"gap year" between third and fourth?

[khall]

Hi, I've only lurked in here before, but could use some advice from those of you who have btdt. DD is 8, summer birthday, so will be 9 this summer and is just finishing up 3rd. She is able to understand the material but takes FOREVER to do anything. Watching her do her work is like watching grass grow.

 

We were able to get lots of testing done this year with her, and she has dysgraphia, ADHD, CAPD, a problem with short term memory, and a vision tracking problem.

 

She doesn't really need to repeat 3rd, but she probably isn't prepared for the heavier workload of 4th. We're thinking that she can finish up 3rd, and feel good about completing that grade, but instead of moving on to 4th, she can take a year and focus on all her therapies.

 

So for next year, she can do speech, Earobics, some OT, VT, math facts and math games, do lots of free reading, maybe a critical thinking workbook, and learn to type.

 

Then she can start 4th grade the year after, and she will still only be 18 when she graduates.

 

Has anyone ever done anything like this, and can share whether it was successful?

 

Thanks!

[Shifra]

I have a similar situation with my son, only he is in first grade. He did not "pass" kindergarten last year when he was in school--he was diagnosed with ADHD, was not finishing the work, was not reading. The school wanted to retain him in kindergarten, but my husband and I did not see the point--if they had not gotten him to read thus far, who said they were going to get him to read later? So I homeschooled him this year.

 

At first, I was going to repeat kindergarten with him, but then I thought, "That's ridiculous. This is homeschool. I can teach him first grade work, and there's no one to stop me :lol:!" So I started with him on first grade work--Modern Curriculum Press' Plaid Phonics A (since finishing in March, we are doing McGufffey's Eclectic Primer), Singapore Primary Mathematics 1A (and later Mathematics in Action 1, after we hit a roadblock in Primary Mathematics). We are just going at a slower pace than most first grades (ie. he only "learned how to read" in March as opposed to December of this school year). And while he will repeat first grade when he rejoins his school next year (because he is not 100% up to grade level to do second grade next year), I don't feel that this is a wasted year. He just needs to go at a slower pace.

 

So if I were you, I would start fourth grade next year. If you don't get through all of it, so you'll repeat fourth grade the following year. The beauty of homeschooling is that you get to go at your child's pace, not at the whims of a school. No one is telling you that you have to keep your child back. Go slowly if your daughter needs to. Take 2 years to do fourth grade. But I would keep going forward.

 

It is also helpful to remember that most textbooks "spiral", that is they review "old" work before introducing new material. The first bit of fourth grade will review third grade work. The first parts of fifth grade will review fourth grade work. So don't feel like you must get through every page of the fourth grade textbooks before starting fifth grade, either.

[lisamarie]

I agree with the above poster. I would do the next level of work only at half pace. I don't think I would take a year off from school completely like that. So much that she has already learned would be "lost" and would just set her back even further. Better to do 4th grade over 2 years. You could also take next year to just focus on the 3Rs and leave off the extra subjects or leave them as free reading--read through SOTW or a similar type history book, read topical science information books. It's possible that just focusing on the core subjects during school time will help her to move more quickly through those subjects and get her on pace. All those "extras" tend to clutter the brain.

[Beth in OH]

We did this with dd--we sort of spread 5th grade over two years and added in a bunch of enrichment type stuff that we wouldn't have had time to do otherwise. Our situation was a bit different, because dd began in public school and was on a track to graduate at 16. We wanted her to be able to go away to college upon graduation, and we thought 16 was just too young.

 

This approach worked beautifully. The hardest part is often coming up with an explanation that your dc feel good about and can give out when people ask. In your case, it's a prospective decision--"We have to spread 4th grade over two years so that we have time to do our extra appointments and still have time for fun stuff."

 

I think your plan is solid.

[khall]

The hardest part is often coming up with an explanation that your dc feel good about and can give out when people ask. In your case, it's a prospective decision--"We have to spread 4th grade over two years so that we have time to do our extra appointments and still have time for fun stuff."

 

I think your plan is solid.

 

This is definitely one of our big concerns right now. We don't know how to explain what we're doing to people, and we don't know what to tell DD to say when people ask what grade she is in. It's very important to her that she's not repeating a grade, so she doesn't want to be third grade next year, nor does she want to be 4th grade for 2 years. She loves the idea of being in a sort of gradeless limbo for a year. I'm certain that she's envisioning her year a bit differently than I am! :lol:

[Jan in SC]

My oldest completed two years of kindergarten, and I am very pleased with that choice. He is very bright, but does have dysgraphia and the extra time has been a blessing.

[chiguirre]

Ds did 2 2nd grade years, but more for outside activities than for academics at home. It was a resounding success. He's much more able to participate in scouts, choir and CCE by keeping him a grade behind his age-mates. He feels happier and can learn to fit in better because he's not under as much pressure.

[SunD]

While reading your post I kept thinking that AO has a Year 3.5. That's probably what I'd call it!

 

I'm not so great at doing things by the seat of my pants, so I would probably still want some sort of curriculum. In math for example, I would never remember to play games as that's too vague for me. You might consider repeating third grade level work, but approaching it from a different angle. I'd look at some other math programs and see which might work but is very different from what you did in "real" third grade. Or a program that focuses on facts and games. If you're awesome at doing your own thing, though, disregard!

 

I would definitely do something for history, maybe SOTW audio while you're in the car going to appointments? She could do some stuff from the AG, or not. Science could be unit studies, or maybe you could just guide her "free reading". I might also take the opportunity to introduce some subjects you haven't done before, like music/art appreciation, drawing, or gently introducing a language. That might give her something more to describe when answering questions about her "Grade 3.5" year.

[Stacy in NJ]

Giving you dc that extra time it a wonderful gift. It doesn't mean that you won't be working and learning, but it will take some of the pressure off.

