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s/o "behind" thread; when to take into account an early birth


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My dd (11) is technically in 6th grade. She made the cut off by a week or two and is always *the* youngest in brick and mortar school.

She was born more than a month early and, had she been born on time, would be a grade level below where she is now. When signed up for sports that are grouped by age instead of skill level, she is with fifth graders, not sixth graders, because their cut off is earlier.

She has a dx of mild dyslexia, but I question that this year. Last year, she struggled with fifth grade work, this year (though we have dropped all dyslexia specific materials) she is working easily through fifth grade content material and more advanced math (she appears to be advanced in math and the science; "behind" in language arts). She is now easily reading on a fifth grade level and retaining more in grammar/writing.

When thinking about it, I remember that because of her early birth, she was given concession during her infancy for meeting milestones - we were told that she may not meet the milestones exactly because of the pre-term birth and that this is *normal* and *expected*. Somewhere along the way, we and everyone else expected that to just go away and she would catch up to being exactly where the state decided a child her *age* would be, regardless of that month or two - that month or two is significant here for grade level placement because of where her August birthday places her.

Not just academically, but socially, she appears to fit much better with fifth graders. All of her friends are fifth graders, their ages differing only by months or weeks. She doesn't fit in well yet with the middle school crowd.

I guess I'm just wondering how much we should take this into account. We are considering enrolling her next year in Catholic school and it has already been suggested (by the head of school) that we keep her back a year, although the Head's reasons and my own differ a bit (Head's philosophy on it is more a "red shirting" because of the August birthday, my reasons are more developmental).

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Personally my philosophy is to meet them where they are. So if you feel that she needs to be and would fare better with 5th graders then go for it.

 

But at this age you do need to take her thoughts and feelings into consideration. One of the reasons my dd will not go to PS is because she is an early October baby. She was ready to start early so we started. So this year she started 8th grade at age 12. I told her that if she ever wanted to go to PS they would probably put her with her age peers instead of her ability peers. In other words she would repeat a grade. She is adamant that won't happen.

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My twins were born 12.5 weeks early and are now 11. Instead of a late September birthday, which would have them as 5th graders this year, the have a July 1 birthday, putting them in 6th grade. Academically, they are fine doing 6th grade work. Intellectually, there are times that they are better suited to 5th grade. Socially, they are definitely 5th graders, even the one who has hit puberty.

 

If I were to send them to school, I would give very serious consideration to putting them behind a year from what we are currently doing. I don't think you should feel any shame in doing the same. I don't think people realize how big an impact the early birth has beyond age 2 or 3.

 

I say, go with your gut and not with the arbitrary line in the sand drawn by school systems.

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Hmmmm...I remember a college professor lecturing on music therapy telling us that we should make concessions in terms of coordination/instrumental lessons through the age of 11 at which time most preemies that did not have significant issues such as CP and other birth injury or born more than 7 weeks early, would for the most part, "catch up". But, that was in 1990 and so much has happened with preemie care and development with medical advances this could be really outdated.

 

Let's see...recently, I do know a homeschool mom whose pediatrician advised her to "take it easy" through the 5th grade with her son who was born 8 weeks early and does not have any diagnosed learning disabilities.

 

I hope others with more information will chime in. It's hard for me because when I was doing music therapy, most of my clients had very significant issues - severe autism, VERY severe ADHD, visual processing disorders, RAD, other emotional problems from abuse and neglect, anxiety disorders, suspected bi-polar and childhood schizophrenia, etc. so since I worked with "outliers" in terms of norms, it's hard for me to draw any conclusions on when preemies that aren't significantly disabled would be expected to "catch up" so to speak.

 

Faith

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I don't think you can take into account a preterm birth the way you do in infancy, i.e., you don't use "adjusted age" after age 2. It's not as though in another month she's going to massively change. I think you have to take the whole student into account and the preterm issue - as a timeframe - would not be part of my own analysis. I guess I'm glad my premies were born in the middle of the school year. I would not take sports into account.

