret hope is they'll decide to stick close to home all along. ;)

 

However, he reminds me a lot of ME. And I was a 17 year old graduated senior and my parents begged me to go to jr college or the local state school for a year or two before going away. And I remember asking them why I worked so hard to graduate near the top of my class and taking AP classes and trying to score well on the SATs and studying instead of playing if I was *only* going to go to a jr college. I hope he'll feel differently, but he's very ambitious now and I don't see that changing much then! On the other hand, he's also really emotional and cries whenever he thinks about growing up and being an adult and leaving his family. We tell him he can stay as long as he wants, but he just shakes his head like he knows it's his duty. So, although I know it's silly to try to plan things out for 10 years hence, as his mom and knowing his personality, I think I'd be doing him a favor by delaying things for him a bit!

[Laura Corin]

On the other hand, he's also really emotional and cries whenever he thinks about growing up and being an adult and leaving his family. We tell him he can stay as long as he wants, but he just shakes his head like he knows it's his duty. So, although I know it's silly to try to plan things out for 10 years hence, as his mom and knowing his personality, I think I'd be doing him a favor by delaying things for him a bit!

 

At age four, Calvin was welded to my leg. At seven he was asking if I could home educate him for college because he never wanted to leave home. At thirteen he has decided to go off to private school and is planning an overseas gap year before going away to university. We didn't push him away - instead we gave him all the security we could and that allowed him to have the strength to step away.

 

Laura