[Stacy in NJ]

When people ask what grades she's in say..."We're taking a gap year this year, so no grade. She'll be in 4th grade next year."

 

If they ask what a gap year is say..."We need to focus on some therapies and want to do a lot of extra fun stuff, so we feel that this was the time to do it because she's still so young..."

 

This is definitely one of our big concerns right now. We don't know how to explain what we're doing to people, and we don't know what to tell DD to say when people ask what grade she is in. It's very important to her that she's not repeating a grade, so she doesn't want to be third grade next year, nor does she want to be 4th grade for 2 years. She loves the idea of being in a sort of gradeless limbo for a year. I'm certain that she's envisioning her year a bit differently than I am! :lol:

[merry gardens]

This is definitely one of our big concerns right now. We don't know how to explain what we're doing to people, and we don't know what to tell DD to say when people ask what grade she is in. It's very important to her that she's not repeating a grade, so she doesn't want to be third grade next year, nor does she want to be 4th grade for 2 years. She loves the idea of being in a sort of gradeless limbo for a year. I'm certain that she's envisioning her year a bit differently than I am! :lol:

To whom do you have to explain this? Can your daughter and you just make a playful comment of how she's in "grade limbo" or something like that? As someone already mentioned, this is homeschooling. We don't have to define our children's abilities by the traditional grades found in government schools.

 

My son (9 1/2) was a summer birthday. We started homeschool K shortly after he turned five. I questioned if he was ready and I probably wouldn't have sent him to a public school kindergarten, but since we were homeschooling he started at age 5. I'm glad we did. It may have taken me longer to recognize the severity of his reading problems if I had postponed his formal education.

 

 

Children don't always follow along the same progression in every subject. My son does fourth grade math fine, but his reading and writing skills have progressed much slower and along a different path than normal. I stepped off the "normal path" and found materials developed specifically for dyslexia and dysgraphia. We use a lot of special education and other materials that are based on ability rather than "grade" or that have a grade level range.

 

It's hard to say exactly what grade he is in. When people ask, I either let him answer as if he wasn't held back, OR, if it's someone who has business knowing, I mention that he's at different grade levels, varying by subject. When it comes to cub scouts and church activities, my son says he's in fourth grade. When it comes to our state mandated standardized tests, I test him as if he was held back a year or started kindergarten when he was 6.

[Colleen in SEVA]

Has anyone ever done anything like this, and can share whether it was successful?

 

Yes, that is exactly what we have done this school year, though I didn't think of it as a "gap year" until you posted this. It wasn't planned, it just sort of worked out that way. I was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer, and have spent this entire school year going through treatments. I did have my 4th grade DS (who turned 9 in August) work on some basics throughout the year, but my plans for next year are actually what I had planned for this year. He has grown and matured this year, and still learned a LOT! One quick example -- the other day he was just staring at a math problem; I asked if he needed help, and he replied "No, I did the problem, but the answer doesn't seem right so I am going back through my steps to see if I made a mistake." I about fell out of my chair -- a year ago he wouldn't have noticed the answer didn't seem right, and if he did he certainly wouldn't have cared enough to re-work the whole problem on his own.

 

This particular DS is working in so many different grade levels anyway, I don't really think of it as "missing" a year, more of just "taking a pause year to focus on skills and our family." I am definitely considering this school year a success, even though on paper he accomplished very little, he has made leaps and bounds in several key areas that aren't easy to document.

 

As for what to call it -- stick with a grade per year, and just call whatever you end up doing next year fourth grade, and the following year fifth grade. I would definitely do at least SOME school work each day, in this house it needs to be math and handwriting.

 

ETA: This DS has pretty severe dysgraphia, officially diagnosed last Spring. After 6 years of direct handwriting instruction, his writing is now legible to most people. He rarely writes letters or words backwards any more, though about half of his numbers still are. He still has trouble with word spacing, but I can see the light at the end of this particular tunnel, a place it seemed we would never get to!

Edited May 9, 2011 by Colleen in SEVA

[khall]

Thanks so much for all your replies. It was great to hear that other people have done something sort of along the same lines of what we're thinking of.

 

While reading your post I kept thinking that AO has a Year 3.5. That's probably what I'd call it!

 

 

 

Love this idea! Thanks!

 

 

To whom do you have to explain this? Can your daughter and you just make a playful comment of how she's in "grade limbo" or something like that? As someone already mentioned, this is homeschooling. We don't have to define our children's abilities by the traditional grades found in government schools.

 

 

 

She has been attending the local ps for art, music, PE, library, so everybody knows what grade she should be in. She also does Girl Scouts and rec. department sports that are split up by grade, so it does become an issue.

[ondreeuh]

We've never stuck with "grade level" in English, because my son was very delayed and is very dyslexic. Since I began homeschooling, I have used specific programs for reading/writing/spelling that targeted his weaknesses. This allowed him to strengthen his skills and now he is catching up to what would be expected for his age. This is where the ability to piecemeal a curriculum together is a huge benefit to homeschooling. You can adjust to what your daughter needs without worrying about what grade she's working at.

 

Math hasn't been an issue for him so we have done a normal path with that. History and science are his favorite subjects - we focus on content. I have transitioned him to doing more of the reading (instead of me reading aloud) and writing paragraphs about the topics, so you could say I'm keeping the content the same but modifying the skills work.

[Colleen in SEVA]

She has been attending the local ps for art, music, PE, library, so everybody knows what grade she should be in. She also does Girl Scouts and rec. department sports that are split up by grade, so it does become an issue.

 

 

IMHO -- I would definitely keep her with her age mates for these activities! These are social opportunities that benefit from staying with the same group. None of them are things you can really be "behind" in, and holding her back a grade could potentially cause negative feelings either on her part or the other kids.