Academically, from what I vaguely recall about your situation, I'd be concerned about balancing behing ahead in math with everything else. As we have discussed, that may be an issue with the particular school. From what you describe about everything else, I'd be very much on the fence. Do you have any actual measurements - tests or whatnot - confirming her actual level in reading/language arts? If you were to hold her back a year, what would the principal do with math? That would play a very significant role in my decision.

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She was born more than a month early and, had she been born on time, would be a grade level below where she is now.

 

California had a December 2nd cut-off until this year. My older just made cut-off by a day so youngest in school and would be a 10years old in 6th grade.

 

There are a few states with late cut-offs which your daughter would have met even if she was born on due date.

 

When thinking about it, I remember that because of her early birth, she was given concession during her infancy for meeting milestones - we were told that she may not meet the milestones exactly because of the pre-term birth and that this is *normal* and *expected*

 

I was born at 27weeks gestation. The paediatrician and paed ophthalmologist said that I will catch up by 6 years old for motor skills and would not be behind for academic skills.

 

Due to vision defect at birth, I still have some motor skills deficiency. Otherwise I did caught up in physical milestones by kindergarten.

 

I made cut-off from being early and didn't have an issue social or academic wise.

 

What I am trying to say is don't worry about your daughter being born more than a month early. Just put her at a grade that is suitable for her in the catholic school whether it is 6th grade or 7th grade.

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:D

I don't think you can take into account a preterm birth the way you do in infancy, i.e., you don't use "adjusted age" after age 2. It's not as though in another month she's going to massively change. I think you have to take the whole student into account and the preterm issue - as a timeframe - would not be part of my own analysis. I guess I'm glad my premies were born in the middle of the school year. I would not take sports into account. Maybe she is simply "catching up" this year. She seems to have made rapid progress over the lazy summer months in terms of ability (not so much in the "lazy academics" arena :tongue_smilie:).

 

Academically, from what I vaguely recall about your situation, I'd be concerned about balancing behing ahead in math with everything else. As we have discussed, that may be an issue with the particular school. From what you describe about everything else, I'd be very much on the fence. Do you have any actual measurements - tests or whatnot - confirming her actual level in reading/language arts? If you were to hold her back a year, what would the principal do with math? That would play a very significant role in my decision. She hasn't taken a standardized test in a while, so nothing current. Considering her rapid progress this year (in Language Arts), I'm inclined to do another ITBS towards May. The principal seems easy to work with and (unlike the public school we checked out that was notably anti-homeschooling), she appears to have experience with children coming from a homeschooled environment. I think her hands are tied a bit in the math arena. I think Algebra I is the highest course offered at the school, if they even offer that (their site doesn't mention it, but I need to ask the principal if it is just an unlisted course). That means, that if Autumn were to be "red shirted" and placed in sixth next year, or even if she were to be allowed to move up in math and enter at her grade level (7th next year), she would have nowhere to go after next year. KWIM? It isn't physically possible for me to transport her across town every day for math to the local Catholic high school (and our local public schools do not have partial enrollment options) - not with the two younger boys and their appointments (one has medical problems). Now, my husband mentioned that when he went to K-8 Catholic school, the affiliated Catholic high school held a "Saturday Math" school for advanced middle school grades. That would be definitely do-able; it was also some 30-odd years ago though, and in an area with tons of Catholic schools (whereas we only have on Catholic high school serving the entire, large, area).

 

(FWIW, I've been meaning to mention regarding our prior discussion, after I showed dd's work from last year to the principal, they finally agreed to move her up to the next level math class, their first year of algebra, i.e., algebra lite, to be followed by algebra 1 next year. She switches to her new class in another week per her own choice. The math has been easy and boring up to now but sometimes she still gets tripped up by directions and, particularly troubling, by the teacher's instruction - mostly, I think that's her old language processing glitch. The current math teacher is more of a procedure teacher while her new teacher leans more conceptual, according to the principal. That was an odd conversation...)

