Jump to content

Menu

If you've held a child back a grade...


Recommended Posts

as a homeschooler, did you have trouble when you registered the child in ps? We have met with some resistance at our local school over this issue.

 

I want to be ready when the principal calls me back.

 

I tried to Google this issue, but came up empty-handed, so I'm hoping someone here has some insight or even some links with info.

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, no problem. My oldest has an August birthday and always worked about a year behind. In 5th grade, we decided to no longer try to catch him up and he "repeated" 5th grade. He didn't really know anything about it except that he said, "man, 5th grade takes a long time!" I've registered him for part time school this year (8th) and they don't care how old he is, only what grade I've put him in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, no problem. My oldest has an August birthday and always worked about a year behind. In 5th grade, we decided to no longer try to catch him up and he "repeated" 5th grade. He didn't really know anything about it except that he said, "man, 5th grade takes a long time!" I've registered him for part time school this year (8th) and they don't care how old he is, only what grade I've put him in.

 

Lol, your DS's response made me laugh. :)

 

I wish it were that way here. They seem to have a real problem with not wanting to retain kids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ultimately, I think it is your call as the parent. My son has always been in public school. He has an August birthday as well. I called the principal the summer before he (chronologically) should have been entering kindergarten to check if I had to do anything since I was delaying his start by one year. The principal said I did not. The way he explained it is that I was giving him the gift of time. It has made a huge difference for him, and it is one of the best parenting decisions I have ever made. I would just tell your contact person that you are giving your child the gift of time and you feel as though it is the right decision based on their current developmental stage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ultimately, I think it is your call as the parent. My son has always been in public school. He has an August birthday as well. I called the principal the summer before he (chronologically) should have been entering kindergarten to check if I had to do anything since I was delaying his start by one year. The principal said I did not. The way he explained it is that I was giving him the gift of time. It has made a huge difference for him, and it is one of the best parenting decisions I have ever made. I would just tell your contact person that you are giving your child the gift of time and you feel as though it is the right decision based on their current developmental stage.

 

We had DS9 repeat the 2nd grade as a hs'er. He has a spring birthday, so well within the cutoff. They are wanting to register him in ps as a 4th grader and we are wanting him to be a 3rd grader.

 

They have tentatively allowed him to register in 3rd and the principal is discussing the situation with the spec ed dept and then he'll get back to me. If he then says that he needs to be 4th, I guess we'll request a meeting and explain our position further.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope. Granted, we moved to a very, very small school district without a ton of bureaucracy, and the principal homeschools his own kids so he was fine with whatever I wanted to do.

 

Before we moved, our previous state would NOT let ME be the one to retain him. He had to take the standardized test for his grade based on where he was in public school. After we moved and the school district registered for the correct grade, we're now clear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was skipped over the sixth grade by my private school's principal due to lack of academic challenge. The older class did not suit me well socially, being a small socially immature child, so against school advice I petitioned and was allowed to repeat the eighth grade. This may have been a mistake as academically there was never any challenge for the next 5 years, and socially there were also initial problems, as the kid dropping back from above I was not all that welcome. Physically it gave me a chance to mature.

 

One of our children had a December birthday but was physically tall and socially advanced, with higher than average IQ, and was advanced a grade by the public school. Then upon moving to a private school with a more rigid placement policy he was forced to repeat a grade. This caused some social disruption from his natural peer group, but eventually may have helped him excel in athletics, by being older.

 

So there have been pluses and minuses, and every school seems to have a different mindset. So in our cases the choice of placement has mostly been guided eventually by social, physical. and age related reasons, rather than academic ones. I guess that's the distinction in different people's attitudes, whether a child does better with his social/physical peers or his intellectual peers. If the school has one view and you have the opposite, you may have a struggle or at least a negotiation.

Edited by mathwonk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I definitely think that these things need to be addressed on a case by case basis. Not only academics but emotional intelligence needs to be considered. I am still waiting on the call. I am really worried because I do not want to have to rock the boat first thing. I hate confrontation!

 

ETA: I saw your edit after I posted. Our biggest concern with DS is socially and the fact that he presents as a younger kid. He will need "supports" whether he is in 3rd or 4th grade for his academics. Ugh, I hate having to worry about this!

Edited by Princess Peach
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update:

 

I never heard back from the school, but I had to get a medical form filled out and bring it back to the school, so I did that today. The principal is on vacation and the secretary didn't appear to remember our situation, even after I reminded her.

 

She did check the computer, which says 3rd grade (what we want), so she said he's registered for 3rd as far as she knows. I also have the copy of the registration form, signed by me, which says 3rd grade. She said I could call back the week of August 13, and the principal would be back from vacation. But, I'm inclined to let sleeping dogs lie because if they want to change it to 4th grade, they'd have to get in touch with me. Right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"if they want to change it to 4th grade, they'd have to get in touch with me. Right?"

 

You would think so, however I just went on the website for information about a homesite we are building on and learned that the county had changed our street address without mentioning it to us or the contractor or anyone else. Of course all the paperwork (contracts, insurance, public notification) references a now non existent street address. Moreover the staff had no knowledge of the old address, since it no longer is in their records, and they have no system linking the old one with the new one. It is conceivable to me that in an age of electronic records, someone could wipe put ownership of property with a wrong keystroke.

 

Are birth certificates and marriage licenses online nowadays, or still on paper?

 

But I'm just huffing and puffing, I would also let that dog lie.

Edited by mathwonk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"if they want to change it to 4th grade, they'd have to get in touch with me. Right?"

 

You would think so, however I just went on the website for information about a homesite we are building on and learned that the county had changed our street address without mentioning it to us or the contractor or anyone else. Of course all the paperwork (contracts, insurance, public notification) references a now non existent street address. Moreover the staff had no knowledge of the old address, since it no longer is in their records, and they have no system linking the old one with the new one. It is conceivable to me that in an age of electronic records, someone could wipe put ownership of property with a wrong keystroke.

 

Are birth certificates and marriage licenses online nowadays, or still on paper?

 

But I'm just huffing and puffing, I would also let that dog lie.

 

:001_huh:

Unbelievable

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Whew! So glad this worked out for you. I've just been reading this because it looks as if ps might be in our future soon (this year or next).

 

Ds is 12 (July bday) but he is entering 6th grade. We have always hsed, but he is involved in lots of sports and has friends that attend ps. I think most of them are 7th and his age. I'm wondering if it would feel weird to then be a year behind them.

 

Anyway, I think you know what's best and I'm glad your dd is in 3rd. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whew! So glad this worked out for you. I've just been reading this because it looks as if ps might be in our future soon (this year or next).

 

Ds is 12 (July bday) but he is entering 6th grade. We have always hsed, but he is involved in lots of sports and has friends that attend ps. I think most of them are 7th and his age. I'm wondering if it would feel weird to then be a year behind them.

 

Anyway, I think you know what's best and I'm glad your dd is in 3rd. :)

 

Thanks! I hope things work out for your son, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...