Yay! I bet she's excited (or happier anyway, lol!). DD has a language processing problem too - she is very much a visual learner.

 

The social part wouldn't bother me; my dd started this year at middle school no different from how she was last year at home, but the new environment has provided more opportunity for development, and she doesn't seem different from her new friends at this point.

The notable social differences with Autumn may just be exposure. Since her birthday places her with age peers a grade below her technical level, she only has contact with that grade group, so I suppose I have no base on which to judge her social development compared to *most* children her grade.
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Based on this, I bet social won't be an issue. The issue with math would only get bigger if you hold her back, and what remains is language arts. I would wait to decide until you can confirm her grade level in language arts with some sort of testing, toward the end of this school year or even next August right before she starts at the Catholic school, if they'll let you wait that long. That would give her time to continue her late blooming trajectory. It would really be a bummer to hold her back and then find out not long into the new school year that she would have managed fine on the higher grade level in language arts. I guess my bottom line would be to leave her in her current grade due to the impending math problem and wait to see what happens with language.

 

Would the school allow you to hs math or take an on-line class? My dd's middle school allows on-line classes for very advanced students.

Edited by wapiti
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Based on this, I bet social won't be an issue. The issue with math would only get bigger if you hold her back, and what remains is language arts. I would wait to decide until you can confirm her grade level in language arts with some sort of testing, toward the end of this school year or even next August right before she starts at the Catholic school, if they'll let you wait that long. That would give her time to continue her late blooming trajectory. It would really be a bummer to hold her back and then find out not long into the new school year that she would have managed fine on the higher grade level in language arts. I guess my bottom line would be to leave her in her current grade due to the impending math problem and wait to see what happens with language.

 

Would the school allow you to hs math or take an on-line class? My dd's middle school allows on-line classes for very advanced students.

They won't allow homeschool for one subject BUT I wonder if this would apply to a state recognized online program. Unfortunately, the only three recognized by the state are Connections, K12, and Calvert (none of which have great math programs, I've heard), but I wonder about the compromise. We would afterschool math regardless, assuming she isn't struggling so much in language arts that homework eats up all her free time :tongue_smilie:.

I should say, too, that I'm basing her seeming "behind" in LA compared to other homeschoolers. I've heard rumor that public schools do not focus much on grammar, so I'm not positive that (even seeming "behind" there compared to other homeschoolers) she would be behind in a brick and mortar setting; I can say that she is, definitely, behind in writing. I'm not sure how much of their content subjects are consumed with writing assignments or how much weight the actual writing in those subjects are given when it comes to averages and overall grades; that's a bit of a concern. Over on the writing board is a recent sample of her writing :glare:.

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My dd (11) is technically in 6th grade. She made the cut off by a week or two and is always *the* youngest in brick and mortar school.

She was born more than a month early and, had she been born on time, would be a grade level below where she is now. When signed up for sports that are grouped by age instead of skill level, she is with fifth graders, not sixth graders, because their cut off is earlier.

She has a dx of mild dyslexia, but I question that this year. Last year, she struggled with fifth grade work, this year (though we have dropped all dyslexia specific materials) she is working easily through fifth grade content material and more advanced math (she appears to be advanced in math and the science; "behind" in language arts). She is now easily reading on a fifth grade level and retaining more in grammar/writing. When thinking about it, I remember that because of her early birth, she was given concession during her infancy for meeting milestones - we were told that she may not meet the milestones exactly because of the pre-term birth and that this is *normal* and *expected*. Somewhere along the way, we and everyone else expected that to just go away and she would catch up to being exactly where the state decided a child her *age* would be, regardless of that month or two - that month or two is significant here for grade level placement because of where her August birthday places her.

Not just academically, but socially, she appears to fit much better with fifth graders. All of her friends are fifth graders, their ages differing only by months or weeks. She doesn't fit in well yet with the middle school crowd.I guess I'm just wondering how much we should take this into account. We are considering enrolling her next year in Catholic school and it has already been suggested (by the head of school) that we keep her back a year, although the Head's reasons and my own differ a bit (Head's philosophy on it is more a "red shirting" because of the August birthday, my reasons are more developmental).

 

With the highlighted areas, I think these things are very important to consider. My dc all have summer birthdays, and I held all of them back a year. They were all pre-term. My twins weren't due until the end of September, and I put them in the grade they would have been in had they been full term. I didn't hold any of them back for academic reasons, they were all ahead of ps kids. They are all where they need to be/should be. I wanted my dc to graduate at 18, and have an extra year of maturity before college. I have no regrets, and in fact, they are all glad that I did.

FWIW- I despise the term red-shirting when referring to holding a child back. Red shirting is a term that allowed a player (usually football) to play another year (at the collegiate level) past a certain age/date, because they had to take a year off due to injury, (usually, although sometimes because they didn't start the academic year by a certain age) but it is a sports term. I hate it used as an academic phrase. But that's my little pet peeve

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Well, you know, her birthday is her birthday. I wouldn't make too big a deal about it, because it is what it is. She's in whatever group she's in based on her birthday and any cut-off date; that is neither good nor bad. It just is. You work with it.

 

In every group there will be children who are older or younger. I know this is stating the obvious, lol, but really, it is so. In Texas, those groups might look different than they would in California (with its later cut-off date), but even in Texas, some children will be "older" for their grades, and some will be "younger."

 

If she goes to school, I would only consider putting her in a lower grade if her standardized test scores--given at her current grade level--are significantly lower.

 

I never noticed what "grade level" my dc's friends were. They were mostly homeschoolers, and we just didn't talk about it. Birthdays, yes; grade levels, no.

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The truth is that preemies NEVER catch up. It is just that the differences in age are more minute. There is a huge difference in two months in the life of an infant. A minor difference in a toddler. And, usually, an imperceptible difference in an elementary aged child. However, as a teacher in ps, I can usually (no, not always) tell which children are on the younger end of the age spectrum. Believe it or not, that prematurity factor does come into play. Most late summer/early fall birthday preemies that I have known would have been better off starting school a year later. Of course, this is also true for many of the late summer/early fall non-preemies. There are also fall and winter birthdays that could easily have started school a year earlier.

 

What it comes down to is a judgement call that a knowledgeable parent is only able to make. By knowledgeable, I mean one who is willing to equally consider both sides. For most kids, it most likely isn't going to make a huge difference either way. I held my two preemies back. As seniors this year, I can say with confidence that one would have been fine going ahead. The other was helped tremendously by waiting. Oddly, it is the opposite as to what was recommended by their preschool teacher.

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If she fits better socially with 5th graders and her friends are 5th graders and she is doing more 5th grade work, call her a 5th grader.

 

Just because she just made the cut off date did not mean that she HAD to start school that year, just that she COULD. The cut off here was Dec. 1st but many parents with kids with summer birthdays chose Young 5s and then started K when the kids were just turning 6.

 

My SIL is a teacher and she can easily pick out the kids that are really young for their grade.

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DD's homework has been eating up a lot of her free time. Between participating in a sports team (yay! last game is today) and math club (which I highly recommend if it's offered), and her homework, she has had very little time. However, I think much of the time issue is a problem of her own making - she works too slowly, doesn't want to work anyplace but our chaotic kitchen ("but I need help!"), etc. It's driving me nuts, because she gets to bed too late and that's something I just can't stand. I'm hoping she will use this year to learn to work more efficiently :tongue_smilie:. Right now, she would not have time to afterschool math because she is so inefficient with her other work. Last night she said she only had a little bit of homework but completely underestimated the focus it would take, or the time it would take with only partial focus :glare:.

Ah. Time management. The bane of our existence (well, of dd's existence). Even now, homeschooling, I hear the "I need help!" constantly; now I fear how much more I'll hear if she goes back. Lol!

(and she doesn't go to bed until around 1 or 2 am with her Vyvannse - or that's what the doctor blames anyway)

 

 

FWIW, I was a little worried about this, but my dd seems to be on level or ahead in language arts at school. Reading comprehension is her perennial issue, and she seems to be at grade level with that, but ahead in grammar - I don't think she'll see much new this year - her class is doing simple diagramming. They use Wordly Wise for vocabulary, which seems just fine for dd.

 

I just looked at your dd's sample. I think you're doing the right thing by continuing to work on picking out the important details (I so understand that struggle!!!). At some point soon, I would also add some focus on punctuation. I'm no expert on grade level writing, but I'd guess that punctuation and form are things that are likely to stand out first to a middle school teacher. Maybe in late spring or August, take a new sample to a language arts teacher at the school to see what they think about grade level. That was on her ipad. It's worse than that, even, when she writes by hand. Her stamina for writing is seriously lacking too. It is something we are working hard on; she seems to be responding to Hake's writing very well though and even *that* (the sample you saw) is much better than last year.

:D

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Aimee, Greenville Classical may be an option. I know it's out there, but they enroll 7th grade up in the university model which is 3 days a week. I have friends going there who are very happy with it. St. Mary's goes through 8th as well, but you all are at POP right? My older 2 may take a couple of classes at Blue Ridge CA next fall.

 

Olivia is a late Sept birthday and has always been the youngest as well. She is always with kids a full year ahead, sometimes more. I see some issues socially at times, but I think it could be personality, aka she's reserved. Academically she's fine, but my dd2 is almost 4.5 and operating at the same level as dd1 was a 2.75. She's a late July and was 2 weeks early and very tiny at 5lbs. I think it's the kid sometimes and Autumn may be just be math/science kid. As far as social/maturity, I think homeschooled kids are just different than ps because they aren't as hardened by all the social junk. They come across as younger, sweeter, and more innocent, at least I see this in the girls.

 

We should get coffee at the B & N one Tues!

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Aimee, Greenville Classical may be an option. I know it's out there, but they enroll 7th grade up in the university model which is 3 days a week. I have friends going there who are very happy with it. St. Mary's goes through 8th as well, but you all are at POP right? My older 2 may take a couple of classes at Blue Ridge CA next fall. We've looked at Greenville Classical. Currently it is off the table because we cannot sign the statement of faith (we're Catholic; sof is protestant). When I talked to the principal a couple years ago (when they were brand new), this was required. BUT, it was brand new then and I'm not sure if that is still the case (maybe the sof is different now that the school has grown). I'll check out their site. The other issue with the school, when we first checked it out, is that my husband wasn't comfortable with their science curricula choices.

We actually belong to Our Lady of the Rosary; we attend co-op at POP though. All of the Catholic schools here go through 8th grade. St. Joseph's Prep is a 6-12 though and we are looking into that as an option too.

What is Blue Ridge CA?

 

Olivia is a late Sept birthday and has always been the youngest as well. She is always with kids a full year ahead, sometimes more. I see some issues socially at times, but I think it could be personality, aka she's reserved. Academically she's fine, but my dd2 is almost 4.5 and operating at the same level as dd1 was a 2.75. She's a late July and was 2 weeks early and very tiny at 5lbs. I think it's the kid sometimes and Autumn may be just be math/science kid. As far as social/maturity, I think homeschooled kids are just different than ps because they aren't as hardened by all the social junk. They come across as younger, sweeter, and more innocent, at least I see this in the girls.

That may indeed be the case. Lol. She still plays American Girl dolls with her best friend (a neighborhood girl). They play Harry Potter in the backyard. I love that - but I will say that she would be ripped to shreds for those past times by middle school girls (from what I've seen of them locally).

 

We should get coffee at the B & N one Tues! We should! Although I usually have to drink my coffee in the children's section so Nico can play with the "choo choo", lol.

:D

Edited by AimeeM
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If she fits in better with fifth graders socially/ developmentally, her academics are more confident on that level, it's a no brainer to me. Her birthday is on the borderline. She fits in better with the fifth graders; her friends are fifth graders, put her in fifth grade! There's no reason to put her in a situation where she will be overwhelmed socially/ developmentally/ academically just bc of her birthday, especially in such a borderline situation.

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:D
what kind of quote is that, lol!

 

 

Ah, I thought the SOF was non-denominational. I'd check. Also I don't care for their science, Apologia, either, but you can register for whatever classes you want. Blue Ridge Christian Academy is VERY home school friendly. They have once a week classes and classes that meet 2-3 times per week. We're Catholic too, O was baptised at St. Mary's but we go to a Protastant church now, that is very RMC, weird and a long story. I'm still Catholic;) All sacrements and 7 yrs of awesome C-school!

 

Yep, those MS girls can be brutal if you still want to play!

 

Well, I have a 4 & 6 yr old so they would definitely veto just hanging out listening to me talk! Are you all headed there today?

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what kind of quote is that, lol!

 

 

Ah, I thought the SOF was non-denominational. I'd check. Also I don't care for their science, Apologia, either, but you can register for whatever classes you want. Blue Ridge Christian Academy is VERY home school friendly. They have once a week classes and classes that meet 2-3 times per week. We're Catholic too, O was baptised at St. Mary's but we go to a Protastant church now, that is very RMC, weird and a long story. I'm still Catholic;) All sacrements and 7 yrs of awesome C-school!

 

Yep, those MS girls can be brutal if you still want to play!

 

Well, I have a 4 & 6 yr old so they would definitely veto just hanging out listening to me talk! Are you all headed there today?

I think it is non-denom, but at last check it was protestant non-denom if you know what I mean :D.

ETA: I just looked again at the sof. It is summarized by the five solas of the reformation. So I guess it hasn't changed in the past couple years.

 

I hadn't heard of Blue Ridge CA! I'll have to look at that.

St. Mary's isn't my cuppa either - that's why we attend OLR, lol.

I am headed there today! Autumn's class is 4:30-5:30.

Edited by AimeeM
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I had a 34 week baby, so not terribly early but I had extreme issues in my pregnancy that resulted in his early delivery.

 

We were always told he would catch up by the time he was three. As far as hitting developmental milestones, he never had any issues. But he was extremely small and never on the growth chart as a baby/toddler. When he was five, we were told he would just be short as he was well past the time for him to catch up height-wise. He didn't get on the growth chart until he was 7. Now at almost 11, he is 95% for height, so what do the doctors know?!

 

Your post is extremely timely for me. Our son has had some developmental issues come up now that we suspect may stem from his being premature. In researching the issues, I found a recent study out of the UK that shows that prematurity issues linger long past what doctors earlier thought. Now they are finding children 10- and 11-years-old still have issues in school.

 

I honestly don't know what I would do if I were putting my child into a formal school setting right now. His birth date would not impact what grade he would normally go into, but would I hold him back? It's tough. Academically, he is capable of so much more. Socially, he is an old man trapped in a child's body. But he doesn't have the fine motor skills and stamina needed to keep up with middle school coursework.

 

:grouphug: Best wishes on your decision.

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My dd (11) is technically in 6th grade. She made the cut off by a week or two and is always *the* youngest in brick and mortar school.

She was born more than a month early and, had she been born on time, would be a grade level below where she is now. When signed up for sports that are grouped by age instead of skill level, she is with fifth graders, not sixth graders, because their cut off is earlier.

She has a dx of mild dyslexia, but I question that this year. Last year, she struggled with fifth grade work, this year (though we have dropped all dyslexia specific materials) she is working easily through fifth grade content material and more advanced math (she appears to be advanced in math and the science; "behind" in language arts). She is now easily reading on a fifth grade level and retaining more in grammar/writing.

When thinking about it, I remember that because of her early birth, she was given concession during her infancy for meeting milestones - we were told that she may not meet the milestones exactly because of the pre-term birth and that this is *normal* and *expected*. Somewhere along the way, we and everyone else expected that to just go away and she would catch up to being exactly where the state decided a child her *age* would be, regardless of that month or two - that month or two is significant here for grade level placement because of where her August birthday places her.

Not just academically, but socially, she appears to fit much better with fifth graders. All of her friends are fifth graders, their ages differing only by months or weeks. She doesn't fit in well yet with the middle school crowd.

I guess I'm just wondering how much we should take this into account. We are considering enrolling her next year in Catholic school and it has already been suggested (by the head of school) that we keep her back a year, although the Head's reasons and my own differ a bit (Head's philosophy on it is more a "red shirting" because of the August birthday, my reasons are more developmental).

 

If she's comfortable with 5th grade work, fits better with that age group socially, the school wants her back a year, and so do you . . . then what IS the problem? Don't think of it as holding her back, think of it as giving her more time to master 5th so she can be confident in 6th.

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If she's comfortable with 5th grade work, fits better with that age group socially, the school wants her back a year, and so do you . . . then what IS the problem? Don't think of it as holding her back, think of it as giving her more time to master 5th so she can be confident in 6th.

And she seems fine with it (her only request is that she not be held back in the same Catholic school she attended previously - which we completely understand).

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Sylvia was a month early due to complete placenta previa. She started out small, sleepy, and jaundiced. They monitored her weight carefully at first. She was tiny until about 4 months, then she started to plump up. She walked and PTed late, but since then I have not noticed one single thing I'd attribute to her early arrival. So I was just wondering what span of "early" everyone is talking about. :)

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My obgyn treats 36 weeks gestation as full term and 24-36 weeks gestation as early/premature. Of course 24-36 weeks is still a wide range for early.
And reason for prematurity influences outcome considerably.

Our NICU nurses and doctors always said "You just never know with preemies." Some fare better than others. Why? Gender and race impact it to a degree, as does age of mother and medical condition before and during pregnancy.

I was shocked to read/hear that twins born premature generally do better than singletons, because the added stress of multiple babies tend to speed up development. I have not researched that, but I knew two sets of twins (both boy/boy) born around the time of my singleton that did much better breathing and eating at birth than mine did.

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And reason for prematurity influences outcome considerably.

Our NICU nurses and doctors always said "You just never know with preemies." Some fare better than others. Why? Gender and race impact it to a degree, as does age of mother and medical condition before and during pregnancy.

I was shocked to read/hear that twins born premature generally do better than singletons, because the added stress of multiple babies tend to speed up development. I have not researched that, but I knew two sets of twins (both boy/boy) born around the time of my singleton that did much better breathing and eating at birth than mine did.

:iagree: you just never know. My boy/boy 33-weekers were in very different situations. One was fine on room air. The other one was in respiratory distress, on a ventilator, was small-for-gestational-age and septic. In their case, prematurity wasn't much of an issue as much as their respective situations in utero. (Can anyone guess which one has dealt with the bigger speech issues and sensory issues? Which one is super mathy?)

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And reason for prematurity influences outcome considerably.

Our NICU nurses and doctors always said "You just never know with preemies." Some fare better than others. Why? Gender and race impact it to a degree, as does age of mother and medical condition before and during pregnancy.

I was shocked to read/hear that twins born premature generally do better than singletons, because the added stress of multiple babies tend to speed up development. I have not researched that, but I knew two sets of twins (both boy/boy) born around the time of my singleton that did much better breathing and eating at birth than mine did.

 

Twin thing is true. Babies where the mother has been ill (high blood pressure and such) tend to also do better. When something is truly wrong, their bodies start preparing for birth. Babies who just suddenly appear tend to do the worst. My twins were at extremely different points of being read to be born. The breach who had her sister across her head causing her stress only needed an incubator for body temp. The transverse who was just hanging out had 1 and 2 apgar scores and spent quite a while intubated. Quite oddly, she is the one with no long term problems. I think she was monitored so closely that they caught everything that was going wrong. I think twin A had some episodes that went uncaught because she was not monitored as closely.

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